Preseason Game 2 - New England @ Green Bay

[Old Guy]

28 minutes ago, Uffdaswede said:

Honestly, I completely understand Mazrimiv’s shock at what he perceived to be a lack of empathy from you. But I also understand that the league cannot proceed with a “stretcher=cancellation” policy.

 If you can cancel a pre-season game over paint, you can certainly halt one in the 4th quarter when the coaches have seen what they need to see and the teams are sick of one another after multiple days of intense scrimmaging.

To Old Guy’s point, the Damar Hamilton near-death experience still lurks, if not in Goodell’s mind, certainly in the mind of his lawyers and marketing people. We can get a little too intense and suggest that we’d all be speaking German if they called off the invasion at Normandy because too many soldiers were getting hurt. They didn’t, and their sacrifice exceeded the limits of German design. But a billion dollar business infused with bread and circus passions isn’t Normandy.

 I am trying to be pragmatic and rational and empathetic at the same time. The great American flag that waves over I-43 on the way to Lambeau Field is almost perpetually at half-mast now. The intense feelings we all have for this brave firefighter and those poor victims and that esteemed government functionary have watered down the gesture to near meaninglessness.

So, I am with Mazrimiv that we should have some empathy for the teams that were dealing with a shocking injury in an exhibition game.

And I am also with Old Guy that we must be wary about pushing down the trip-switch for game cancellations to levels that would leave the NFL at constant half-mast.

Mazimiv didn't reply to me. The post you replied to was my first comment on it. 

I don't know what the right answer is to the question. The Damar Hamlin situation was a no brainer to me. Preseason, I get it, but when the games count it becomes a much more precarious situation. 

[LLcheesehead12]

On 8/24/2023 at 9:20 AM, Uffdaswede said:

Honestly, I completely understand Mazrimiv’s shock at what he perceived to be a lack of empathy from you. But I also understand that the league cannot proceed with a “stretcher=cancellation” policy.

 If you can cancel a pre-season game over paint, you can certainly halt one in the 4th quarter when the coaches have seen what they need to see and the teams are sick of one another after multiple days of intense scrimmaging.

To Old Guy’s point, the Damar Hamilton near-death experience still lurks, if not in Goodell’s mind, certainly in the mind of his lawyers and marketing people. We can get a little too intense and suggest that we’d all be speaking German if they called off the invasion at Normandy because too many soldiers were getting hurt. They didn’t, and their sacrifice exceeded the limits of German design. But a billion dollar business infused with bread and circus passions isn’t Normandy.

 I am trying to be pragmatic and rational and empathetic at the same time. The great American flag that waves over I-43 on the way to Lambeau Field is almost perpetually at half-mast now. The intense feelings we all have for this brave firefighter and those poor victims and that esteemed government functionary have watered down the gesture to near meaninglessness.

So, I am with Mazrimiv that we should have some empathy for the teams that were dealing with a shocking injury in an exhibition game.

And I am also with Old Guy that we must be wary about pushing down the trip-switch for game cancellations to levels that would leave the NFL at constant half-mast.

I don't think anyone who wants games to continue after injuries lacks empathy.  I mean, nobody wants to see any injuries like that.  It's more like I see no good that stopping games when these things occur does.

I don't know what LeRoy Butler has said, if anything about this incident but I'd be curious to hear his take.  He himself had an incident like this that effectively ended him back in 2001, but man I really don't feel he'd have wanted the game stopped or his teammates at the time to quit that game.  I mean, the way I see it incidents like that should motivate players to overcome adversity and win it for their guy going through it.

 

I do get that the Damar Hamlin incident might have opened our eyes on some things, but his case was highly unusual and rare.  But if we start going down the road that we went in this last game ... You better believe there's going to be new precedents and doors opened that we don't want opened.  Soon enough if this stands, you mark my words they will start calling games off if the temperatures go below 20 degrees.  Oh yeah I said it, that will be next.

[Mazrimiv]

Just to clarify, I do not expect the league would have even considered stopping this game had it been the regular season.  Nor should they have.  But this wasn't a regular season game.  It was Q4 of a preseason game that both coaches and I expect the majority of players had little interest in completing. What was going to be accomplished by continuing?  Both sides would have been going though the motions. Stopping the game was the obvious thing to do.