This weeks focus is on the way a league protects itself and enforces its rules, how unions must back the players that are members, and the evolution of football and the impact on the type of players that become successful.

Just like Wall Street, professional sports teams are in a business and they must watch out for their product. If there product is seen as violent and lacking in humanity, it will severely undermine what they are trying to accomplish and they will end up losing customers and subsequently lose revenue. To further enhance the NFL’s stance on player safety, the NFL seems to be emphasizing and criticizing Smith’s actions to show that they care regardless of how it affects Smith. It’s not unlikely for teams to fire coaches or even for major corporations to fire CEOs for damage control and show they are taking action. It is an aspect that may not seem fair, but it is a means to an end and for the greater good. If no example is made, then the new rule has no enforcement and backing.

This article emphasizes the importance and power of a good and successful sports union. The MLBPA has long been considered the most powerful of all the sports unions and it is showing that it cares and protects its members. A player needs to know that a union has his back and this situation shows that the MLBPA has Bonds’ back regardless of his status and public image. It is important for unions to remain effective by protecting their players no matter the situation. It is very similar to an agent protecting his client no matter the backlash on the agent. The player is the most important party in the sport and they must be protected by the people representing them, both agent and union.

All sports change over time and different types of players become the spotlight of those changes. As this article shows, the evolution of football will move more and more towards spreading out the defense and utilizing smaller, more athletic players to create holes in the defense. This is already shown by the huge success of the spread offense in college football and the game’s only natural, next step in evolution is this one described in the article. The coach came up with the new offense to combat his team’s lack of size compared to the other teams they play. It further spreads the defense out and minimizes head-on collisions to avoid injury and take away the advantage bigger, stronger teams have. It really is a brilliant idea and one that should be considered by many teams, especially college teams because the coaching staff can choose the players that will suit their game plan. This new offense should begin to gain a foothold in the college game, and players who would fit nicely into this scheme, would be wise to reach out to those teams who are implementing it.

As always, send any questions or comments to tim@accessathletes.com and enjoy this weekend's games.

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Weekly Athlete Rundown, 10/17/08