The end of the three point stance?

Where did I say expansion does nothing to the quality of the game? I think in the short term the expansion teams arent very good but they catch up pretty quickly. Of course if the league went by your logic there would be maybe 4 or 6 teams. Only the very best players would be on the teams and the quality (whatever that means) would be sky high, but I doubt there'd be very much interest nationwide. Bringing in the AFL didnt hurt the NFL. Adding TB, Seatt & Jax didnt hurt.

I'm not sure what you mean by shitty product since that's pretty subjective. As long as the games are close and exciting the NFL and 90% of fans would say the product is fine.

I dont think the idea is stupid but I do think logistically it would be difficult. Expansion has nothing to do with the quality of the game, it has to do with making $. The only reason the NFL ever expands is to make more $. The NFL is pretty much out of ways to squeeze $ out of its American fans so by expanding overseas it can tap a whole new set of wallets. The overseas fans will never really fullembrace the game until they have a team of their own to follow. Once they have that team they will start buying the hats shirts and other junk the NFL sells. In addition to the TV contract and expansion fees. Its a lot of $ that cant be ignored.

i think the leauge is good where it stands right now, if it expanded they would have to have more games add more players per team and i think that would in turn bring down the qaulity of games and make each game mean that much less, just my opinion

They're not protecting the players for their own good. They're protecting their investments.

point taken

Playing football can't be good for your brain long-term. I think in the next 10 years or so more conclusive evidence about concussions will emerge, which of course won't be good for the game's image. I see a few things on the horizon - 18 games, lockout, economics - that could really mark the beginning of the end for the nfl as the country's most popular sport.

I agree, the punishment these guys can take is akin to boxing almost with the head jars either from hitting or getting hit. A collision of two or more 200+lb men is a lot of punishment to absorb over say a 10-15 year period. Shoot Rick James had long term neck trouble just from doing that quick jerk of the neck move he always did way back when. Look at all those old timer with Parkinson's now, not to mention all knee replacements needed once they get old. As for lockout economics, who knows, but these folks need to come down with both their salaries and pricing soon or the NFL is going to go Kaput. Can't believe Goodell is still pushing the international crap, when the Eurozone is going to shit economically, not much interest in the NFL in S America or Asia, or should I say not enough to sustain a franchise anyway. Damn, the NFL can't even fill its domestic stadiums, much less one overseas.

I can appreciate where Goodell is coming from in trying to expand the NFL Empire, but I think he needs to just consolidate what he has. Like with everything else, when the money becomes the sole objective, everything becomes poisoned or jaded. Expanding to 18 games is nuts in lieu of the dramatic increase in injuries sustained every year. Like I stated before, the global economy is going down the crapper, and overseas markets simply do not or will not exist in the near future because of this.

If there's one thing that's going to hurt organized football it's these head injuries, which have received a raft of publicity this past year. If parents start pushing their talented children into other sports out of a legitimate fear of debilitating injury, that will mark the slow choking death of pro football in this country. Thus it is necessary for the NFL to get in front of this issue anyway that it can.

sometimes big dumb strong people don't fit into any other sport though, not that that's a blanket statement about football players

my 2 concussions were suffered outside of football, never had a football related injury

1 was in wrestling, the other was 2 idiots fucking around in the warmup room for weight lifting which had wrestling mats down.. I was sitting there and some dude was spinning this tiny kid around by his arms and next thing I know I'm knocked out because I got knocked in the side of the head. Once I found out what happened later that day I came back in the next and pummeled dude on the mat

i think the leauge is good where it stands right now, if it expanded they would have to have more games add more players per team and i think that would in turn bring down the qaulity of games and make each game mean that much less, just my opinion

Its interesting that you think the game is good where it is now because when I talk to my Dad he thinks its way too diluted and there are too many players that dont belong. I guess one man's trash really is another man's treasure.