Historically, are we at the peak of the NFL?
Is this the highest high? The greatest time ever to be watching football?
I would argue, yes. Especially, this year. We have some amazing stuff going on in the NFL and it's reached an epitome and a climax. In 10-15 years we will all look back and tell our kids, I watched Peyton Manning's first game, I saw Brady stumble into a few Super Bowls and win. I watched Carson Palmer, Drew Brees, Randy Moss, Kurt Warner, Donovan McNabb, Terrell Owens, and all the new young guys.
In the late 80s and early 90s we had Elway, Montana, and Marino and that was it! Jim Kelly, Steve Young, Warren Moon, and Troy Aikman came on in the early to mid 90s. That was an awesome time to be an NFL fan. Then we had a huge gap when they all retired or were forced out of the game. Free agency started in 1993, and changed the game forever. You no longer had 1 or 2 dominant teams. Every team had a a chance every year.
Manning and Brady didn't get going till very late 90s and early 2000s. And look where we are now?
Look at some of the amazing quarterback talent we have playing now. We have some awesome "veterans" like Favre, Manning, Brees, Brady, McNabb, and Warner. We have some amazing young guys playing as well Flaco, Stafford, Matt Ryan, Romo, Rivers, Palmer, Cutler, Orton, and Eli. We have some unbelievable WR play with Randy Moss, Steve Smith, Andre Johnson, Terrell Owens, Brandon Marshall, Wes Welker, Reggie Wayne, Santonio Holmes, Sidney Rice. We also have some unbelievable running backs playing Ladanian, Adrian Peterson, Chris Johnson, Cedric Benson, Steven Jackson, Thomas Jones, Brandon Jacobs, MJD, Michael Turner, Ryan Grant, Ray Rice, and tons more.
Is this the greatest time ever to be an NFL fan? I think so. Never have we had the kind of play and level of execution and talent that we have now. It's almost mindboggling that we have this much talent performing this well.
Why?
The selection process of "getting into the NFL" is more rigorous and scrutinizes players much better than before. The NFL combine, the fact that more college teams run pro style practices and schemes, the ability to evaluate players and personnel, better people in the front office with more experience than ever. Take a look at Bill Parcels. Now he is a talent evaluator and management type of guy. So now you have management and front office people in place that know how to evaluate players, how to motivate them, and what it takes to build a successful team. This is happening in most teams.
Regardless, it's a great time to be an NFL fan! This is awesome! Cherish and watch every game, the season will be over soon!
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