Concussions And Football Double Talk

"Every time I call it a game, you call it a business. And every time I call it a business, you call it a game!"   

~ The late John Matuszak, North Dallas Forty

Some of that tension still exists in football, though not too many people think it's anything but a business. Still guys go out there and give it their all, they'll run through the proverbial wall for their teammates, their pride, and their next contract.

NFL players have always played hurt. You can't ever question the heart of an NFL player since they've taken hits and gotten up thousands of times since they put on their peewee shoulder pads.

Now the science has caught up. We know more about concussions than we ever have, and teams and players are far more cautious than they've ever been. A player with a head injury doesn't just go back in. He has to go through a battery of tests before he's cleared to re-enter, and team doctors now side with caution. Even if it means sitting their star quarterback for the rest of the game or even into the next week.

Players will ultimately try to prove how tough they are - it's their nature. If they come out, their teammates will be let down or they may lose their job.

Alex Smith was the starting QB for the 49ers when he sustained a concussion against the Rams. He went against every instinctive football principle and told his team personnel he wasn't quite right.

Alex Smith sat out the rest of the Rams game (the only tie of the season), and was replaced by Colin Kaepernick the next week against the Bears (a huge win).

The old adage is "you can't lose your job because of an injury." But Coach Jim Harbaugh decided to stay with Kaepernick, and Smith's concussion forced him out of the huddle and onto the sidelines. And barring an injury to Kaepernick, Smith will be holding a clipboard during the Super Bowl.

So Alex Smith made the right move as far as his overall health goes, but the health of his career - and possibly his finances - took a big hit.

Maybe Jim Harbaugh would have made the move anyway, Kaepernick has proven he belongs at the highest level. But for Smith, he has to make sense of it all. And I'm sure he understands as much as anyone that pro football is a business.

Sudden Depth: Overtime Needs An Overhaul

The NFL overtime system is often criticized since both teams are not guaranteed to possess the football. The powers that be would tell you that the NFL is for tough guys, so you’d better take control of your own destiny and finish the thing in regulation or you may not get the ball.

It’s not an equitable system like college football in which each team gets a possession. Right? Wrong.

The college football overtime isn’t football. Starting 1st and 10 on your opponents’ 25-Yard line is a video game. All stats count in scoring situations which often lead to score totals that approach a college hoop game. It puts records in jeopardy, and the final score is often no indicator of the way the game went.

Worse than that, football staples like clock, field position and special teams have virtually no meaning. If you’re the punter (unless you’re also the holder) - you might as well hit the showers. If you’re a return guy – take the rest of the day off. By eliminating the specialists, you turn a game of chess into a game of checkers. It’s a hockey shootout on field turf.

So the college system doesn’t work either. But both teams need to have a possession, right?

Not necessarily.

Here’s the plan for both college and pros: One overtime period (15 minutes or 12 or 10). First team to 6 points wins, or whoever has the most when the clock runs out.

If Team A wins the toss, and they come down and score a touchdown, they win. Team B won’t be killed by a field goal, but they’ll have to answer. If they allow a TD, they don’t deserve the ball. Most importantly, the Touchdown is the walk-off Home Run. It’s the exclamation point. Not the question mark.

And there’s a world of strategy involved. It’s 4th Down, if you punt – will you ever get the ball back? If you make the Field Goal, do you squib it or kick deep? There are coffin corners and 2-minute offenses, safeties, and ties, yes the dreaded tie (obviously in Bowl games or Playoff games, you play multiple OTs if unsettled).

If two teams play 60 minutes to a deadlock, don’t take the coaches off the hook. They need to work overtime too.

Coming Soon to an NFL Stadium near you

One would have to think that Michael Vick will be playing pro football again this fall. America is built on second chances, and Vick is saying and doing the right things now to rejoin society and the workforce.

His work, of course, is a little more public than just about every other ex-con, and for that he will be under the microscope at all times.

Michael Vick won't be able to make the same missteps and errors in judgment.

There was the "Ron Mexico" alias, the name Vick gave while spreading genital herpes around the greater Atlanta area. There was the marijuana-in-a-fake-water-bottle incident at the airport. He gave the finger to his home crowd. And of course, the most heinous dog-fighting ring.

Vick is demonized for the behavior, but dogfights are clearly a sociological problem first. He grew up around it. His role models practiced it, his friends used him and his money to continue it. He was obviously all-too complicit in all of this, and he has paid the heaviest price.

He lost in the court of public opinion long before he lost his freedom. He's lost all his money, and as of now, still has lost the ability to make a living in his chosen profession. Basically, he's lost everything. And when he gets out of jail this summer, many will think of him as infamously as O.J. Simpson or Rae Carruth.

Since he is already at rock bottom, this is where redemption can begin. When he returns to society he will be 29 years old. He can use his notoriety to bring awareness to the sick circle that he was a part of, and spend his future time and money to be a productive member of the world. That is best achieved in sports' biggest spotlight.

I, personally, will be rooting for him. My opinion on this is somewhat shaded since I did a shoot with him when he was a young Virginia Tech Hokie in 1999 and I found him polite and unassuming, "Call me Mike." I don't know anyone in this business who met him and disliked him personally.

The second chance will likely be there for Mike. The third chance won't. That would be a waste of everybody's time.