As I was reading about last weekend’s high-octane games, a quote by LaDainian Tomlinson following the overtime victory over Tennessee exploded off the computer screen and circled back like a boomerang and hit me in the back of the head. He was asked by reporters if he thought LB Shawne Merriman’s injury was the result of a dirty play.
“I don’t know what you classify ‘dirty’ as. I don’t know. I think it was a competitive game. I think sometimes throughout a competitive game things happen. Guys go to extra distance to make a play, make things happen.
“But understand something — that’s the way the game was played a long time ago, when guys like Deacon Jones played,” Tomlinson said. “I think sometimes we forget it’s football and guys before us played the game harder than the way we play it now. There’s so many rules; you can’t do this, you can’t do that. And so when things like yesterday happen, people always say, ‘Well it was a dirty game, dirty play.’ I don’t know. It’s behind us now. This ain’t the only time we’re going to get played like that. We’re going to have to face it again.”
My respect and admiration for L.T. has officially skyrocketed to new heights.
I thought I was reading a quote from John Madden, Randy White, or Mike Ditka rather than a modern-day running back flourishing in an NFL that is comprised of several athletes magnetized towards entertainment and massaging their egos.
Then, I began wondering, “What would Vince Lombardi think of today’s game?”
Are today’s players soft compared to the those who played in the 50’s-80’s era? Is it the league who’s gotten too cozy? There are now rules on where and when you can hit, block, or touch another player? I’m sure some of these have raised Coach Lombardi’s blood pressure as he looks down from his silk-covered recliner. I can just see him, after hearing the ref call illegal contact by a defender within 5 yards, roll his eyes and say, “What the hell is going on down there?”
I can also imagine him cussing while watching today’s gridiron athletes parade themselves in front of cameras flaunting their ability and hoping that their million-dollar smile gets them endorsements. Don’t you know that, even in heaven, he gets so damn nauseous when these wealthy and talented men start gyrating and convulsing like kids when they make a simple tackle or knock down a pass. Every time I see a clip of Ravens LB Ray Lewis performing his seizure dance when he’s introduced before a home game, I picture Lombardi reaching a breaking point and looking down while chomping on his cigar and loading his rifle.
The truth is that Lombardi would not last in today’s game because it’s all about business and entertainment. The hardcore foundation of what the game of football is about is still there, but it’s covered in dollar bills, gold teeth, earrings, Hollywood smiles, business transactions, voluptuous cheerleaders, and tangible investments.
Therefore, there are now NFL by-laws protecting players like you’ve never seen before.
Lombardi once said, “You never win a game unless you beat the guy in front of you. The score on the board doesn’t mean a thing. That’s for the fans. You’ve got to win the war with the man in front of you. You’ve got to get your man.”
Today’s NFL has just about stripped that ability away from the players. Oh, there’s still brain-smashing hits and bodies slamming into each other at high rates of speed along with biting, stomping on heads, and poking out eyes.
But, I wonder how different the game would be if Lombardi’s wisdom of focusing with every fiber and molecule in your body on the task before you was in every player’s mind and got carried out in his actions?
I’m glad there are guys like L.T. in the league and am grateful for men like Lombardi who were instrumental in showing us what this game can do to men and today’s culture on and off the field.
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