Each April, professional football teams participate in the NFL Draft in hopes of acquiring bigger, faster, and stronger players to help their respective football teams win games (Shorr-Parks). One trend that has began to arise recently is the heavily sought after and need for taller wide receivers. Year after year, the average height of males is increasing and professional sports teams, specifically NFL teams, have taken notice of this growing trend; therefore, professional football teams have began to draft taller players in order to fill the wide receiver position. The presence of these taller wide receivers cause havoc for defensive cornerbacks, as well as providing their quarterback with a bigger target, especially in the end zone. For …show more content…
Philadelphia Eagles’ Nnamdi Asomugha (six foot, two inches), one of the tallest cornerbacks in the league, attempts to answer that question by stating that the reason the wide receiver position is getting taller and the cornerback position is not is because it is much easier to play offense (Trotter). Ultimately for the most part, it would make sense to just sign and play bigger corners against tall wide receivers, but it’s hard to find defenders at that size who have the ability to defend and play off of or press the receiver, while being able to run with them. Asomugha also stated that for a big guy like himself to defend taller, quicker wide receivers, it takes a lot of work in the off-season to maintain not only his flexibility, but also his ability to get low. For him, keeping his legs and core at a certain strength is crucial in order to keep up with the growing wide receivers (Trotter). Jim Schwartz, coach of the Detroit Lions, has also observed that every position on the football field has gotten bigger over the last ten years except for cornerbacks. During Schwartz’s interview, he also spoke about the nature of playing cornerback and how it requires agility and the need to change direction (Trotter). It is obvious that the difference in height is not an ignored or unnoticed problem, however it is an issue that is very difficult to solve immediately. One team that believes they have found the answer to this issue are the Seattle Seahawks. The Seahawks, most known for their electric and hardnosed defense, are the only team in the NFL to have starting cornerbacks over six foot, three inches. Pete Carroll, coach of the Seattle Seahawks, knew that his big corners, Brandon Browner (six foot, four inches) and Richard Sherman (six foot, three inches), would be at a disadvantage
Nathan Ross “Nate” Jackson, went to Menlo College in California, it is a small school with about 750 students. Nate was on their football team from 1999-2001 and was the star of the team. He went undrafted to the San Francisco 49ers in 2002. Then was traded to the Denver Broncos and was on their team from 2003-2008 (six seasons). He was not a high caliber player, but he was on the first team, so he got to experience what the NFL was really like. Nate, is also the author of “Slow Getting Up: A Story of N.F.L. Survival from the Bottom of the Pile.” This book is all about the NFL experience, and what it is like to survive in the NFL. So, when it comes to his credibility, Nate knows firsthand what it feels like to be on the bottom on the pile, and what it is like getting hit while in midair attempting to catch the
Are young children putting their health and even their lives at risk if they partake in the sport of football? Some claim that the American sport is far too dangerous and the risk of concussions and injuries far outway the pros of the physical sport, while others insist that technological improvements and new regulations have made the sport safer. Jonathan Zimmerman, a professor of history and education at New York University, argues in his paper, “We Must Stop Risking the Health of Young Football Players,” that football is a sport that is too dangerous for the youth. He states his belief that technological improvements in helmets and changes in the rules of the sport have had little effect on reducing injuries and that nothing has worked.
Playing football comes with several risks factors that players’ acknowledge prior to playing the game starting a young age. Regardless, these players still chose to play the game, which they end up loving and cherishing despite all the risks accompanied with it. Football is one of the toughest sports in the world; it takes a certain amount of strength, speed, and aggressiveness to play 48 minutes of hard-nosed football. However, the National Football League (NFL) is in the midst of a controversial issue. Is the NFL getting soft? This has been a debatable issue for several years. While some believe that implementing all these rules in the NFL is progressively turning the game soft, others say that the NFL is not getting soft; it is just trying to make the game safer for its players.
There are thousands of high school football players across the nation, and a handful of them have what it takes to play at the college level. Those that do have the raw talent normally get reached by college football recruiters and coaches. The NCAA, the National College Athletic Association, has many rules and regulations especially surrounding the rules and conduct of recruiting student athletes. Men's football takes the most notice, as well as basketball, of all collegiate sports in the U.S. today (Smith, 2015). According to Langelett (2003), the NCAA limits each school to 85 football scholarships. With a limited number of scholarships available, schools spend a considerable amount of time and money on recruiting players.
Some are trading the fun and experience of diversifying between basketball, baseball, soccer, etc. for year-round football. As a result, overuse injuries are occurring at an alarming rate among these one-sport wonders. For example, "Little League Elbow" describes overuse injuries in kids who are repetitively throwing the ball. Kids are sustaining severe injuries to their growth plates, neck and spinal cord that could end their career in pro-sports before it begins....
"2013 Player Health & Safety Report." 2013 Player Health & Safety Report. National Football League, n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2013. (Magazine)
When looking for an argumentative visual I wanted to do something over a topic that was one day going to relate to me. So I chose the topic of young male children playing tackle football. In this PBS Learning Media documentary, a group of doctors persuasively discuss the effects of allowing a male child under the age of fourteen to play tackle football and the head injuries it can cause as well as the later effective of their growth they can encounter if a hard blow to the head was the happen. The documentaries argument clearly stated that allowing your children to play tackle before the age of fourteen is dangerous and should be avoided for the child 's safety. The film also successfully utilized many rhetorical appeals that convinces parents to reconsider their idea of allowing their son to participate in tackle football. The first rhetorical appeal used in the film was pathos, it was a video clip of a child on the ground hurt because of a hard hit to the head. Another rhetorical appeal used was logos when they interviewed doctors from highly respected fields to state their factual
II. Summary: Players’ safety should be focused on more by making rules stricter in the NFL, teaching younger players how to tackle, and increasing the rules because helmets do not always prevent concussions.
Duffer, Mikale J., and Seth L. Feinberg. "Race and the NFL Draft: Views from the Auction Book."
On Sundays in the fall people all over the world are watching pro football. But do they know how it came to be or how the rules have gotten to be the way they are today? Most people don’t, so I am going to tell you all about it.
Walter Payton was born in July 25, 1954. Son of Peter and Alyne Payton, Walter Payton was born in Colombia, Missouri. Walter’s father wasn’t really into football as much as people thought, Peter Payton was a semi-pro baseball player. Walter was had one older brother Eddie, who was born 3 years before Walter but in the near future wasn’t the one to be a football star. Eddie learned a lot about football from his dad, but when Walter was born, he knew he would have competition. At a very young age Walter and Eddie would have pickup games in the backyard. When Walter was 5 he started to play in a little league. Coaches were shocked to see Walter play football, almost every time he touched the football, touchdown. Not only his parents, but the players, and the coaches noticed that the harder Walter works he could go far.
The problems and injuries that come with playing football have been obvious since the beginning, and to this day are still being discovered and researched in hopes of finding solutions so that the sport is not so dangerous. Malcolm Gla...
First of all, the rules of football require one to equip himself with approximately twenty pounds of equipment, including a helmet, shoulder pads, and girdle pads. This is because football has the most contact involved out of all sports. In a football game, the norm is that the home team wears colorful jerseys and the visiting team wears white jerseys. Moreover, if a team’s offense is on the field, their defense is on the sideline. A team’s offense includes a center, who snaps the ball to the quarterback. The “QB” then has a choice to run with the ball, hand it off to a running back, or throw it to a wide receiver. The quarterback has an offensive line to protect him from the assailing defense. If a teammate happens to score a touchdown, he earns his team six points, which allows for the kicker to kick an extra point, and give his team a total of seven points. However, if the offense fails to travel at least ten yards within four attempts, or “downs,” they have the opti...
Soccer is such an incredible sport in which players of all sizes may rise to celebrity, also augmenting its [accessibility]. Nevertheless, in today’s professional level, when it comes to winning head balls in the back or for scoring goals tall players are an important part of a team.
The training and practices required to play professional football are intense. You have to wear uncomfortable pads and helmets and endure grueling practices in the heat of the summer and you have to lift weights every day (Green 174). You have to train no matter what position you play. What’s important about is how the position works and how it contributes to the game. Young boys must join high school football team, the road to football star begins in high school.