This afternoon, I was listening to some dude on CBSSports Radio rant about whether the deflated ball thing was really a big deal (it isn’t).
I thought about what constitutes a big deal. The biggest big deal is the Competition Committee. You know, where rules are made and where they decide what gets enforced. That’s where real cheating happens.
I got a kick out of seeing Dan Marino talking about how a deflated ball is such an advantage for a quarterback. Of course, while Aaron Rodgers says how he loves the ball overinflated. Anyway, Dan Marino had a way bigger advantage than an underinflated ball: A representative on the NFL’s Competition Committee. That guy, Don Shula campaigned for liberalization of offensive holding and the passing game back in the mid-to-late 70’s:
Young and former committee chairman Tex Schramm lauded Shula for his ability
to remain objective in the pursuit of better rules. Shula joined the committee in 1976, a time when rules were significantly changed to help the passing game even though the Dolphins were a run-oriented team at the time
So what happened? In the early 80’s, the Dolphins converted to one of the most prolific passing offenses in the history of the game. That’s where the real taking-advantage-of-rules takes place, in the Competition Committee. Their bullying of officials is legendary. Shula’s offensive linemen had several Hall-of-Famers, but you should be able to make the Hall-of-Fame when officials are terrified of calling you for holding.
Shut your yap, Dan and go look at your records. It’s all you have. Tom Brady is a better quarterback than you ever were.
