Armstrong, Westerkamp to get shots with XFL

[Husker Mort]

Considering this will be his 4th attempt to make four different teams in four different leagues (NFL, CFL, AAF, XFL), it's unfortunately because he was never good enough to get drafted.

Nate Swift was as good as Westerkamp. Great hands, nearly identical college stats. And Swift had a couple inches on Westerkamp. Nate also didn't make the NFL.

This is true and I don't even think it's a knock on these guys. Being a great college receiver has to count for something and I loved watching both those guys play. The NFL metric has become too important a litmus.

 

[Husker Mort]

NFL has "safetied" their way right out of an audience.

There is an opportunity for a new league to fill a niche, IMO. We like our gladiators to die on the field of battle, not running OOB, or sliding to avoid contact.

The violence is the allure of football. NFL has turned it into basketball on grass. GROSS.

This is just silly. It is still the most violent team sport and hitting hasn't declined nearly as much as you imply here.

Spearing has been illegal for decades, but nobody complained about trying to avoid on-field paralysis. Keeping your head up and not intentionally laying a guy out, head-first, seems like an awfully reasonable compromise to make sure football vets (pro, college, AND high school, btw) aren't zombies the rest of their lives.

 

[Huskerthom]

This is just silly. It is still the most violent team sport and hitting hasn't declined nearly as much as you imply here.

Spearing has been illegal for decades, but nobody complained about trying to avoid on-field paralysis. Keeping your head up and not intentionally laying a guy out, head-first, seems like an awfully reasonable compromise to make sure football vets (pro, college, AND high school, btw) aren't zombies the rest of their lives.

The only thing I wish is that if they call offensive players for lowering their heads they would call defensive players for the same. I have seen way to many times where a defensive player goes in low then a RB lowers his head causing head to head and the defensive player gets tossed for it. I care about the players but it should be called on who caused the head to head.
edited as I said it backwards

 

[HuskerWeatherman]

NFL has "safetied" their way right out of an audience.

There is an opportunity for a new league to fill a niche, IMO. We like our gladiators to die on the field of battle, not running OOB, or sliding to avoid contact.

The violence is the allure of football. NFL has turned it into basketball on grass. GROSS.

Odd seeing a doctor say this. Granted, the more your football gladiators pound each other to the point of being in a wheelchair, drooling on themselves by age 48, the more $$ for you.

Otherwise, these violent days you dream of have been vanishing in all levels of football for the past decade. College football is not nearly what it was -- which is exactly why you see Nebraska fans get worked up into a tizzy when Nate Gerry got flagged and ejected for targeting. Heck, college football is much worse than the NFL, with their ejection-happy flags.

Regardless, the NFL ratings trended up this past season. College ratings are trending down -- lowest rated playoff in the short history -- but the fact that college football is so damn predictable compared to the NFL hurts it). Fans love the NFL more than any other sport by far. The NFL saw a 5% increase in TV ratings in 2018-19. It's doing fine. And better from a fan perspective than any other sport league or level in this country.

 

[Hotlanta Husker]

I think a lot of you are not taking into consideration who is going to RUN this league. Oliver Luck is the perfect man to make this work. Vince has plenty of money to invest (unlike this last year's defunct from the beginning league).

 

[Husker Mort]

The only thing I wish is that if they call offensive players for lowering their heads they would call defensive players for the same. I have seen way to many times where a defensive player goes in low then a RB lowers his head causing head to head and the defensive player gets tossed for it. I care about the players but it should be called on who caused the head to head.
edited as I said it backwards

Totally agree. Like faking an injury to slow an offense down, I have very little patience for exploiting rules around player safety to gain a competitive advantage.