MSNBC/Sporting News:NFL brings out the best in pro sports

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NFL brings out the best in pro sports

League has all the intangibles to keep fans interested all the time

By Dan Pompei

Updated: 3:21 p.m. ET Aug. 31, 2004

Competition. Sacrifice. Strategy. Surprise. Raw emotion. The basic elements that comprise pro football also are the reasons the NFL has such a grip on us.

Put off our chores on Sunday afternoons. Buy a satellite dish and TiVo. Invite some buddies over. Wear our favorite player's jersey. Rise and fall with each play. Curse our fantasy team's luck. Vent to a sports talk-radio show. Stay up late to watch the highlights.

What is it about the NFL that sucks us in and doesn't let go? Why do we love this game?

"I think," says Broncos safety John Lynch, "that it's the greatest thing going."

These are some of the reasons.

Drama

In no other sport are so many survival struggles played out so vividly. In the NFC Central, the defending champion Packers will be trying, futilely, perhaps, to hold off their border rivals, the up-and-coming Vikings.

With a proven brand of leadership, Denny Green will be attempting to drag the Cardinals out of the NFC West basement.

Travis Henry and Willis McGahee will wage a turf war for handoffs in Buffalo.

The Dolphins will be trying to prove — perhaps to themselves as well as America — that they can win without Ricky Williams.

Fading legends Rich Gannon, Kurt Warner, Tim Brown and Marshall Faulk will be trying to prove they still can do what once made them great.

The Bucs will try to show last year was an aberration, but they'll be doing it after a complete makeover of their team identity.

Second-year Ravens quarterback Kyle Boller will try desperately to not let down a team that features what could be the best defense and running game in the NFL.

Unpredictability

In no other sport are there so many unexpected developments.

There will be teams that rise from nowhere this season, as the Panthers did a year ago. And there will be teams that fall fast and hard, as the Raiders did in 2003.

This year's Panthers could be the Jets, a team that dipped last season in part because quarterback Chad Pennington missed seven starts. This year's Raiders could be the Cowboys, who are going into the season with too-ripe Vinny Testaverde and too-green Drew Henson at quarterback.

"We have a situation now where just about everybody feels they can win it all," Colts coach Tony Dungy says. "We have teams that don't make the playoffs the year before going to the Super Bowl. We have teams that go to the Super Bowl that don't make the playoffs the next year. I think that is what makes the country really want to watch."

Spectacle

In no other sport do you see the combination of size, speed and strength you see in the NFL.

Ever see Jevon "Freak" Kearse with his shirt off? The first time his new teammates in Philadelphia did, they jokingly asked him if he was taking a banned supplement.

Try to explain how someone the size of Cowboys safety Roy Williams (6-0, 235) can move like someone much smaller. Or how Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher can weigh 252 pounds and have 5.8 percent body fat. Want more to marvel at? Check out the arm strength of Falcons quarterback Michael Vick ... the quick feet of massive Ravens offensive tackle Jonathan Ogden ... the cutting ability of Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson ... the power of Raiders defensive tackle Ted Washington ... the speed of Vikings receiver Randy Moss.

"The difference in the level of play of the top guys is unbelievable — some of the things they can do, ground they can cover, catches they can make, moves they can make," Bengals quarterback Jon Kitna says. "I get in trouble because my coach always wants me to carry out my fakes, but I'm turning to watch the play."

Strategy

In no other sport do you see the planning for opponents made into such science.

One of the NFL's greatest strategists ever, Joe Gibbs, is back in charge of the Redskins, and everyone is talking about what his game plans will be like. "He probably will do things very similar to what he did before," Eagles coach Andy Reid says. "I think he has a base philosophy he's going to stick by."

Gibbs' strategy is of particular concern to the Bucs, who travel to Washington in the opening week. Gibbs' last victory in the NFL came against the same style of defense the Bucs play. It was a playoff game in January 1993 against the Vikings. The Vikings' defensive coordinator was Tony Dungy, who also implemented the Bucs' current defensive system during his reign as head coach, and the Vikings' linebackers coach was current Bucs defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin. The Gibbs-style offense always matched up well against the Dungy-style defense, and on that day the Redskins held the ball for close to 43 minutes and ran for 196 yards.

For Kiffin, the delicious challenge will be to come up with a better game plan this time.

Chemistry

In no other sport do you see so many personalities melding to reinforce a collective effort, or so many personalities failing to meld and sabotaging a collective effort.

The Patriots won two of the last three Super Bowls in part because their team chemistry was the best in the NFL. They threatened that chemistry this season by trading for running back Corey Dillon, who has a history of making waves. Dillon has been a model citizen up to this point. Then again, he always has been a model citizen when things are going his way.

The Patriots won't guarantee Dillon will be a league leader in rushes. Dillon probably will average about 18 carries a game, but New England won't hesitate to feature backups Kevin Faulk or Mike Cloud if the opponent or conditions dictate one of them has a greater chance of success. You have to wonder how Dillon will respond then, and what the effect on the Patriots will be.

The Eagles also took an interesting chemistry gamble, trading for Terrell Owens. The receiver had problems getting along with teammates and coaches in San Francisco. So far, it's been all balloons and bonbons in Philadelphia, with Owens and quarterback Donovan McNabb forming a comedy team in the locker room.

"Terrell means well," Kearse says. "He may dress a little different from us at times, with his Spiderman uniform on and with everybody else in team issue stuff. If that's what he needs to get himself mentally ready, I'm for it. As far as anything else, we're a team. We can't let anyone be an individual and cause conflict among the team."

Aggression

In no other sport are the collisions so wicked, the intent so plain to see.

Titans safety Lance Schulters: "You can get your aggressions out on every play. I don't want to say I want to end a person's career, but you want to get a good shot so that you see a snot bubble coming out of their nose."

Falcons linebacker Keith Brooking: "I dream about the perfect hit every night ... when you bring your helmet under their chin, you roll your hips and explode into them, and the next thing that makes contact is their head on the ground. I try to visualize that before each game and make it happen."

Lynch: "Some hits, they hurt, but when you get the sweetest ones, you don't feel them. You hear the 'ooooooooh' from the crowd, and you're in that zone, feeling pure."

Sacrifice

In no other sport do you see selflessness to the extent you see it in the NFL.

Take the case of Kitna. Last season, he was the NFL's comeback player of the year, and only Brett Favre and Peyton Manning threw more touchdown passes. In the off-season, coach Marvin Lewis told Kitna he was giving the starting job to Carson Palmer, the first overall pick in the 2003 draft. Kitna could have forced the Bengals to release or trade him. Instead, he restructured his contract to help the team.

"I don't ever want to be one of those guys who is in it for myself," Kitna says. "Sometimes that will hurt you, but I'm willing to accept it because when it's all said and done, I want people to remember my character, my integrity, remember that I was one of the better guys they've been around. That's what I want people to think."

There still is hope for Kitna. Though the Bengals are committed to the development of Palmer, who is sure to be a future star, Lewis says he won't hesitate to play Kitna if Palmer struggles. "We've got to win games," Lewis says. "I owe it to Willie Anderson and Rudi Johnson and all the guys on this team to make sure we have an opportunity to win every game."

Even if it means Palmer lying down for the cause.

Precision

In no other sport is the choreography so explicit.

The Colts, with Peyton Manning at quarterback, make about 85 percent of their play calls at the line of scrimmage. And they rarely have a blown play. The Patriots' defense changes fronts — 3-4 to 4-3 to 3-4 to 4-3 — more often than cheerleaders change outfits. And every player will nail his assignment on just about every call.

In a single play, there might be thousands of opportunities for error. We often don't think of them in this light, but NFL players are true craftsmen in pursuit of perfection.

"The thing I love about it is you can never be 100 percent," Dolphins middle linebacker Zach Thomas says. "I don't think anybody ever has gone mistake-free in a game. Even if you have a great game, you can do better. You never feel satisfied, and if you do, it all changes the next week."

Teamwork

In no other sport are so many so dependent on the actions of others.

The concept of teamwork is illustrated perfectly by the Packers' offensive line, which should be the NFL's best line in 2004.

Chad Clifton, Mike Wahle, Mike Flanagan, Marco Rivera and Mark Tauscher are going into their fourth season as a starting unit, not counting time missed because of injuries, and Wahle, the left guard, says their familiarity with one another has made "an exponential difference" in their effectiveness.

"If we have a pass play, and we're sliding our protection left, we all know the offense so well being together for so long that we can see blitzes coming," Wahle says. "The quarterback doesn't have to make the adjustment; we can make the adjustment. I know where the center is going to be every play, and he knows where I'm going to be. It's the same with the left tackle. We're all on the same page."

Playing in Green Bay might give its line an advantage. "We're in a small town; we all live in close proximity to each other, so we're always hanging out," Wahle says. "If we're not busting each other's stones, we're usually talking about football and what our opponent is like the next week. We feed off one another."

Passion

In no other sport are the emotions so raw.

Being big, athletic and smart will get you only so far in the NFL. In order to be the best, players must have a little Ray Lewis in them. The Ravens' stellar middle linebacker might not have sold his soul for the love of the game, but he certainly gives of it freely.

Win or lose, Chiefs coach Dick Vermeil will cry in 2004. And he won't be the only one. The vicissitudes of the NFL have a way of exposing its warriors, as well as its fans.

"Every part of your being goes into a game," 49ers safety Tony Parrish says. "The mental aspect, physical aspect, emotional aspect. It takes everything you have to be successful. Win or lose, on game day you are spent. But when you see the highlights, your blood starts pumping, you start getting chills on your neck, then you know it's in you. You know the love is there."

When the clock expires on Super Bowl Sunday, and the confetti starts to fall and the champions' song begins to play, there is no feeling like the sense of accomplishment that washes over the winning team and its loyalists. This year, when the Patriots win again, even Bill Belichick might crack a smile.

© 2004 The Sporting News