Word: quarterbacks
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...argue in favor of an all-star game in which the league's seventh best player at his position makes the cut, let alone make the case for watching it. This weekend, football fans will be programming their DVRs - most likely to record some other channel - when David Garrard, quarterback for the 7-9 Jacksonville Jaguars, plods onto the field. Contain your excitement if you can: it's time for the Pro Bowl, the NFL's woeful attempt to match the popularity of baseball and basketball's all-star games...
...moving to Hawaii's Aloha Stadium in 1980, which gave the whole event a sunnier, more laid-back feel. So did the Pro Bowl rules: unlike in an actual game, defenses are limited to a certain number of vanilla formations, much less any coach's full playbook, and the quarterback is allowed to throw the ball away to avoid getting hit without fear of an intentional-grounding penalty. The result is something approaching a scrimmage rather than an actual competition. (Look back at TIME's preview of the top 10 things to watch for in the 2009-10 NFL season...
...even Vin Ferrara, the former Harvard quarterback who founded Xenith in 2004, warns against putting too much faith in helmet technology. "You will never hear me say that protection is more than half the battle," he says. "The most effective thing is not getting hit in the first place...
...actions of the media can also influence the football culture. Over the past few years, the television networks have toned down the glorification of violent collisions, which is a positive development. Yet during the Jan. 24 telecast of the NFC championship game, Fox repeatedly replayed images of Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre being brutalized. The most powerful media outlet in sports, ESPN, should set the standard for concussion awareness. "I think that's fair," says Chris Berman, ESPN's lead football studio host. "We've done it and will be a little more cognizant of the fact that...
...watched or followed every single Favre start, who has more than once become caught up in the popular hometown debates as to whether Favre is a traitor to the team he led to two Super Bowls, I was taken aback by the identity crisis I experienced on Sunday. My quarterback - the man who once had my reserved father screaming in joy during the first touchdown pass of Super Bowl XXXI - was 30 seconds away from the glory of a third title game ... as the leader of another football team. And not just any football team, but the Packers' arch nemesis...