By Reid Collins on 10.21.09 @ 6:05AM
Let football revert to what it used to be-- a game run
essentially by the quarterback.
NFL teams are experiencing much the same difficulty as AIG and
other Wall Street titans, namely: Who's in charge? And whose
fault is this?
The Washington Redskins are the epitome. After a mediocre season
beginning, they have decided to remove their new coach, Jim Zorn,
from his sideline position of calling the plays and substitute
the recently hired offensive consultant Sherman Lewis as the man
to mutter the numbers by wireless to the quarterback, who by the
way probably will be subbed as well. The playcalling is the
product of what team observers see from perches aloft and what
Zorn, now Sherman, decides from field-level. And God knows how
many other observers have access to the decisions.
In other words, the 11 men out there playing the game are mere
chessmen. Zorn-Sherman has a microphone that radios his
quarterback's helmet receiver what plays to call. To prevent
lip-reading spying, he and other sideline coaches mutter the
plays into a microphone with a sheet of paper covering their
mouths. I say: UNCOVER!
Let football revert to what it used to be -- a game run
essentially by the quarterback who has a view of the field, sees
the weaknesses in the defense, knows the day-to-day expertise of
his own players -- receivers in particular -- and runs the game.
What, you say? Remove the headsets from the automatons we now
call quarterbacks? Let the sideline coach signal an occasional
play. But let the man who must finally lead the team lead the
team. As things now stand, in the Redskins' case, Zorn is slowly
being eviscerated. I say, eviscerate them all. Outlaw and abandon
the wireless mics and let the game revert to what it was: one man
with particular skills captaining a team, playing the game,
finding the weaknesses of the opposition, listening to the
intelligence of his teammates in the huddle, and coming up with
solutions.
Let the coaches coach. Teach technique where it needs it on the
practice field. advising in timeouts and at half-time what he
deems are advisable strategies, but allowing the quarterback to
play the game.
True, this may vitiate the need for 20 plays in the playbook.
There may be some unemployment at practice. But it will return
the game to what it once was: a contest played on a field where
conditions and responses made all the difference. It was a game
once called football. A great game.
topics:
National Football League
