Tag: NFL

How the game has changed…

Bobby

This afternoon I watched the 1985 matchup between the legendary 85 Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers. For those of you who remember those days, this is the Bears team that nearly went undefeated. This was the team with McMahon, The Fridge and the Super Bowl Shuffle.

The thing I found interesting was the intensity and the management of this game. Now, keep in mind that these replays on NFL network are shortened, so it’s difficult to really get a feel for the actual pace and feel of the game, but the final score on this game was 16-10. Last year when the Patriots had their amazing season, I’m not sure there was any game that came where the pats only scored 16 points. In fact, I don’t remember the last time I watched a 16-10 game. Maybe things are different, maybe the game favors touchdowns more than it used to, but winning teams normally score more than that. Also, if it’s a single score game, that thing is played down to the very last second.

The speed and intensity of the modern NFL just seems so much greater than it was 20 years ago. I was really amazed.

Favre announces retirement from NFL

Bobby

Brett Favre, possibly one of the greatest players to ever compete in the NFL, has announced is retirement. After 17 years he is going to hang it up and leave his beloved Packers.

Favre, like Unitas, and Montana before him, was different. Yes, he always had a super-human arm, but coming out of Southern Miss, Favre’s initial Q rating was not high. When the Falcons dealt him to Green Bay in February of 1992, it was not headline news in Atlanta or anywhere else outside of the Packer-mad state of Wisconsin.

Then we saw him play, a tough guy who not only loved the game but played it the way we thought we would if they gave us a helmet and a chance.

He didn’t play in fear of what the Monday morning quarterbacks, or the writers, or the radio hosts were going to say, and that kind of courage ultimately means more to the average NFL fan than the ability to throw the football from goal line to goal line. You wished you could be as tough as Favre, and you wished that you could do your job without a fear of making mistakes.

Seriously, I’m sitting here thinking how sad it is that I’ve seen Favre play his last game for the Pack. It’s unfortunate, Green Bay could have won it all this year, and their chances look good next year. Can’t believe he doesn’t want to take one more shot at the trophy, but really, he doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone.

I wish him good luck and hope he enjoys his retirement.