NEW YORK – We have entered the 78th day of the 2011 NFL lockout. There still hasn’t been any real progress in resolving the lockout and here we are now during Memorial Day weekend. In fact, the NFL has cancelled the 2011 rookie symposium in Ohio, something that has benefitted rookies for years by giving them first hand knowledge of what to expect in the pros and how to conduct themselves off the field in order to protect themselves from the wolves (both male and female). Perhaps, Big Blue team leaders can take the Giants rookies under their wings and break down the “real deal” knowledge on being an NFL player.
The NFL also decided to make some rule changes to the game. These changes were immediately criticized by the players and media alike. I’m not going to list them all here but let’s just say they are concerned about “player safety” in the most violent game on the planet. Throughout all of this, we still have Roger Goodell stating that an 18 game season is going to happen. Well, he isn’t really saying it out loud directly but he is certainly preparing the teams and players psychologically for the inevitable change to the game. I’m still not sure how I feel about this after seeing the Giants have over 25 players land on the IR list the past two seasons. More games seem to equal more injuries to most experts.
Steve Smith was recently in the news talking about his progress in rehabbing his injury. He said things are going well and he is ahead of schedule. Some Giants players are on vacation this weekend and enjoying some R&R in beautiful and tropical locations (you know who you are). The Giants announced the 10 winners of their fan contest and QB Eli Manning was dissed by being left off the top 100 player list (this list is a joke) that was in the news this past week. Head Coach Tom Coughlin held his annual Jay Fund golfing event and Eli Manning continues to organize “player practices” to try and stay in shape. There isn’t much more football news except to say we are less then 15 weeks away from the first scheduled regular season game against the Redskins. Keep your fingers crossed that there is a season Giants fans.
What do you think about the NFL and owners making all of these changes to the rule book and also canceling the rookie symposium? Enjoy the weekend!
RD – nygreporter.com
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Hey Robert..Well said as always. I think the part about the 18 game schedule that some people miss, including the players, is that it would increase the revenue pool and expand the rosters. Tom Coughlin stated last year that rosters needed to expand anyway because of all the specialization. Using spots for kickers, punters, long snappers, return guys….it’s like practicing shorthanded every week. The rosters need to be expanded, different disabled list type rules need to be put in place, and the schedule expanded to get the Super Bowl to Presidents weekend. The revenue will grow with the extra “real” games, and therefore there will be more jobs for players, and more money to share.
Hello Joe, I completely agree with the fact that the roster limits need to be expanded. The season ending IR rules certainly need to be looked at hard while they are in the mood to make rue changes now. Like I said, I’m still not sure how I feel about a 18 game season. I’ve never experienced a year like that. There are positives and negatives to the change, just like there is with everything else in life. However, I firmly believe the roster limits should be changed even if they do not expand to 18 games. Enjoy the weekend!
I’m going to write about this on GMENHQ.COM next week. A view of the 18 game schedule from the season ticket holder perspective, the team perspective, and hopefully a little bit of history.
Have a great weekend!
Sounds good Joe, I’ll be sure to check it out!