The state of football as we know it

                       Since the beginning of the 2013 NFL season there has been 39 players go down with season ending ACL injuries. Players are placing blame to the NFL office, due to the new league rule against hitting players in the head. Washington Redskins defensive back Brandon Meriweather has been vocal in his opposition of the new rule. Meriweather states in a Sports Illustrated article, "To be honest, you've got to go low now, end peoples careers."


                     There would be merit to that, if it wasn't completely false. Meriweather has been fined and suspended one game this year by the league for repeat offenses of hitting defenseless offensive players in the head. What is evident today is that defensive players do not know how to tackle correctly. What viewers and fans see on Sundays is a gross execution of tackling. In no way are you supposed to launch yourself head first into an opposing player. The malicious intent to devestate the health of an opposing player is detrimental  to the future of this great sport.


                 On ESPN's "Sunday NFL Countdown" commited an ultimate sin. The crew of Chris Berman, Mike Ditka, Keyshawn Johnson, Chris Carter, and Tom Jackson reflected on the comments Meriweather gave in his interview. Ditka, Johnson, Carter, and Jackson are all former professional football players, so their insights are normally very valuable. This was not the case on Sunday morning. The four former players all agreed that Meriweather was right in his message, but wrong in the way he stated it. This was extremely disappointing. None of these men even once brought up the proper way to tackle. You are not supposed to fly toward another player with reckless abandon and lay a knock out hit. You are supposed to come under control, scrap the side of your face across their chest. wrap up and drive. This is designed to not cause injury, and is a healthy alternative. Not to mention that the torso of the body offers a bigger target, and more sure tackle, than the head or the knees do.


             So why is this not being discussed? To be honest there is no explanation to why it is not. This is supposed to be a disciplined game, but with the way defenders are conducting themselves, it is not. It is depressing to see former players, who are ambassadors of this game to the next generation, condoning this agregious display of what is now football. This is supposed to be a game of strategy, a game of preparation, a game of perseverance. But what it is being turned into is a blood sport, a game of targeting. This is the discussion that needs to be brought up by the experts at ESPN, who have over 100 combined years of experience in the game. The problem needs to be properly identified and diagnosed by those who the fans listen to. This is a very pivitol point in time for the future of this great game.  The future of this game is at your door step ESPN.