This Cowboys player has a plan to improve officiating: Go back to the 1960s
The NFL and the NFL Players Association can’t agree on the color of the sky, but it’s a good bet both would concur that Cowboys defensive end Robert Quinn is slightly crazy when it comes to the topic of player safety within the confines of calling penalties.
Quinn is no different than most NFL players these days. Or fans. Or the media. Or the coaches. He has no clue what is and is not a penalty.
“Sure don’t,” he said. “I mean, you think you have clear rules but you have to put in the human factor.”
Yes. The “Human Factor.” Otherwise known as “error.”
Pass interference calls now require a Ph.D. in physics. A degree in philosophy is needed to assess an unnecessary roughness penalty.
Quinn has a remedy for all of this.
“What they should do is just go back to how it was in the 1960s rules,” he said “where it was a little more open and less restrictive.”
Watch any highlight from the 1960s. What was allowed then vs. now does not compare.
Hall of Fame defensive end Deacon Jones’ signature move would have had him kicked out of the league. Once the ball was snapped, his initial move was to use a “head slap” that would knock opposing linemen senseless, or at least off balance.
Quinn’s observations about the state of officiating are not unique.
“There are so many flags and it just slows everything down,” he said.
Quinn’s idea, while perversely enticing, is also not to apt fly with the rest of his union brothers who comprise the NFL Players Association. But he raises a valid point.
Would the players OK an approach that permits hits that are now penalties? Would the players want a game that allows for what is essentially a more brutal product? A game that looks like it is called in 1965?
Targeting. Hitting a defenseless player. Horse collar. These are all terms born this century.
We know the owners don’t care. They don’t want anyone to get hurt, but their priority is profit. That’s the only reason Colin Kaepnerick is not in the NFL, but ... that’s another column.
If a “less restrictive” approach to enforcing penalties has no effect on the popularity of their product, NFL owners are fine with all of it.
Fans always embrace violence.
The reason the NFL has enforced and discouraged more of the brutal hits is all too often their highest-priced players suffered injuries. Too many quarterbacks were going down. Quarterbacks are a big reason why the NFL trended this way years ago.
And now we know what these “1960s style” hits can do to the brain. Concussion awareness and prevention is an additional deterrent.
The issue is whether the players care, in the moment, enough to lobby to change the rules so they can play the game they want, without fear of a 15-yard flag or a $20,000 fine.
A good portion would be OK with Quinn’s idea. Because, right now, they are young and will live forever.
They are not considering the effects when a player is no longer playing, but rather he’s just a guy in his late 50s trying to maintain a decent quality of life.
How the NFL calls games these days needs improvement, but reverting to the 1960s is not quite the answer.
There is a midfield on this. Find it.
