Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 1488 of 1503)

As the NFL Preseason is set to open its first full week of games, I’d like to dive into a question that always circles the media wagon this time of year:

Does anyone care about the preseason in the NFL?

I for one, love it.

As a football fan, preseason action signifies that the long wait for another NFL season is almost over. Basketball, baseball and hockey are great sports to play and watch, but there is something about football that beats them all.

Maybe it’s the shorter schedule, fantasy football or the anticipation of that next game starting after a win or loss that gets me, but the game of football being back in the air is just plain exciting.

To me, watching a preseason game is just as good or bad as watching Texas play North Texas in one of two powder-puff games usually found on a Division I’s schedule.

Of course don’t get me wrong, the atmosphere at a college game that means something would crush a meaningless preseason game any day, but we’re talking about viewing games on television.

Preseason football signifies a new beginning where every team is still in the Super Bowl hunt and you get to see what’s been happening in training camp for the past couple of weeks.

Sure, the competition is weak, but it still gives you a chance to catch the rookies and free agent acquisitions in action. I know it can be really long and repetitive, but coaches have said year in and year out that four games is the perfect amount of time to evaluate their roster and make decisions on who they keep and who they cut.

Hey, a night of football, any football, is better than watching whatever lame reality television show is being aired for the third time this week any day.

The NFL owners have officially selected their new league commissioner to replace long-time headman Paul Tagliabue.

Roger Goodell, the 47-year-old longtime second hand man to Tagliabue, will take over the reigns of a $6 billion-a-year industry. Goodell will have the pleasure in stepping into one of, if not the top professional league in America.

As ESPN.com columnist Len Pasquarelli points out, however, the league doesn’t come without its fair share of issues.

Perhaps the most daunting reality is this one: Although the league and the NFL Players Association touted the recent extension to the collective bargaining agreement as a long-lasting peace, it really isn’t. The two sides have the option, as early as November 2008, of opting out of the agreement. There certainly have been strong indications from several owners who believe the union won excessive advantages, and also from NFLPA executive director Gene Upshaw, that they may exercise the opt-out rights as soon as they can.

That would turn back the clock, perhaps, to the precipice on which the league and its players stood only five months ago. In fact, five months after the CBA extension was ratified, it still doesn’t really exist in written form, and there are still key issues over which the two sides can’t agree. One owner has joked that the CBA extension might actually be voided before anyone receives a final copy of it, or before the so-called “qualifiers” that determine the enhanced revenue sharing are in place.

As scary as it sounds that the two sides don’t even have a written deal in place that would keep a salary cap in the NFL for longer than 2008, the fact that Goodell has been a right hand man for Tagliabue for nearly a decade is a great thing.

Unlike Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League, league officials have done a great job of keeping the NFL the same as when Pete Rozelle was commissioner. Plus, having all 32 owners on your side, which was achieved when he was elected, only bestows confidence in Goodell that he can instill peace in future debates.

The game hasn’t totally deviated from its original inception and fans will appreciate Goodell trying to keep it that way.

After a weekend full of Hall of Fame coverage on ESPN, John Clayton of ESPN.com wrote that the 2006 class is the best that the NFL has ever inducted.

Joining the NFL Hall of Fame in elite in Canton, Ohio this year were quarterbacks Troy Aikman and Warren Moon., linebacker Harry Carson, tackle Rayfield Wright, coach, commenter and video game professor John Madden and the late great Reggie White.

In my opinion, this has to go down as the one of the greatest classes in history because it comes from the greatest group of 15 ever put before the board. Former Bills running back Thurman Thomas might have made it as a first-ballot Hall of Famer had it not been for the selection of two senior candidates — Madden and Wright.

The list of players who didn’t make it is almost as impressive as the list of those who did. Look at the backlog at defensive end with both L.C. Greenwood and Claude Humphrey failing to get in. Former Chiefs great Derrick Thomas was one of the best pass-rushers in the history of the game. He didn’t make it. Neither did former Vikings and Broncos left tackle Gary Zimmerman.

I would have to agree with Clayton in saying this was a magical class. Although Aikman was surrounded by some of the best talent in his three-time Super Bowl days, as Clayton noted, he was hammered earlier in his career and survived to become one of the greatest QBs ever to play the game.

Watching Moon fire passes to his receivers was a thing of beauty. He never got one of his teams to a Conference Championship game, but his numbers alone merits his first ballot entry. Moon is the first African-American quarterback to be enshrined into the Hall of Fame.

Madden is one of the most recognizable names in NFL history, because of his coaching history, his presence in the booth and even to a younger crowd who purchase his yearly video game. He won a Super Bowl in 1977 and had an amazing regular season record of 103-32-7.

Carson had to wait seven agonizing years before his name was finally called, but was one of the greatest leaders for the Giants and led the team in tackles for five seasons. He also earned All-Rookie honors in 1977 and was selected to nine Pro Bowls.

Wright played as a tight end, defensive end and offensive tackle during his 12-year career and played in five Super Bowls. He was selected to six Pro Bowls and was a Seniors Committee nominee.

Finally, Reggie White will be remembered as one of the most dominating defensive ends to every play the game. In several interviews that appeared on ESPN and the NFL network all weekend, White seemed to be one of the greatest guys off the field as well.

White was picked to be an All-Pro 13 out of 15 seasons, includling 10 as a first-team selection. Unfortunatly, White passed away Dec. 26, 2004 at the age of 43.

This group will be challenged every year as one of the best classes ever to be enshrined in Canton.