Great piece from Jeffri Chadiha over at ESPN.com about the 'softening' of the game of football as it is played at the NFL level. I am in complete agreement with him on the following:

...we all know the NFL still has plenty of tough guys. What it is losing, however, is the sense that the people who run the sport are completely in touch with the fundamental aspects of the game. That was apparent once again when the league made an eye-opening adjustment to the roughing-the-passer rule during the owners' meetings in March.

The adjustment basically states that defenders who have been knocked to the ground must get back on their feet before tackling the quarterback. It's the league's attempt to avoid the type of lunging hit delivered by Kansas City Cheifs safety Bernard Pollard in September, the one that led to a season-ending knee injury for Brady. It's easy to see why the league wants to have such a rule on the books. It's also harder to think that this amendment doesn't temper the culture of a sport that always has been about brutality.

I couldn't agree more. Of course, as Chadiha goes on to point out, this is completely driven by the financials of the situation. Bob Kraft, stinging from the loss of his golden-marketing-goose starting quarterback for the season, opines:

What makes [the NFL] special is special players. It's like going to see a great movie and the star isn't in the movie. It's the same principle.

Spoken like a man divorced from reality.

What makes the NFL so special is that the best TEAM wins the game. Usually.  Hell, his OWN TEAM was the the one that came out during Super Bowl introductions AS a team, rather than as individuals.

Even without Brady last season the Pats were only kept out of the postseason because they were caught off guard by the Wildcat. Think about it - they win that game and they're in. Instead, you saw a team completely taken apart by something that any high school coach could have adjusted to. Instead of crying about his injured quarterback, Kraft would be better served asking Belichick how his defense was bamboozled by a play that has been run on almost every level of football for years.

No, instead we get a complete overreaction and a change of the rules. Let me get this straight - the defender now, having been blocked and on the ground, must GET UP before he starts after the quarterback again? Somewhere Deacon Jones just destroyed a kitten.

It's beyond absurd, but it's the way it goes with the NFL. NFL Europe wasn't making money but it was allowing guys like Kurt Warner and Jake Delhomme the opportunity to play and refine their games. Instead of realizing the collective good the league was doing for their product, owners only saw the money they were losing. The NFL was only making $6 billion instead of $7 billion (or whatever...) So rather than keep the league to develop young talent, especially at the games most important position, they shut the league down. Meanwhile, quarterback play keeps getting worse and worse around the NFL.

Now, is the loss of NFL Europe the only reason? Of course not. Another big part is the rush to get signal callers drafted in the early rounds on the field way too early. For every Peyton Manning you have 10 Akili Smiths. It's ludicrous. The Lions are about to make the same mistake, reportedly planning to throw Stafford out there in Week One. There's simply no patience from teams to let guys sit and learn. Look at Carson Palmer - I think that worked out alright.

But no, rather than spend money on improving the product, the actual play on the field, the NFL and it's owners continue on down the merry marketing path to drive their business. So Brady and company are deemed untouchable. It's insane and it makes a mockery of all the guys who came before them. I would give anything to see what Johnny U would do in the modern game. The mind boggles, what with the receivers being able to run around virtually untouched and the quarterbacks in a bubble, Unitas would obliterate every passing record ever conceived.

But I digress.

Go ahead. Put a skirt on 'em.