Storyline: Presidential candidate Donald Trump says the NFL has “gone soft.” Data don’t support that assertion, but that didn’t stop Trump from saying it. Written by Tanner Bisbee, Maine. Follow Tanner on Twitter @The OfficialS_P
The NFL playoffs are underway, but not even sports can escape Donald Trump’s grasp. In front of 2000 supporters at a Reno, NV campaign rally Trump called America’s most popular sport “too soft” and accused NFL game officials of throwing flags just to impress their wives.
Courtesy: headlines-news.com
Donald Trump also called Sunday’s game between Cincinnati and Pittsburgh “crummy” after the game turned violent with hits on Antonio Browns and the gameplay of Joey Porter. The Donald then diverted his speech to Iraq and how he could “Make America Great Again” by really and truly going there.
Trump said: “What I just said about a game — so I’m watching a game yesterday. What used to be considered a great tackle, a violent head-on [tackle], a violent — if that was done by Dick Butkus, they’d say he’s the greatest player. If that were done by Lawrence Taylor — it was done by Lawrence Taylor and Dick Butkus and Ray Nitschke, right? Ray Nitschke — you used to see these tackles and it was incredible to watch, right? Now they tackle. ‘Oh, head-on-head collision, 15 yards.’ The whole game is all screwed up. You say, ‘Wow, what a tackle.’ Bing. Flag. Football has become soft. Football has become soft. Now, I’ll be criticized for that. They’ll say, ‘Oh, isn’t that terrible.’ But football has become soft like our country has become soft.”
The late Junior Seau (keepingscore.blogs.time.com)
But Trump failed to provide evidence that the NFL has become soft or why head-on tackles are now penalized. Research has shown risk of spinal injury, head injury, or even death. In addition, we now know that repetitive blows to the head causes CTE, a concussion-related, chronic brain disease that results in memory loss, mood swings, and severe depression. Autopsies done on deceased NFL players found that 87-91 of those players had CTE, the disease led to the deaths of NFL greats Junior Seau and Mike Webster.
Has the NFL “gone soft?” Data show that 350 NFL players were listed in the injury report during the NFL’s final week, But, no matter, Trump went on to say: “It’s become weak and you know what? It’s going to affect the NFL. I don’t even watch it as much anymore. It’s going to affect the NFL. I don’t watch it. The referees, they want to all throw flags so their wives see them at home. ‘Oh, there’s my husband.’ [Laughter] It’s true. ‘He just broke up — he just gave a 15-yard penalty on one of the most beautiful tackles made this year.’ Right?”
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Though Trump might not be watching the NFL, Richard Deitsch Sports Illustrated reported that ratings had increased on all major networks.
Trump did show support for his main man, Tom Brady, by saying: “It’s boring — although I love Tom Brady. I gotta tell you,” he said. “He’s a great guy. But it’s different. But it’s become soft and our country has become soft.”
Trump is right that the game is now a poor game but it is not because it has become “soft” like he says that our country is. The lack of a developmental league has proven more costly than the rule changes that have supposedly made the game “soft”. The average player has a year or two less of game experience upon entering the league. Their fundamentals (especially tackling) and understanding of the game are impacted by this lack of experience. The college game and professional game are played with increasingly different styles and (especially) offensive systems. The turnover at the quarterback position is where these differences are most obvious, but the level of offensive line play is also becoming much worse. Trump’s simpleminded sentiment is appealing but players have become bigger, faster and stronger over time. Injuries have only increased and the game has become dangerous and careers short-lived. Players could be making the game “soft” out of a sense of their own self preservation. The NFL has imposed measures to make the game have more parity but it is possible that analytics and improved scouting make the game appear worse (which allows the levying of the “soft” label) because the parity and the gap of separation between the league’s best and worse teams is smaller and smaller. Ultimately, Trump like Rush Limbaugh is attempting to speak as a lowest common denominator populist voice and by saying that the game has become soft, I believe that there is a bit of an implicit message about being resistant to change and not viewing the game empirically. My only disappointment is that no one asked him to sound off on African American quarterbacks. That would have likely produced some illuminating comments.