The National Football League is celebrating its 100th anniversary season this year with an opening night game between the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears, who were originally the Acme Packers and Decatur Staleys. Back in that era, the big stars were Bronko Nagurski and Red Grange. They and their teammates wore leather helmets, primitive shoulder pads, and had off-season jobs to supplement their income.
Today the NFL is one of the most successful professional sports enterprises on Earth, playing its games in packed stadiums with millions of TV viewers looking on. The big stars now are quarterbacks Tom Brady, Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers. They wear state-of-the-art helmets, shoulder pads and other body armor, and don't need off-season employment.
Then as now, what goes on out on the field tends to get a little rough. Concussions are a major concern, as more and more players are leaving the game early due to the toll injuries and too many hits on the head are taking. Rob Gronkowski of the New England Patriots and Andrew Luck of the Indianapolis Colts recently retired rather than continue to subject themselves to the abuse they took on the field, not to mention sapping the joy they once had for playing football. Others keep playing and risking injuries not so much for the love of the game, but because they are not as handsomely paid as Gronkowski and Luck were.
Not everyone is on board with the NFL's efforts to make football safer. Antonio Brown of the Oakland Raiders declined to appear at training camp unless he could use a helmet he wore last season, which he thought was more comfortable than the new ones the NFL has mandated for this season. Days before the start of the regular season, Brown finally broke down and chose the league-approved helmet that suited him. The possibility of Antonio Brown leaving football in a helmet dispute has thankfully passed.
There are other safety measures the NFL has taken, such as penalizing heavy hits and making changes to kickoffs. If the NFL wants to avoid becoming the National Flag Football League sometime in the next century, they'll have to make even more changes so (with apologies to Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson) mamas won't have to stop their babies from playing football. It might cause Curley Lambeau and George Halas to spin in their graves, but the game might actually be for the better.
UPDATE (9/7/19): Having successfully whined his way out of two NFL franchises , Antonio Brown is now on his third one in as many months. He'll be playing for Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots. Let's see how long this one lasts.
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Herewith, our picks for who will enter the Super Bowl tournament come January. The big game this time is in Miami, and will be seen on Fox.
NFC
North Green Bay Packers
South New Orleans Saints
East Dallas Cowboys
West Los Angeles Rams
Wild Card Seattle Seahawks and Chicago Bears
AFC
North Pittsburgh Steelers
South Houston Texans
East New England Patriots
West Kansas City Chiefs
Wild Card Cleveland Browns and Los Angeles Chargers
