Is Hall of Fame Getting Watered Down?

Rule changes make everyone a potential Hall player

 By John Busacca

The recent achievement of Drew Brees becoming the All-time NFL leader in passing yards has shown us that hard work, intelligence, determination are 3 of the 4 most important factors in determining greatness. The number 1 factor that nobody wants to discuss is the rule changes that have allowed even the most pedestrian of QB’s to put up HOF numbers year in and year out and pretty soon we might have guys like Andy Dalton and Joe Flacco going to the shrine with studs like Tony Romo and Alex Smith. Let me be clear, I AM DIMINISHING DREW BREES’ ACHIEVEMENTS. Rule changes have allowed every QB for the last 20 years to stand in the pocket and target wide open receivers. Let’s take a look at a couple factors.

Pass interference:       There was a time when defenders could push, shove and even knock a diminutive receiver down at the line of scrimmage. This is the exact reason teams brought in bigger receivers in the 1980’s. Harold Carmichael, John Stallworth, and Art Monk to name a few could avoid being thrown down. In the 1990’s Michael Irvin, Herman Moore and Andre “Bad Moon” Rison were huge receivers who could take the chuck at the line. Those days are long gone and now ants like Tyreek Hill and Antonio Brown can just sail free at the line to catch their ball.

Meet me in the Middle: Once again, due to rule changes receivers no longer fear the dreaded across the middle catch and a strong safety like Mel Blount or Jack Tatum is not waiting to decapitate you if you dare leave your feet. I know this is better for player safety, but there was a time when receivers would yell at their QB’s for throwing high across the middle as they picked their teeth off the ground. When was the last time you heard an announcer say “I think he kind of got gator arms on that play”?   The middle of the field was dead man’s zone until the mid 1990’s and today, a munchkin playing WR has no fear of crossing and jumping. See Cole Beasley, Wes Welker and Danny Amendola.

Stand your ground:     The protection of the QB has been documented for quite some time. Despite what people think, this has been going on for many years with rule changes that basically allow the QB to avoid any threat of physical hits. For instance, back in the 1970’s if you slid, the defender was still allowed to hit you. They also put ‘in the grasp’ rules so a struggling QB wouldn’t take a devastating hit. Then came the Carson Palmer rule that said you cannot hit low at the knees and then the Targeting rule that stated you cannot hit them in the head. This year they now have a new tackle rule that does not allow you to land your weight on the QB. Imagine what Terry Bradshaw, Roger Staubach, Dan Fouts would do if these rules were in affect? It took incredible courage to sit in the pocket, see your receiver breaking free and hold that ball for 1 second longer knowing Jack Youngblood was about to take some of your blood with a hit under the chin.

Almost every rule change has allowed even the most pedestrian of QB’s to put up record setting numbers despite being an average to B+ QB at best . Want some proof? In 1967 Broadway Joe Namath cracked the 4000 yard mark for the 1^st time in NFL history in a 14 game season. For 12 years nobody accomplished that feat, even when they switched to a 16 game season, until Dan Fouts did it in 1979. Fast forward to 2014, and 11 players passed for 4000 yards or more including the great Ryan Tannehill. In 2015 a rookie Uber rider named Jameis Winston passed for over 4000 yards and Blake Bortles was 95 yards short.

In addition, many QB’s now regularly throw for 5000 yards or more each year. You cannot tell me this is because Eli Manning, Alex Smith, Joe Flacco, Andy Dalton and Kirk Cousins are Canton worthy gun slingers.   A quick glance at the list above and you realize one was benched for Geno Smith, the others were not retained by their teams and one drafted a QB despite 4000+ yards. With these rule changes we are seeing QB’s for the first time play into their late 30’s and early 40’s and one has to wonder if Drew Brees could have accomplished this feat if his career started in 1980. Brees is an all time great, no doubt but when you go for 72,000 passing yards one would think that there would more success than a single Super Bowl.

-BSB

 

 

 

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