European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 17, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 26 b the stars and stripes sports thursday december 17,1992sanity can make football safer by Dave Kindred football is a witches brew of bile and broken Bones stirred by men Bent toward anger and practice in cruelty. Its too bad Teddy Roosevelt came rough Riding to save the savagery from self destruction at the turn of the Century for if the game had been allowed to disappear this would be a Kinder world with a major Itcague baseball team in every City of More than 100,000 residents. Imagine that a no football anywhere and baseball everywhere. Surely the dreamers who created Utopia had such perfection in mind. Now another football player lies paralysed Dennis Byrd of the new York jets his body broken by a perversion of the game s Basic demand hit somebody. Every coach from Stagg to Lombardi to Shula a son has said the game is Only blocking and tackling. For Dennis Byrd though it Wasny to just a tackle he was asked to make. He was asked to perform a perversion of the tackle he was asked to kill the quarterback. Not just tackle him. Not deck him. Kill him. Dennis Byrd is a sweetheart whose presence is reason to smile. But As kind As he is weekdays sundays Are different. Sundays he plays a mean game that at its dark heart allows no room for kindness. We Learned that from reprehensible Jack Tatum who lurked in the Oakland raiders secondary for a decade and wrote a Book a they Call me he wrote about concussions delivered to unprotected pass catchers. He shared his eagerness to deliver a blow to Darryl Stingley who paid for crossing the Middle by taking a hit to the head that paralysed him. Though attempts have been made to sanitize the game footballs nature leaves it beyond salvation. The rules Force players to collide. Because collisions arc not most menus idea of pleasure most men must work themselves into a warriors frenzy before accepting pain As a Way of life. For evidence of that frenzy Here a what Atlanta defensive end Mike Gann said two weeks ago on the commentary eve of a new Orleans game a big game of division and geographic rivals a everybody goes out to kill those words were an Echo of words spoken by Gannus coach Jerry Glanville whose thought patterns often include termination with extreme prejudice. When Atlanta chose Darion Conner in the 1990 draft the beaming coach called his new linebacker a a borderline trained How Black a world must it be when assassins Are thought of As heroes and coaches Praise players by shouting the language of death so a week before another player is paralysed a year after chuckle Mullins death within earshot of Marc Buoniconti Mike Utley and Stingley we hear Gann saying a everybody goes out to kill As the game has taught him Dennis Byrd came at Kansas City quarterback Dave Krieg with All the Force he could Muster Force built by foot Speed upper body strength body mass and the hard plastic weapon known As a helmet. What football has taught Dennis Byrd is what football teaches every defensive player. Your body is your weapon and you use it to punish people. The punishment most often is delivered head on. The player transforms his body into a battering ram with Nis head a Blunt instrument used As a weapon. Though the transformation of the brains Home into a weapon is undeniable no player or coach will admit it. Footballs uneasiness with the transformation is evident Rule makers have outlawed still the use of a players Skull encased in plastic is condoned by coaches players and fans who have been taught the Bear Bryant dictum that Good football players a put their nose where it done to want to a a because Krieg stepped Forward As Dennis Byrd arrived Byrd missed the quarterback and slammed into another Jet. The collision left Byrd paralysed. No one said Byrd intended to Spear Krieg but he had lowered his head to strike the quarterback with his helmet. Part of that is technique Square up for the tackle. Part is coached aggression deliver a blow. Part is human nature before you hit anything with your head you lower it to protect your face. All these parts produce a circumstance in which someone is Likely to get Hurt. In 1905, the Chicago Tribune reported the deaths of 18 College football players 46 High school players and nine Semi pros. The Dean of Chicago divinity school Shailer Mathews wrote a football is a boy killing education prostituting gladiatorial sport. It teaches virility and courage but so does Teddy Roosevelt then the president wanted to keep football alive and so demanded Rule changes for safety. The game became More wide open eliminating a mass plays such As a the flying deaths became rare and stadiums grew up to satisfy the Public appetite for controlled violence. Though the game prospered in its new Guise and has enriched thousands of lives it has done it at a Cost made Clear recently in a to documentary that showed a surgeon using a Hammer and chisel to Knock Calcium deposits off a players spinal column. Another has had 19 knee operations. Mike Ditka limps on a hip worn out by football. Joe Theismann has steel in his leg. To Jackson ship is plastic. Young men arthritic before their time have trouble getting out of bed walking up stairs lifting their children. Football did it. We can make the game safer. Officials must enforce the spearing Rule and must have authority to eject both players and coaches. Short of a return to one platoon football the game should limit substitutions. Every player should Wear a padded helmet such As that worn by Buffalo defensive Back Mark Kelso. And the next time a coach talks about assassins killing people he should be horse whipped to within an Inch of his life. The sporting new not even Dallas Call can revive replay by Dave Goldberg Al football writer next March someone will get up at the nil owners meeting and cite the controversial play that decided Washington a 20-17 win Over Dallas last sunday As a reason to bring Back instant replay. There Are no polls on it of course but it anyone attempted to revive instant replay right now it would be soundly Defeated. A a in a say you could get Between 15 and 18 votes for it a says one league official Well acquainted with the feelings of the team officials who must vote. A i think that a solid and i Don t think there Are any for those unfamiliar with nil by Laws presumably most people21 of the 28 teams must vote for a measure to get it approved. That a Why it was renewed for just one year at a Lime Between 1985 and 1991 a because if it had been put in permanently it would have taken 21 votes to overturn. Besides one play wont do it a after All a touchdown was overturned by replay in last january a super bowl and the owners killed replay a Mere seven weeks later. Moreover sundays play in Washington probably will have Little effect on the Overall scheme of things a Dallas which analysis claims it was victimized will still win the pfc East and get one Home game in the playoffs which has been Jimmy Johnson a goal All along. And despite some reports that Jack Reader who was running a replay test claims he would have overturned it its just As Likely we would have been subject to a delay of from five to 10 minutes while All the elements were sorted out then a ruling a replay was inconclusive. The play b or those who missed it what a known in Dallas and Washington now As the play occurred with 3 14 left and Dallas leading 17-13 with a second-and-7 on its own 5 after just having stopped the redskins in one of three goal line stands it made that Day. Troy Aikman dropped Back into the end zone and appeared to bring his Arm Forward As he was hit by Washington a Jason Buck. The Ball came Loose and the cowboys Emmitt Smith picked it up and shovelled it Forward. Players on both teams piled after the Ball and while the officials dug through them trying to find who had it the redskins Danny Copeland picked it up off the ground and ran up to Midfield waving it. Finally he came Back showed it to the officials and they ruled touchdown. Overall those elements showed Why replay can be More cumbersome than helpful. Aikman first said after the game that he was trying to bring the Ball Back when he was hit because he saw his receivers covered then later said he was throwing. Johnson who called the league three times monday to complain said after reviewing the play that he still opposes replay. A it probably would have been ruled inconclusive a Johnson acknowledged. Quot you Tell at what Point Troy released the Ball. The replay have been Clear enough for a positive Call from the replay prolonging the replay would have been the three questions a replay official would have to answer 1, was it an incomplete pass Johnson a comments and a look at the replay shows that a inconclusive. In the replay Era there were dozens of plays like that All difficult to judge. 2, should Smith have been ruled Down in the end zone for a safety which would have maintained the cowboys 17-16 Lead a still photo shows that his knee was on the ground with the redskins Andre Collins holding his Ankles. But again that a judgment. Dallas coach Jimmy Johnson still opposes replay 3, who had the Ball in the pileup Copeland a emergence from the pile makes that moot. At what time is it determined who has the Ball in one of those scrums when the whistle blows so on All counts the play stands. And so does life in the nil without peace in nil remains just beyond reach Grapevine Texas a labor peace in the nil is like a wet football that both sides Are diving for but neither can grasp. In fact the two sides even agree How close they were after a Day of Back and Forth meetings that stretched until Midnight tuesday. A a very productive session Quot said Jim que Hon the chief negotiator for the players who said his Side had gone As far As it could to end the five year stale mate that began after the unsuccessful players strike in 1987. A a we re not there yet a said seekers president Dan Rooney chairman of the owners negotiating committee. And Joe Browne the in l s vice president for communications said a they say its up to us to accept the proposal they now Call a Deal or i hat proposal agreed upon a week ago includes the a Fly a first unrestricted free Agency and its first salary Cap. Depending on when the Cap applies players would get free Agency after four five or six years and teams would be allowed to protect at least one superstar player
