Still making headlines

The National Football League (NFL) in America may have had a summer break yet it was not out of the news, meaning the first two weekends of action have brought a refreshing focus on the strategies and plays rather than the off-field politics.

Players have been making unwelcome headlines in the off-season with over 30 stars being arrested.
 
Most notable of these was the arrest and indictment of pre-season favourites, New England Patriots tight end, Aaron Hernandez, on a charge of first-degree murder on suspicion of shooting a man dead. In addition, Hernandez is now being investigated for an unsolved double homicide from last year.

Not far behind in the potential rogue’s gallery was the Cleveland Browns linebacker, Ausar Walcott, who was charged with attempted murder following a fight in a bar.
 
Unsurprisingly, both teams terminated their respective players from the contracts.

The arrest-rate for active players has been calculated at a staggering 1 in 47 with former cases including rape and dogfighting, although drink-driving is the highest-frequency crime committed.

At least the franchise owners can stop banging their heads against a wall as they have managed to settle out-of-court the concussion lawsuit brought by 4,500 former players who sued the league alleging they had concealed the impact of long-term brain damage.

The long-running class-action suit came to a close with an agreement to set aside $675million for concussion-related injury compensation with individual caps limited, the maximum being $5million for players with Alzheimer’s and $4million for deaths from chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Fifty per cent of the payments will be paid out over a 17-year duration while the league has also set aside $10million for medical research. 

The total set aside is $765million, which equates to approximately $30million per franchise which, in turn, is marginally above, on average, 10 per cent of the projected annual turnover for the coming season.

Liability has not been admitted by the NFL, which will also be able to keep internal documents confidential that allegedly reveal they knew about the neurological conditions emanating from heavy impacts.

It was with great enthusiasm that the players took to the pitch on the first Thursday in September, although defending champions, the Baltimore Ravens, had to forgo the usual honour of hosting the season opener due to a scheduling conflict with baseball’s Baltimore Orioles, instead having to make the trip to Denver.

After a scheduled 267 matches the season will end with Super Bowl XLVIII on February 2 at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

Any Groundhog Day repeat of last season is unlikely, despite the unpredictability of the league, particularly as this will be the first championship decider played in an open stadium in what will be a winter climate.

The reigning champions are not even favourites to win their division having lost eight of last season’s starters with the Bengals.

The NFC East looks one of the tightest divisions with the Cowboys, Redskins and Giants all looking capable of delivering a winning season, although all are inconsistent.

Last season saw three rookie quarterbacks impress although the Redskins’ Robert Griffin III (RG3) can be expected to start slowly having missed pre-season due to surgery on his knee. This was certainly true in the opener where his footwork looked sluggish and his offence one-dimensional having been restricted to a passing game.

The Redskins are more than a one-man rookie team and will again look to running back, Alfred Morris, who notched 1,600 yards last season, and the return of Brian Orakpo who will strengthen a suspect defence.

The Giants, led by the younger of the Manning brothers, Eli, may have two Superbowl titles in the last six years although they are a team that often flatters to deceive, having only made it to the play-offs in that time on three occasions.
 
To make matters worse no team has ever contested the Vince Lombardi Trophy in their own stadium. Eli has looked sloppy, conceding six turnovers in the opener.

* More NFL thoughts next week