Behavior Behind the Bounty

Right in the middle of football's tug of war between the need for violence and the desire for safety resides the bounty issue. 

Defensive coordinator Greg Williams offered cash rewards for big hits that sidelined opposing players. That much has been proven, but what has not been resolved is how the game gets just the right amount of violence to keep people watching and the desire for everyone to walk off the field under their own power.

That ideal middle ground between violence and safety will never be bridged no matter what the league does. 

Football is a multi-billion dollar industry that is entirely dependent on grown men exerting their physical will on each other for entertainment purposes. Without these hulks running into each other at full speed, football would have the exact same national appeal as competitive crocheting. There is no football without physically jarring hits that end up on Youtube.

Don't get me wrong, it is a great idea for the NFL to strive towards complete player safety. Even if the league's motivation behind safety is to protect their own hides against lawsuits, there is no rational argument for not having a safer game. 

Simply put you can't not tackle people in football and expect the fans to stay committed to the game. Besides, there are so many rewards for NFL players who make the violent hits the league is so afraid of.

Let's take a look at the perks for running into a person with the force of a wrecking ball at the speed of a train. The rewards for leveling people in football include millions of dollars, your last name on the backs of countless jerseys across the country, and being the spokesperson of a food chain or (and there could not be any more irony here) an insurance company. Just ask the NFL's faces of Subway Justin Tuck and Ndamukong Suh. Both of these men were chosen to represent the chain while holding a job that is based on driving men into the ground at full force. 

Besides, the voices of the players have been neglected throughout the assault on their culture. Ravens safety Bernard Pollard blasted Goodell for the punishments regarding the bounties while Cardinals kicker Jay Feely said the NFL only cares about defending themselves against lawsuits. When it comes to the issue of the game's culture, the voices of the players have been muffled.

There is the argument that the players are so engulfed in their own culture that they are ignorant to the dangers they face. Yet in order for the argument to be resolved, all sides of the issue need to be heard, not just the sides that are convenient for the league to hear. 

The NFL has made the predictable, and correct, move of hammering the Saints for the program. Goodell has made an example of New Orleans in hope that the culture gets curbed. It will not, but the people who watch the game will mistake the punishment as progress and patiently wait to be breastfed more violence in 2012-2013.

The fans got what they want, now it is up to the league to figure out what they want their game to become before everyone stops watching all together.