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 Verfasst am: 16.08.2018, 10:48 Titel:
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>It was one of the great Super Bowls ever http://www.coltsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-tyquan-lewis-jersey , a dramatic comeback win that cemented forever the legacies of Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.No one could have predicted February’s game could very well have been the NFL’s last great defining moment.A league that once seemed untouchable is under siege as the turbulent 2017 regular season draws to a close. A tsunami of troubles 鈥?some self-inflicted 鈥?have been washing over the NFL, and for the first time in a half century or so the league’s warts are on prominent display.The national anthem controversy has hurt far more than the league is willing to admit, reaching all the way into the White House. And despite measures taken to protect player brains, it’s increasingly clear that there is little anyone can really do about concussions in a very violent sport.Turn on the TV on any given Sunday and there are wide swatches of empty seats in stadiums in some cities. The television audience itself is down, though commissioner Roger Goodell says it is only off about 1 percent for the year.There’s infighting among owners that spilled out in a very public way over Goodell’s new contract extension. And there’s a good chance players won’t be so docile when their 10-year deal expires after the 2020 season and demand guaranteed contracts like players get in almost every other sport.Even the official pizza of the NFL seems to be in trouble. Papa John’s founder John Schnatter blamed “poor leadership” by the NFL in dealing with the anthem controversy for a drop in recent quarterly profits, only to have the company apologize later on for saying the protests should have been stopped.That the NFL is having issues isn’t anything new. The league has had to deal with other controversies in recent years, ranging from Deflategate to the way it deals with domestic violence accusations against players.But this seems different. These, for the most part, are systemic issues that seem immune to easy solutions.Basketball great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was thinking along those lines recently when he wrote an op-ed piece predicting that the NBA would one day supplant the NFL as America’s favorite sports league.That might be a stretch, but the argument could be made that the very violence that made the league so attractive over the years may end up being part of its eventual undoing.“A broken arm or cracked rib is one thing, the scars that prompt bragging rights Jimmy Garoppolo Jersey 49ers , but widespread permanent brain damage that affects players for the rest of their lives is beyond entertainment,” Abdul-Jabbar wrote in the Guardian. “There is nothing sexy about depression and dementia.”No there isn’t, and because we’re now more enlightened about that it’s no longer entertaining to watch players slam head-on into each other. The conundrum facing the league, though, is that without the very violence that is the core of the game football loses much of its appeal.That same violence is also to blame for short career spans, which makes it hard for fans to identify with individual players. While the NBA is built on its superstars, NFL teams for the most part consist of interchangeable players that the average fan wouldn’t recognize if they saw them on the street.The game itself is also unwatchable at times, with way too many stoppages to look at plays in ways never imagined when instant replay first came into existence. No one seems to know just what a catch is anymore, or what causes replay officials in New York to micromanage things not seen by the naked eye.Still, the NFL continues to draw TV audiences other leagues can only dream of. The Super Bowl gets 100 million viewers, a Sunday night prime-time game might draw 20 million Youth Christian Kirk Jersey , and even the Thursday night games are for the most part competitive in the national ratings.And while there are plenty of empty seats in some markets, there are still sign-up lists for season tickets in others.Americans still like to get their fix of football, but for how long?A year that began on a high note with Brady and the Patriots overcoming a 25-point deficit to win the first overtime Super Bowl comes to an end with the NFL at a crossroads. There are perilous times ahead as the league tries to find a new balance and retain its appeal while at the same time court a new generation of fans.The NFL hasn’t killed the golden goose, far from it. That showed when city leaders in Las Vegas agreed to raise $750 million in tourist taxes to bring the Raiders to town beginning with the 2020 season.But the league can no longer afford to take fans for granted. It can no longer afford to alienate entire cities like San Diego, St. Louis and Oakland simply because there’s more money to be made elsewhere.There’s a long way to go from the top of the mountain to wherever the NFL may end up 50 years from now.But it sure seems like the downhill part of the journey has begun._Tim Dahlberg is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at tdahlbergap.org or The Tennessee Titans‘ draft strategy underscores how close they believe they are to competing for a Super Bowl berth.
Convinced of their depth elsewhere, the Titans traded up to select defensive players they had long targeted and largely ignored their offense .
They ended up with just four draft picks – the fewest of any NFL team this year and the least in franchise history.
”Some of these names we drafted are guys we talked about in February,” Titans coach Mike Vrabel said.
Vrabel was hired in January to improve a team that went 9-7 and lost to New England in the AFC divisional round after earning its first playoff victory since January 2004 .
”I think we are a more talented roster now, and it’s our job,” general manager Jon Robinson said . ”That’s our job, to try to get as many good football players on the team as possible and let them compete for spots.”
They didn’t take a single offensive player until drafting Pac-12 career passing leader Luke Falk of Washington State in the sixth round with the 199th overall pick.
The Titans’ defensive picks included Alabama linebacker Rashaan Evans in the first round, Boston College outside linebacker Harold Landry in the second round and Arizona defensive back Dane Cruikshank in the fifth. The Titans traded up and gave up draft picks to get each of those three players.
That represents a huge change for a team that had taken an offensive player with its first pick every year from 2011-17.
Tennessee already had addressed its major offensive concerns in free agency with the additions of running back Dion Lewis Jets Elite Jerseys , guard/tackle Kevin Pamphile and guard Xavier Su’a-Filo .
Evans and Landry boost the front seven, the Titans’ top draft priority with Derrick Morgan and Brian Orakpo entering the final years of their contracts and Avery Williamson having already left for the New York Jets as a free agent.
Cruikshank adds depth to the secondary for a defense that ranked 25th against the pass last season. The Titans already released veteran safety Da’Norris Searcy in March, leaving their depth thin behind All-Pro safety Kevin Byard fellow starter Johnathan Cyprien. Tennessee did sign cornerback Malcolm Butler away from New England in March.
Other things to know about the Titans’ draft:
LONG WAIT
Falk expected to get taken much earlier. The former walk-on set Pac-12 records in yards passing, total offense, touchdown passes, pass completions and pass attempts.
”I think just the word that came to mind would just be `shocked,”’ Falk said. ”It wasn’t exactly how I thought it would play out, but I’m very grateful. I’m grateful that a team in Tennessee took a chance on me and is giving me an opportunity to compete and go in there and help the football team.”
Falk’s two sisters are aspiring country singers who live in Nashville. Falk gives the Titans someone to groom as a possible backup to Marcus Mariota after signing veteran Blaine Gabbert in March.
MAGIC NUMBER
The 6-foot-4 Falk went to the Titans with the 199th overall pick. That’s the same pick New England used on Tom Brady back in 2000. Falk considers himself a big Brady fan.
”I just think that we kind of have the same similarities and style of play,” Falk said. ”We are not the most mobile guys. We do stuff in the pocket, creating throws in a small space. We are accurate. He’s the best to do it and somebody I look up to and just try to model my game after. It’s a huge coincidence that it is pick 199 and Tennessee took a shot on me.”
VERSATILE CRUIKSHANK
Although he spent much of his college career at cornerback, Cruikshank says he could play anywhere in the secondary and that NFL teams were primarily viewing him as a safety. The Titans are listing him merely as a defensive back for now and praised Cruikshank’s versatility .
”Whatever they need me to play Trent Brown Color Rush Jersey , I’m willing to play,” Cruikshank said. ”I feel like I can do it all.”
PICKING FROM THE BEST
Cruikshank, who is 6-1 and 209 pounds, picked off three passes for Arizona last season. Two of his interceptions came against first-round draft picks Sam Darnold of Southern California and Josh Rosen of UCLA .
WHAT ABOUT RECEIVER?
The Titans didn’t draft a single wideout and will lean heavily on a batch of young receivers to complement Rishard Matthews, who is entering his seventh NFL season. Tennessee didn’t bring back Eric Decker and signed Michael Campanaro, who’s more of a special teams player with 31 combined receptions in four seasons.
That leaves Corey Davis, the fifth pick overall a year ago, along with Tajae Sharpe and Taywan Taylor. Sharpe spent last year on injured reserve, and Taylor is entering his second NFL season.
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AP Pro Football Writer Teresa M. Walker contributed to this report.
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