NFL
With another NFL season in the books, it makes me wonder how I’m going to get my football fix, because the only sports going on right now are basketball and hockey. I like basketball but because the season is so long, I usually don’t get into it until around March when the battle for playoff seeding really heats up. I like hockey also, but it is much more entertaining to watch from the stands than it is to watch from the television, even in high definition. I am looking forward to baseball getting started, but the MLB season doesn’t start until April. I don’t even have the Arena Football League to get me through.
I have to admit that as much as I love other sports, nothing gets me more excited than football. I am an NFL junkie and I have to get my fix, even when the season ends. This is why I will be watching things like the NFL Combine. I know it sounds ridiculous, but it is the only way for me to get the sport that I crave so much.
It doesn’t make a lot of sense, but watching guys run 40-yard dashes and shuttle runs is entertaining for me. Seeing which guys have the highest vertical leap and the longest broad jump keeps me tuned in. Making the decision to televise the Combine was the one of the best decisions the NFL has made in a long time.
Then after the Combine, you have the NFL Draft on the last weekend of April. I do not know why, but watching teams draft guys from college is great TV. I also like watching guys like Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay argue about which players are going to be great and which are going to be busts. One of my best friends and I actually have a NFL Draft party. If that is not addiction to the NFL then I don’t know what is.
Also.
I am glad that Bob Hayes made the Hall of Fame. Most people think that you need gaudy stats to make the Hall of Fame and that is the case most of the time, but the Hall of Fame is also for people who left a lasting imprint on the game.
Many younger fans of the NFL have no idea who Hayes is or how he changed the game of football.
Hayes arrived in the NFL after winning gold medals in the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo. One of those gold medals was in the 100-meter dash. The gold medal in the 100-meter dash earned him the nickname of “world’s fastest human.”
Hayes came into the NFL with that blistering speed and terrorized defensive backfields. His speed was unmatched and he showed the league that speed can change the game. “Bullet Bob” helped the Cowboys stretch the field. Hayes is even credited with defenses developing bump-and-run coverage to help slow him down. Hayes also had a decent career, catching 371 passes for 7,414 yards and 71 touchdowns.
With the NFL Combine and Draft coming up in the near future, football fans will hear a lot about players’ 40-yard dash times. It is because of Hayes that this is so important. So the next time you see players like Steve Smith, Randy Moss and Calvin Johnson catch a pass and outrun the defense for a 60-yard touchdown, remember that Bob Hayes was the first to do so.