Michael Lawson
William Hazlitt, the great English literary critic and essayist, once wrote, “When a thing ceases to be a subject of controversy, it ceases to be a subject of interest.” This certainly seems to be the feeling of those in the NFL front office and its suckling media types, these days. The 2014-2015 National Football League season has been one, not marked by on the field triumph, as much as off the field controversy. From the 2014 NFL Draft Day, which has become a sort of holiday for football geeks and homers, to the Capstone worldwide spectacle that is the Super Bowl, this season will not be remembered for records broken…but laws broken.
It won’t be remembered for controversial hits on the field, but for blows given and received in elevators, bedrooms, and freeways. Now, with the explosion of media frothing over #Deflategate, this nonsensical and whimsical story of cheating by deflating footballs, we’ve reached the end of the season…and of reason. It’s time to talk about the game.
Most NFL fans will argue that a given season begins with Draft Day. That ceremonious slop to all fans who have reason to believe, with an infusion of new talent and inspiration, that last year can be improved on…or matched…if your team happens to be a winner. It is the one day of the year when every team wins…or so they think. Hope is universal. It is a day for NFL fans to shower in the aura of faith of what can be. This year was different. The oracles at ESPN, and every other news outlet, decided that Michael Sam, the 1st ever gay man to be drafted into the NFL, was a bigger story than the Draft itself. It was a great story, and regardless of your opinion on the matter, a story worth telling. But lost in the hype was that Sam had a terrible combine, and was drafted in the 7th (last) round. He’s not playing with team currently. I, personally, wish Sam the best in all his endeavors, but wrote in this space then how it didn’t seem fair to the other men who had been drafted, and watched their dreams come true. Many of those men directly impacted their teams and the NFL season. But that wasn’t what was covered. The story wasn’t the game, and it should always be the game.
When the season began around the 1st weekend of September, there were other controversies that dominated the headlines. It wasn’t whether Peyton Manning could top his historic play last year. It wasn’t whether Seattle could repeat as champions…doing something that very few teams have done. It wasn’t whether the League’s pressure on officials to have “points of emphasis” during a given game would alter how it is played, and whether that improves or diminishes the game. No…the story…and all we heard for months…was Ray Rice hitting his fiancé, and the awful job of adjudicating it by Roger Goodell and the NFL Front Office. Others such as Greg Hard and Ray McDonald kept these issues at the fore of media attention. Adrian Peterson, the greatest running back of his generation, and one of the best of all time, didn’t play a down all year due to child abuse allegations. These stories and events absolutely needed to be covered, and a conversation started with regards to violence in our society is a good thing. It’s good for civilization, and it’s good for the League, especially if there is a systemic problem. But, the story wasn’t the game this year, and it should always be the game.
Now, finally, as we near the very last football game of this season, another controversy has reared its head: Deflategate. I’m not going to waste words explaining it further. According to one source I’ve found, there have been approximately 24,000 stories dedicated to this topic. Fox News Sunday even had a thing on it. Cheating is a serious thing….but, again, the game isn’t the story, and the Super Bowl should always be the story.
Look…like my colleague here, Randy Smith, wrote the other day…I hate cheaters. They disgust me. It is anathema to everything I was taught while playing sports growing up (Which is why I will be rooting for Seattle come Sunday). But I sit here and write…ENOUGH! Let’s talk about the game and give it its due attention. Tasty matchups and intriguing story lines that flow from the game…not against it. Can Russell Wilson solidify himself as the best QB of his young generation…ahead of the anointed Andrew Luck? Can a team like New England, who ran the ball only 13 times for 14 yards against Baltimore, run against another stingy defense like the Seahawks’? Can the human juggernaut, Rob Gronkowski, do what he does…which is absolutely pummel defenses… against the best and most physical secondary in the NFL? Can Tom Brady, cheating scandal notwithstanding, perch himself atop the “Greatest QB Ever” conversations that so alight NFL fans everywhere? This Super Bowl will be one of the more impactful Super Bowls we have witnessed in a while…in terms of defining destiny and legacy. Let’s put the hysterical hyperbole of controversy aside for a bit. Let’s just watch some football. It doesn’t seem like we’ve been able to all year…and now it’s almost gone…again.
(W. Michael Lawson is an alumnus of Lee University and University of Richmond. Mr. Lawson currently hosts a weekly radio show “The Strong Sauce Hour” and Co-hosts a daily sports show “The Sports Drive” on 101.3 FM/1570 AM. You can follow him on twitter @thestrongsauce.)