When Did the NFL Change?

[Oszuscik]

This is meant to be a broad question, but one I think everyone here would have an opinion on. What was your "best version" of the NFL, and when did it change for you?

[Brian wolf]

I believe the NFL was at its best around 97/98 before free agency started getting out of hand with teams trying to replace talent and players losing more of their hunger for competing and being the best in favor of getting the best contract. The quality of football continued to stay high but by 2011/12 when the new CBA agreement between players and owners took effect, the quality of play and intensity --not to mention changes in rules and equipment-- has been gradually going downward. The effects of fantasy football and gambling have put more emphasis on players trying to come back from injury as well. More players in my mind seem to want to fully recover and heal, rather than playing hurt or at a lower pct, than they would have in the past but with more media scrutiny and spotlight, maybe my perception has just changed more as I get older. For some reason, maybe its more scepticism of how the game has changed with more emphasis on safety, I dont get enthused for watching teams, players and games like I used to. The game now seems more a production than a bitter contest of gladiators or warriors trying to survive and win. However, when I watch older replays of games I have collected, or on youtube, I still feel that sense of urgency and intensity that I felt about the games at that time.

[Bryan]

The NFL was at its best from the late-70s to the late-80s. Teams and players were distinct from one another. Coaches had their own playing styles.

The NFL changed after Super Bowl XXIII. You had Bill Walsh in his last game. Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, the Ickey Shuffle, a Super Bowl played outdoors on grass. The halftime show was Elvis Presto.

After that Super Bowl, you started to see the NFL become a machine. With increased understanding of legal and illegal training methods, all the players started to grow into monsters. Team playbooks were carbon copies of each other. Player movement increased exponentially, yet every team looked the same. Very few players had unique talents. The aesthetics of the game grew completely sterile. Domed stadiums. Turf. Gobs of equipment. Facemask visors. The game lost its humanity. Instead of being about players and coaches, it became about execution and minimizing mistakes.

[RichardBak]

The 1950-69 period. Lots of colorful personalities but not too many oversized egos. Lunchbucket guys who actually finished their degrees, worked in the off-season, served in the military, respected the game. Tackles who kicked FGs, no selfies, guys played in the snow, mud and pouring rain (just like us kids), NFL vs. AFL dynamic, no wild cards or .500 teams in the postseason, no shrill announcers (gimme Van Patrick, Curt Gowdy, and Ray Scott), players who stayed with one team for 12-15 years. Until free agency and TV riches changed everything, there was a comforting continuity to all sports. I guess I'd extend it 3-4 years into the early 1970s, by which time pretty much the last of the veterans from the '50s-60s were hanging up their cleats.

I'm the first to admit that those were the years when I was a kid and first following the game and playing with my buddies on the sandlots. That's probably true with most fans, that the game was more memorable when you were young. Everything was better when you were 9 or 10. But all things change. Your mother dies, you move out of the house you grew up in, your favorite player, the one you met at a Scouts banquet, retires or blows out a knee. Life marches on.

And yes, it did snow every Christmas. Memory tells me so.

[GameBeforeTheMoney]

Great question. The NFL has obviously changed a lot and probably most of us preferred the game when we were kids.

My favorite era was also the late 70s through the late 80s. The 90s were really fun, too, with Brett Favre, the great Cowboy teams, watching Manning come into the league.

There are moments and players I love about pretty much each season that I can remember, but I certainly think a few things about the NFL in its current state that make me pine for the old days. First and foremost, at some point, and I can't pinpoint when it was, the NFL started marketing to people who don't necessarily like football, or wouldn't watch it otherwise. You started hearing about "storylines" all week. Then you started having the deluge of commercials during games -- with the official wastepaper basket of the (fill in your favorite team here). At some point, the broadcasts went to Touchdown-commercials-kickoff-more commercials and it really breaks up the excitement. I now usually DVR the games and start watching an hour or so after the games start. Many times I still catch up to live tv in the fourth quarter. Also, I don't think I'm the only viewer who thinks the announcing isn't anywhere near the Summerall/Brookshier/Madden/Enberg/Olsen/Trumpy/Criqui/Charlie Jones, etc. I like Nantz and Romo, Aikman can be insightful at times, there are a few others, but overall the announcing and commentary often take away from the broadcast. A Summerall call might be: "Bradshaw, Swann" Then you'd hear the crowd cheer for 10 - 15 seconds, Hank Stram goes over the play and you feel the moment. Now, announcing can be way over the top.

I also long for the days of a player staying with a team his entire career, fans being able to predict a good season because their team's offensive line had played together for six or seven years, but I also understand the players' rights to free agency. Still, the money part, salary cap decisions, that's something that distracts my enjoyment as well. Also, I get having perfect playing surfaces and domes for safety, but I sure do miss when the weather elements played a role in the game -- can you win this game despite the elements -- despite the rain, mud, and ice? I really miss those muddy uniforms in the third quarter, rain falling, 16-13 type of game.

[JohnR]

You mean how did a struggling league ranked behind baseball & college football in popularity transform into Jabba the Hutt? A thousand cuts. The league suffers today from media saturation. I think there was a sweet spot back in the '70s (before cable & dish) when fans hungered for a little more. Monday Night Football on ABC was an extra serving, which made it kinda special.
Now we've all got funny tummys from way too much dessert.

[Gary Najman]

For me it was 1987 (no more NFL Films Game of the Week, NFL Films Súper Bowl highlights not the same in narration and music, and the loe quality acaba games).

[JohnH19]

You mean how did a struggling league ranked behind baseball & college football in popularity transform into Jabba the Hutt? A thousand cuts. The league suffers today from media saturation. I think there was a sweet spot back in the '70s (before cable & dish) when fans hungered for a little more. Monday Night Football on ABC was an extra serving, which made it kinda special.
Now we've all got funny tummys from way too much dessert.

Over saturation has indeed dulled my excitement for NFL games and sports in general.

The two changes that bother me the most are the over abundance of rules and the existence of replay. The game has become next to impossible to officiate properly. The existence and overuse of replay has neutered officials even further and has made many games incredibly frustrating to watch.

[JameisLoseston]

I grew up in the 2000s and still consider that to be when the NFL came closest to an ideal equilibrium, barring a few too many rushing TDs. The enormous passing seasons happened, but were rare enough that they actually felt special and important. But most years, Peyton led the league with passing numbers that already seem less impressive than they used to. Meanwhile, you still had plenty of mediocre QBs hanging around 1:1 TD-INT, which is how it should be. It was a heavily inflated stats era for RB, though, which is why guys like Alexander and Holmes aren't getting HOF consideration and LT didn't make the 100 team. 2011 is definitely the year everything changed, RB became devalued, and the league started to revolve completely around the pass. I'm not sure whether I prefer the current environment, where records get broken fairly easily, or the 90s, where very little of major historical significance took place beyond Jerry Rice, but the 2000s clearly stand above both as a superior era of balanced football.

[GameBeforeTheMoney]

You mean how did a struggling league ranked behind baseball & college football in popularity transform into Jabba the Hutt? A thousand cuts. The league suffers today from media saturation. I think there was a sweet spot back in the '70s (before cable & dish) when fans hungered for a little more. Monday Night Football on ABC was an extra serving, which made it kinda special.
Now we've all got funny tummys from way too much dessert.

Over saturation has indeed dulled my excitement for NFL games and sports in general.

The two changes that bother me the most are the over abundance of rules and the existence of replay. The game has become next to impossible to officiate properly. The existence and overuse of replay has neutered officials even further and has made many games incredibly frustrating to watch.

Overuse of replay -- yes. Absolutely. Missed that one in my post. The original intent of replay was to review things that were blatantly missed -- perhaps a receiver clearly got both feet in bounds or a ball carrier started to lose possession before his knee hit. Now it's about watching frame-by-frame and analyzing minuscule details that were never part of the original purpose. The original goal was to maybe catch something that the official couldn't see because his view was blocked or maybe things happened too quickly. Another reason why I DVR games now -- I can fast forward through the replay.