The NFL has some issues

The NFL has some issues.

The most glaring of which is player arrests. An estimated 50… The NFL has some issues.

The most glaring of which is player arrests. An estimated 50 arrests were made last year involving NFL players and coaches, with roughly a fifth of them coming from the Bengals.

Or put it this way: If the Bengals were to pick up Adam “Pacman” Jones and Tank Johnson this offseason, they might have to move from Cincinnati to Sing Sing for their home games next year.

Another issue is what to do about the current overtime system.

The topic of overtime in the NFL has been one of discussion for some time. Many are not fans of the sudden-death-style overtime, and want to possibly switch to the way college conducts its extra period.

In college, each team takes at least one possession from the opponent’s 25-yard line. They have four downs to score, and then it’s the other team’s chance. They go back and forth until one team has successfully stopped the other team from equating their score.

Last week, the NFL coaches, general managers and owners met to discuss the supposed problem. Nothing changed. Would you like to take a guess as to why?

Because the NFL overtime system is fine as is.

People like to complain, especially when they lose. And overtime is something that can be easily criticized and called unfair because it’s possible to lose without ever touching the ball.

But here’s my problem. In football, more so than in any other sport, there is an emphasis on defense. Each team has a separate unit, complete with different players, just for defense. Yet when it comes to overtime, everyone assumes they will lose the game if they have to start without the ball.

It seems a bit contradictory that defenses are supposed to “win championships,” but teams don’t trust them enough to win in overtime.

Teams basically place their chances of winning on the toss of a coin, and not on actual game play. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but even though the old adage disagrees, tails does sometimes fail, so why give up just because you have to kick the ball off?

On top of that, there’s this little 60-minute interval known as “regulation.” If your team is winning once that ends, guess what? No overtime.

Sudden death overtime is also infinitely more exciting than anything else the NFL could put in its place. One screw up from any member of either team could result in a loss. There’s so much pressure on each player, and it’s extremely nerve-wracking for the fans, especially if Doug Brien is your team’s kicker.

In college-style overtime, if you blow an assignment on defense, it’s likely that your team can still win the game. Not in the NFL. Everyone needs to play nearly flawless football to win. College overtime could conceivably go on for hours if it had to. The NFL is just one overtime period, unless it’s a playoff game, and then the game ends in a tie.

Actually, if there is one thing the NFL should change, it’s the tie. I just don’t like seeing a third column next to football teams. It’s not hockey; all we need are wins and losses.

The NFL needs to add something after overtime to eliminate the tie altogether. It could be anything, and I’d be more satisfied than seeing a tie.

Have the two fastest players on each team start at their respective end zones, place a ball at the 50 yard line and play steal the bacon. Have some sort of team dance off. Even better, flip another coin to determine the winner.

Oh wait, that’s how this whole discussion started isn’t it? Scratch that idea.

Steal a page from the NHL, and have a shootout, except use the kickers. Have each kicker try to make five field goals with each one increasing in distance. That would make field goals fun to watch, but then again, overtime already does that.

NFL overtime is one of the only ways to possibly make a field goal exciting. The only two other ways a field goal is exciting is if it comes as time expires to win the game in regulation or if Tony Romo is the placeholder.

Speaking of Romo, another issue was recently brought up. The NFL passed a ruling that states that kickers and punters will now have 45 minutes to prepare the balls for the game, 25 more minutes than last year. Those 12 balls, used only for kicking, will now be monitored by the referees instead of the ball boys.

How does this relate to Tony Romo? Well, during last year’s playoffs, Romo botched a snap on a 19-yard field-goal attempt that would have won the game for his team. It was a perfect snap, but he just dropped it.

Conspiracy theorists believe that the Seahawk ball boy slipped in a brand new ball before the field goal attempt, and since it wasn’t worked on, it was too slippery for Romo to hold. Their biggest piece of evidence is that the ball looked really shiny.

The rule has supposedly been under review for a few months, but the Romo play pushed it over the edge and led to its passing. It’s being referred to as the “Romo Rule.”

It’s just a ridiculous rule. Ball boys are, what, about 15 years old at most? If the kid did actually did switch the ball to a new one, I’d like to hang a poster of him in my room.

I’d buy a plane ticket to Seattle just to shake his hand if he did indeed cheat to help his team win. The image of Tony Romo sitting on the field crying is worth more than a plane ticket across the country.

We better hope that Peyton Manning or Tom Brady are never severely injured, or else we may see the NFL make quarterbacks wear red jerseys and hang flags out of their pants instead of taking hits.

The NFL used to be a league where leather helmets were considered sufficient safety equipment. Now people can’t chalk up a loss and learn from it. They have to blame it on a ball boy or coin toss.

What’s more absurd is that winning the coin toss doesn’t ensure a win. Just ask Marty Morningweg.