NFL Parity is a Myth, Baseball is Equal!

Newk’s Bender on the Game

Throwing you a bender because I just thought you should know…

I attended my obligatory Super Bowl viewing party again this year and caught quite a bit of conversation on how great, fair and equal the NFL system is for balanced competition. Being a Cleveland Browns fan, these statements just didn’t seem right so I decided to investigate a little deeper. 

Can anyone tell me why fans seem to be in love with the so called “parity” of the NFL? It is a giant and complete myth that the NFL system and salary cap promote much better competitive balance. Based on this past Sunday, the Giants and Patriots have filled 8 of the 24 possible spots in the past 12 Super Bowls, one-third!

The consensus I hear often is that big spending teams in baseball (Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies are the most often mentioned) simply buy their championships. Just as a quick, short term example, not one of the top NINE spending teams in regards to payroll even won a playoff series in Major League Baseball last year. NFL fans shower me with explanations that the system in place for football allows all teams an even playing field and a fair, yearly chance to make it to the Super Bowl. Analysis shows this to be false.

 Each sport has its doormats, organizations never seeming to win and enduring long stretches of not being competitive regarding actually winning a championship. The Bengals, Bills, Dolphins, Lions, and even my beloved Browns dominate the argument that not all is equal in the NFL. The Pirates, Cubs, Expos/Nationals, Royals, and Orioles provide even more credence to the fact that well run, smart and thorough organizations win championships.

Depending on how far you would like to look back in analyzing this claim, the results still show this myth to be false. You can check out results of the last decade or go back to 1995 when baseball increased their playoff participants, or even go back to 1970 when the NFL and AFL merged for a deep, detailed look.

So if you study any of the time frames listed, you will see there is not any glaring difference regarding parity between the two sports when it comes to playing in the Super Bowl or World Series. If you take it a step further and just look at the winners of the championships, the same results occur. Ten different franchises have won the World Series since 1995 and four of them have done it more than once. For football, the NFL has had 11 franchises win the Super Bowl since the 1995 season with, surprise, four of them doing it more than once. 

The economic systems for baseball and football are vastly different, both with their advantages and drawbacks. Ultimately, it still comes down to judging talent, implementing winning systems, incorporating a sound executive group, and replenishing personnel. 

The NFL system is generally regarded as solid, sound and fair. The MLB system is constantly being charged with many flaws, but the chances of getting your team all the way to the ultimate round, the championship opportunity, is equal.

All this because I know more about nothing…

Super Bowl Running Backs Vs. The Greatest of All Time

Newk’s Bender on the Game

Throwing you a bender because I just thought you should know…

With the Super Bowl upon us and the New England Patriots playing for the championship without having a running back going over 700 yards for the season, it surely signifies how the game has changed from the days when Jim Brown established himself as the greatest running back of all time. 

The Patriot runners this year (Green-Ellis, Ridley, and Woodhead) combined for 1459 yards, a total Jim Brown exceeded by himself in three different seasons!

In this pass happy era of professional football where the quarterback is the most essential part of any team, don’t you think that there are times when Brady, Manning and Brees would love to just turn around and hand the ball to Jim Brown? Imagine the glee of head coaches and offensive coordinators as they call plays allowing Jim Brown to pound the line and achieve 5.2 yards per carry and 104.3 yards per game, on average!

While other running backs had phenomenal skills and careers, nobody compares to the consistency and excellence over an entire career. Walter Payton, Emmitt Smith fall woefully short and even the great Barry Sanders is behind Brown regarding average per carry and average per game. 

As Jim Brown’s career spanned an era where NFL teams played only 12, and then 14, games per season, we must look at averages in order to compare the runners equally. In 118 games, Brown was able to run for over 100 yards per game and over 5 yards per carry. Only Sanders approaches those numbers with 99.8 and 5.0 yards respectively. Again, Payton (88/4.4) and Smith (81.2/4.2) trail far behind despite gaudy career totals.

To lead his league in rushing for 8 of the 9 years he played shows his dominance over the competition which is another barometer that allows us to compare eras.  In just nine seasons, Brown retired and left the NFL as the record holder for both single-season (1,863 in 1963) and career rushing (12,312 yards), as well as the all-time leader in rushing touchdowns (106), total touchdowns (126), and all-purpose yards (15,549).

 

By contrast, Payton led the league once out of 13 seasons; Sanders just once also in 10 campaigns and Smith led the league 4 out of his 15 years.

So comparing Jim Brown to modern era runners allows us to see how he still ranks as the greatest running back of all time. Stacking him up against the most current edition of runners also shows us how much the game has changed, how unique Jim Brown was, and how we will never see a football player of his magnitude and dominance again.

All this because I know more about nothing…

Three Halls of Fame, Two Different Sports!!!

Newk's Bender on the Game

Throwing you a bender because I just thought you should know…

It is hard to fathom that a multi-sport college athlete would be forced to go professional in his second best sport, yet still become the greatest of all time at his position. It is hard to fathom of an athlete who was elected to three Halls of Fame, two of them in different sports! 

This athlete is considered one of the greatest lacrosse players of all time, revolutionizing the sport and even causing rules to be changed based on his dominance. He excelled in track, averaged over 13 points per game for his college basketball team, and was offered a big money contract to play baseball for the New York Yankees.

But it seemed best that after finishing a stellar career at Syracuse University that Jim Brown join the NFL.

Jim Brown was the greatest athlete in Syracuse University’s history. By earning ten varsity letters in four sports during his college career, he may even be considered the greatest American athlete of all time. 

Brown played basketball his sophomore and junior years for Syracuse (freshmen were in eligible for varsity in those days) and was second on the team in scoring his sophomore year with 15 PPG. He was a tremendous rebounder as well, using his athletic ability to overcome taller opponents. He did not return for his senior season as he could not be a starter because of racism. The unwritten rule back then only allowed two African-American starters and Syracuse had two others who were starting as well. Several experts believe Syracuse could have won the national title in 1957 if Brown had continued to play and been allowed to start.

Brown also competed for the Syracuse track team. Before Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders, Brown once competed in two different sports in the same day. In 1957, donning his track suit, he won the high jump and the javelin throw, came in second in the discus event which allowed Syracuse to defeat Colgate in a dual meet. Later, he changed into his lacrosse uniform and led the way to an 8-6 win over Army. 

Syracuse achieved an undefeated (10-0) season in lacrosse during Brown’s senior season. He had been named second team All American in his junior season and followed that in his senior year by finishing second nationally in scoring (43 goals in 10 games) and being named first team All American. The rule requiring a lacrosse player to keep his stick in constant motion while carrying the ball was implemented because of Jim Brown’s dominance. 

Jim received many awards while at Syracuse including Athlete of the Year 1956-57, Team All American in 1956 and First Team Honors in 1957. He also scored five goals in one half during the Collegiate North/South All-Star Game of 1957.

Even the boxing coach at Syracuse wanted Jim Brown to compete in the ring. He stated that he felt Brown could have been heavyweight champion if he had dedicated himself to the sport.

Of course, Brown also became a legend at Syracuse in football. He played running back and was also the kicker on the team. In a game against Colgate in 1956, Brown dominated by running for 196 yards, scoring 6 touchdowns and kicking 7 extra points, totaling 43 points. Imagine the SportsCenter coverage that feat would garnish today! It would even push Tebow off the main highlight! He was a unanimous choice as All American his senior year and finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting. 

All these achievements and a lack of professional opportunity beyond college in lacrosse took Brown to the NFL, where he dominated again, became the greatest of all time at his position and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1971.

He is also a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and based on his dominance and ability in the game of lacrosse, was elected to the Lacrosse Hall of Fame and considered one of the greatest players of all time. 

It is hard to fathom we may ever see this type of athletic skill again.

All this because I know more about nothing…