Not brain injuries, domestic violence, nor the league’s complicity and/or cover ups of the above make a dent in the box office receipts or television rights income of the National Football League, and not even a steady stream of terrible Thursday night games can prevent the Boston Globe’s Bob Ryan from declaring (with considerable regret), “the product is too compelling for a little thing such as morality to interfere with America’s viewing pleasure.” And on the ethical tip, let’s just say Ryan’s not totally comfortable with how the sausages are made in Bill Belichik’s Meat Factory.
We’ve got a beauty in this Brandon Browner. He’s got his own version of the post office motto. Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor hail nor San Diego sunshine will keep Mr. B from making his appointed rounds, which include every form of hit: high, low, late, or otherwise. All that fuss on the Ladarius Green hit last Sunday was laughable. Yes, he led with his shoulder, not his head, as he claimed. But yes, he also could have targeted Green’s rather large torso, rather than his head area. This was not one of those fast-moving deals where a runner is dipping and a tackler really can’t avoid making head-to-head, or shoulder-to-head contact. This was a case of Brandon Browner, with plenty of time, in context, to decide, eschewing a clean, totally legal hit in favor of a shot to the head, which he finds so much more satisfying.
The pragmatic me says I’m glad he’s on our side. His pluses do outweigh his minuses. But he’s awfully hard to root for.
And now once again LeGarrette Blount is A-OK now that he’s back on our side. Forget about the fact that he was made available to the Patriots only because he acted like a selfish clown while wearing a Steelers uniform a few weeks back. Mike Tomlin didn’t hesitate to tell Blount to take a hike. And Coach Bill didn’t hesitate to pick him up. That’s the new Patriot Way, I guess.
Until further notice, the NFL remains America’s sports dictator. And it doesn’t even have to silence dissent. There is none.