One of the NFL’s great stars of the 1990s is gone.
Junior Seau, the punishing linebacker that was the face of the San Diego Chargers for so many years was found dead Wednesday in his home of a self-inflicted gunshot to the chest.
Anytime a 43 year old dies, “tragedy” doesn’t seem like a good enough word.
One word that comes to mind is “unnecessary.”
Over the coming days and weeks, we will learn more about what led to this dark day.
But it will certainly be linked to concussions and the violence of football.
In a sport focused on inflicting physical pain (Bounty-Gate notwithstanding), the trauma of concussions is frightening.
Need we even discuss how the very real concussions of professional wrestler Chris Benoit demented his brain to the point of killing his entire family, and then himself?
Will we be able to go two weeks without a former athlete committing suicide? Retired football player Ray Easterling killed himself in late April.
Can we, as sports fans, deal with suicide as the byproduct of an NFL Sunday?
But will you be able to separate your enjoyment of the game from the harsh reality that those playing it are not just risking their lives – they are shortening it?
I’ll be rooting for the Broncos when they play the Patriots in the NFL playoffs this weekend. Naturally, I’ll root against them if they should play my Ravens in the AFC Championship Game, but that’s a post for another time.
But, yes, I’ve got a case of Tebowmania.
Why, you ask?
Well, I’ve rooted for Tim Tebow ever since I had dinner with him and his mom while he was still in high school (photo below). I was doing PR for an organization that was awarding Tim for his accomplishments as a high school quarterback. While my religious beliefs don’t match up to those of the Tebow family, I respected their conviction, apparent honesty and determination to do the right thing. (We can debate what the “right thing” is, but if you sit down with him for any length of time, you can see that he feels what is right for him and will do it. I can respect that.)
So, he’s a good kid from a nice family.
But there’s so much more to it.
I have Tebowmania because he has blown-up the notion of how an NFL team can win.
The Denver Broncos have just won. Their offensive stats aren’t great. Tebow is NOT a prototypical NFL passer. But the Broncos have found ways to win. And the NFL is about wins and losses.
General Managers can fret over Tebow’s passing yards, completion percentage, points scored – but the ONLY stat that truly matters in this league is wins. If you win more than you lose, you’re a success.
The Broncos – and Tebow – have taken advantage of situations to make sure that at the end of the game, they have more points than the other team.
The notion of “god” wanting Tebow and the Broncos to win is just laughable, but I do really like the idea of a team winning in an unorthodox manner (see what I did there?).
Tebow has captured the imagination of people – I read recently that he is currently the most popular athlete in America.
If he guides the Broncos to victory this weekend over the Patriots, Tebowmania will continue to explode.
With the Super Bowl now in the books, it’s time to over-analyze everything. It’s what we do best, right?
So here are some #SportsPRChat thoughts on the game:
- Too many car commercials! This is nobody’s fault, since the time was all paid for, but it created major clutter in the marketplace. How can you tell apart all the luxury auto commercials when every brand in the country advertised during the same program? I lost track.
- Best Crowd Shot Of All-Time - Alex Rodriguez and Cameron Diaz were caught canoodling in the stands. My entire party booed. It was awesome.
- Oddest Halftime Show Ever - With Ashton Kutcher in the building, did anyone else feel like the NFL was punking us? The Black Eyed Peas put on a strange live performance, with blinking costumes, random, unpromoted guest appearances from Slash and Usher and lampshade dancers. Fergie trying to sing like Axl Rose was…umm…strained.
- Why Drive Traffic to Facebook? I am quite undecided on driving traffic from TV ads to Facebook and not the company’s website. Mitch Hedberg had a great line about double-wrapped Pepperidge Farm bread, saying he didn’t need another step between him and toast. This kinda feels that way to me. [What do you think???]
- Congrats, Green Bay! We’d be remiss without congratulating the Green Bay Packers on their victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the game itself. Sometimes, we get so wrapped up in the pomp and circumstance that the game can be almost an afterthought. The game wasn’t a classic from start-to-finish, but the ending was dramatic and well-played.
What stood out to you about the game and the surrounding marathon of marketing?
Let’s get this out of the way: This is in no way, shape, or form, a political blog and it will not become one.
I am not a political commentator and will never pretend to be. I read and watch and form opinions on issues.
I have my leanings and opinions, you have yours and that is absolutely fine with me. And I don’t care to discuss them in this space. Not that I don’t CARE about politics…it’s just that I don’t wish to be involved in the political dialogue.
What I do write about and discuss, quite often, is the business of sports.
So that’s where we’ll go with this, OK? Let’s rock it.
Comedian Bill Maher is quite vocal on his political thoughts. I very rarely watch his HBO show, but was flipping around the channels this weekend and caught the last few minutes.
He went on this rant about the economic differences of the major political parties in the United States. [Remember - watch this for the SPORTS, not the politics. And please remember the opinions of Maher are his and his alone and I am not stating they are my views by showing this clip. Also, it is unedited and quite...vulgar. If you are sensitive to these things, feel free to skip it.]
Whew…there’s a lot in there, right?
The points that interest me are, obviously, not the political analogy he was trying to make.
However, the NFL as socialists vs. MLB as capitalists debate is a VERY interesting one.
Baseball is our national pastime…the sport GENERATIONS of Americans grew up loving.
Football is the biggest sport in the country, crossing every barrier that divides us.
Baseball’s economic system, with a luxury tax, no salary cap and little revenue sharing favors the big pockets, which tend to be in the biggest cities.
Football’s hard salary cap and revenue sharing helps each team have top-shelf stars every year.
To me, it is the construction of the stories of the leagues, since fans follow the stories.
For MLB, the storyline is about dynasties and “empires.” Can you topple the Yankees, Red Sox or Phillies? Some years, teams do…most years, the biggest payroll wins. But what a rush it must be to be David defeating Goliath!
On the NFL side, every team has a chance every year…and nothing is promised. Over the course of 16 games, funny things happen. Take a look at the Cowboys, this year’s preseason favorite. They failed miserably, with injuries, fired coaches and embarrassment at every turn. Teams can fall from grace, just as easily as they can skyrocket to the top, like the Bucs this season.
Both sports are wildly successful, despite what Maher said. MLB attendance is sky-high, players are more and more marketable…the World Series TV rating is a small piece of the success puzzle.
The NFL season is 1/10th as long as the MLB season, so everything is more…intense. Each game has more impact on the standings and the Super Bowl is one of the few cultural touchstones in existence today.
But does that beat the ability to see your favorite baseball team nearly 50% of the days in a year?
What do you think? Which economic system is better for sports? (Remember, please leave politics out of this!)
In Tuesday’s State of the Union address, President Barack Obama implored politicians to work together to move our country in the right direction. Financial responsibility, education and business growth were the main topics. He urged the discourse to be civil and productive.
However, there was one thing he should have added:
“Can’t we all get along, no matter what football team we favor?”
This week, a successful Chicago-area car salesman was fired from his job because he was wearing a Green Bay Packers tie. He had no idea that the dealership spent a significant amount of money sponsoring Bears radio broadcasts, and there was no mention of such things in the employee manual.
Apparently, he was given the choice to take the tie off or lose his job. And his love of the Packers came before his love of a paycheck.
Much like the Democrats and Republicans (and the “media” industry around them) tend to get hyped-up like a kid on Red Bull about issues, sports fans can be even worse.
Bears/Packers, Red Sox/Yankees, Celtics/Lakers…these rivalries are so intense that they are bigger than themselves. Even if you dislike both teams, you pick a side when they play each other. Every contest is a chapter in an ongoing morality play where you are part of one side or the other – middle ground just doesn’t exist.
Have you ever met a “moderate” Red Sox fan?
Once you find one, I’m sure they will be riding a unicorn with a leprechaun.
The good thing is that sports rivalries don’t have to be civil. We can yell, scream and be as passionate as possible without getting violent or offensive.
So while it’s imperative to keep our political debate on a certain level, remember that in the United States of America in the year 2011, a man was fired for wearing a Packers tie in Bears territory.
I love sporting events with a good back-story to them.
And the Baltimore Ravens vs. Pittsburgh Steelers AFC Divisional Playoff game Saturday has LOADS of storylines going into it. The easiest one revolves around the fact that the teams just plain old don’t like each other, which makes it bonkers-level fun to be a fan of either squad right now.
In #SportsPRChat (Tuesdays 9pmET, BTW), we focus less on the actual competition, and more on the business and marketing side of the game. So let’s do just that today to preview the contest:
Ed Reed. Ready to play?
- Playing Through Tragedy – Baltimore safety Ed Reed briefly left the team this week to be with his family after his brother disappeared after jumping into the Mississippi River, avoiding the police.
How will Reed, one of the most dominant, focused players of all time, respond on the field in light of the chaos in his personal life?
- Hall of Famers – Football fans must be salivating at the chance to see some of the greatest defensive players in the sport’s history.
Reed, Ravens LB Ray Lewis, Steelers Safety Troy Polamalu – three of the league’s marketable icons. (Sub-plot here: Lewis endorses Old Spice while Polamalu does spots for Heads & Shoulders). Those three are first-ballot Hall of Famers, leading squads of others who may be Canton-bound, like Haloti Ngata and James Harrison.
Overall, this should be a defensive treat.
- Rising QB? – Joe Flacco has been seen as a caretaker with a strong arm. He has done several things this season to try to turn himself into an all-around game-winning quarterback. That was never more evident than his stand-out performance last week against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Flacco, already one of the winningest QBs after three years, is a playoff veteran, despite his relative lack of experience. Can he step to the next level by defeating their arch-rival Steelers? If he does, would that solidify his status as a “Tier 2″ QB in the league, with tons of marketing potential to go along with it? Maybe so.
- Troubled Big Ben – Besides Michael Vick, no NFL player has struggled with their public image over the past five years as much as Ben Roethlisberger. With injuries and allegations of sexual assault now mostly behind him, can he regain the favor of fans with a dominant performance against the stingy defense?
If he leads the Steelers deep into the playoffs, one would assume some of his marketing shine would return…at least a little bit of it.
Enjoy the games this weekend, don’t drink and drive, and join us for #SportsPRChat Tuesdays at 9pmET!
