Column Includes Insights from 25 People, In and Around Football, About One Thing They Would Change to Improve the Sport

“There are too few times when smart people brainstorm about improving a product.”  – King

FMIA Also Features the Lessons Two-Time Super Bowl Champ Chris Long Takes into Retirement, a Look at the Consistency of the New England Patriots Organization and Why King Feels Peyton Manning Shouldn’t Want to Become GM of the Jets

 

STAMFORD, Conn. – May 20, 2019 – Peter King’s latest edition of Football Morning in America, available now exclusively on NBCSports.com, asks some of the brightest and most experienced minds in football what they would change about the game to improve the sport of professional football.

The column also features a passage from recently retired two-time Super Bowl champion and 2018 NFL Walter Payton Man of the Year Chris Long about the lessons he learned from his 11-year NFL career and his social justice and charitable work.

FMIA includes a look at how the New England Patriots use organizational consistency to gain an advantage over the rest of the AFC East and why King believes the Jets’ newly-vacant front office job is not the best landing spot for Peyton Manning.

The following are highlights from this week’s edition of Football Morning in America:

 

25 SMART PEOPLE IN THE FOOTBALL WORLD SHARE IDEAS TO IMPROVE THE GAME

Dean Blandino: Make Every Play Replay-Reviewable

“I have come full circle on this since I worked in the league, but I now think coaches should be able to challenge anything they want… This would simplify the rule because you wouldn’t have to wonder what’s reviewable and what isn’t.”

Pete Carroll: Kill Instant Replay

“Get rid of – or at least decrease the use of – instant replay. I get all the reasons why we have instant replay, and technology has opened up a new world for us to get to this point. But I miss the human element of trusting the officials to make the calls in the moment and then the rest of us having to live with what they called.”

Mark Leibovich: Put Bad Ownership Up For a Public Vote

“I would put in a rule that owners need to stand for re-election every five years. Anyone who lived in the jurisdiction where the team plays, or who purchased a ticket to a home game in the last calendar year, would be eligible to vote, either ‘approve’ or ‘disapprove,’ on the owners’ performance.”

Eric Winston: Seed the Playoffs By Record, Not Division Title

“Ever since you were a small kid and you played games and they kept score, the team with the best record at the end of the season, before the playoffs, got the advantage in the playoffs. Then I get to the NFL, and it’s not that way at all. You get a massive advantage by being one of the top four seeds in each conference. You get at least one home game.”

Mike Florio: Adopt the XFL’s OT Rule

“Why not implement a truly fair solution? The XFL, inspired by soccer and hockey using penalty kicks and shots to break ties, will try a two-point conversion shootout, with both offenses and both defenses on the field at the same time, alternating attempts to score from either end of the field.”

The takes from the 25 panelists:

Ron Wolf: Cut Down On Flags

Rick Gosselin: Help Defenses By Extending The Bump Zone

Dean Blandino: Make Every Play Replay-Reviewable

Brandon Carr: Take Away Some Protection of the Quarterbacks

Scott Hanson: Make the Onside Kick a Real Play Again I

Booger McFarland: Make the Onside Kick a Real Play Again II

Pete Carroll: Kill Instant Replay

Mark Leibovich: Put Bad Ownership Up For a Public Vote

Hunter Henry: Ensure That Each Team Gets a Possession in Overtime

Lindsay Jones: Be More Progressive About Players Using Marijuana

Chris Nowinski: Eliminate Tackle Football Until High School

Richard Deitsch: Give Fans a Beckham Cam

Sam Farmer: Adios, Chain Gangs

Eric Winston: Seed the Playoffs By Record, Not Division Title

Amy Trask: Increase Roster Size

Calais Campbell: Make Every Healthy Player Active on Game Day

Sal Paolantonio: Send Replay Review Into Our Living Rooms

Les Snead: Reinvent the Preseason

Rich Eisen: Give the Ball Back to the Offense on Fumbles Through the End Zone

Terez Paylor: The NFL Must Loosen Its Vise-Grip on Highlights

Neil Hornsby: Shorten the Game

Harry Carson: Bring Pre-1993 Retirees’ Pensions In Line With Other Sports …

Joe Horrigan: … And Do The Same For Pre-1993 Player Benefits

Bart Scott: Liberalize Rules to Bring Back the Excitement of the Kickoff

Mike Florio: Adopt the XFL’s OT Rule

 

CHRIS LONG: WHAT I LEARNED

Long: “I learned to never make a decision based on just one thing. The decision to retire was complicated. It was based on health, which is still very good, and family, we have two small children, and football fit, which includes a chance to win and my role and geography.”

Long: “Tom Brady blew me away… A lot of people want to hate him for all the success, and I understand how you can dislike the Patriots, but I cannot understand how you can dislike Tom.”

Long: “NFL Man of the Year… I never felt deserving of it. I am not the best person in the NFL. I never want to get up there promoting myself as some infallible person. I was very honored. But I was also conflicted that people saw me as this community service guy, not a player… But I do appreciate the fact that people saw that I played for free for one year, that I was part of a group that built 61 wells for people to get fresh water in Africa, and that we’ve got 220,000 people drinking from our wells.”

Long: “Retirement is interesting. It is something I feared for a long time. It is an existential crisis. I’ve been doing something since high school, working toward a goal. I fantasize about crossing the threshold, but at the same time it’s something you can be deathly afraid of.”

 

NEW ENGLAND COMPARED TO THE REST OF THE AFC EAST: 44-3

King: “New England coaches/personnel chiefs since Bill Belichick was hired in 2000:

New England’s total coaches/personnel czars since 2000: 3

Coaches/personnel czars for the other 3 AFC East teams since 2000: 44

That’s 44-3 — 44-3!”

King: “Think about it: New England probably has the three biggest advantages over the teams in its division of any team in the NFL: Belichick is one, Brady is two, and 20 seasons of continuity (this is year 20 for Belichick in Foxboro) is three.”

 

PEYTON MANNING AND THE JETS

King: “I think the Jets architecture job is not the one to take if you want to run a franchise, Peyton Manning. To be charitable, the Jets are not close to contention.”

King: “Adam Gase is going to have a major say on who becomes the next GM of the Jets. Gase was 23-26 in his three-year stint coaching the Dolphins, and, though the quarterback position was plagued by injuries while he was there, he’s supposed to be a quarterback guru, and the Dolphins, again, are starting from scratch at the position after firing Gase four-and-a-half months ago.”

Read the rest of the column here.

A new “Football Morning in America” posts every Monday morning exclusively on NBCSports.com through the NFL season. It was announced in May that King signed an exclusive agreement with NBC Sports Group that included writing a weekly Monday morning NFL column for NBCSports.com; making regular appearances on NBCSN’s and NBC Sports Radio’s PFT Live with Mike Florio; and continuing to contribute to Football Night in America, the most-watched studio show in sports.

—FOOTBALL MORNING IN AMERICA—

Column Includes Predictions and Key Factors for Success for All 32 Teams

“The 49ers are a playoff team if [Jimmy] Garoppolo plays a full season.” – King

FMIA Features a Recap of Chuckstrong’s Record-Breaking Fundraising Event, How Tom Brady Stacks Up to Hall of Famers His Age and Why King Believes the Oakland Raiders May Be Featured in Hard Knocks

STAMFORD, Conn. – May 13, 2019 – Peter King’s latest edition of Football Morning in America, available now exclusively on NBCSports.com, ranks the 32 NFL teams following the completion of the draft and the majority of free agency.

The column also features a follow-up from last week’s edition detailing new Bears defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano’s seventh annual Chuckstrong Tailgate Gala in Indianapolis, which aids cancer research. Pagano was diagnosed with leukemia in 2012.

FMIA includes a look at how Tom Brady compares to Hall of Fame quarterbacks after their 39th birthday and why King believes that the Oakland Raiders could be the next team featured on HBO’s Hard Knocks series this summer.

The following are highlights from this week’s edition of Football Morning in America:

 

POWER RANKINGS FOR ALL 32 NFL TEAMS FOLLOWING OFFSEASON MOVES

King: No. 1, Kansas City Chiefs: “This is an In-Mahomes-We-Trust pick, mostly. I wonder if you could ever say that a rookie picked as low as 56—that was the draft slot of the Chiefs’ top pick, Georgia receiver-returner Mecole Hardman—would enter a season as the rookie with the most pressure to produce at a high level from opening day.”

King: No. 3, Indianapolis Colts: “My first surprise, having the Colts this high. I’m relying on Justin Houston an awful lot here. I’m probably sold mostly by the fact I saw his last game for Kansas City—the overtime classic against New England in the AFC title game—and Houston played an astounding 95 of 97 snaps that cold Sunday at Arrowhead, frequently buzzing around Tom Brady.”

King: No. 7, San Francisco 49ers: “Here’s my big surprise. Only I don’t see it that way. In 2017 and 2018, the Niners were 6-2 when Jimmy Garoppolo started and 4-18 when he didn’t. I think the 49ers are a playoff team if Garoppolo plays a full season. And I think Garoppolo will be seen as a top 10 NFL quarterback if he plays a full season this year.”

King: No. 11, Cleveland Browns: “GM John Dorsey is gambling on the boldest chemistry experiment in recent NFL annals. I am too. I think the Browns enter the season as the best team in the division … but so much is riding on the risky calls Dorsey has made.”

King: No. 17, Atlanta Falcons: “I keep hearing owner Arthur Blank is getting restless. In the Falcons’ last 35 games (the first one in that 35-game string is the Super Bowl loss to New England), they’re 18-17.”

King’s full offseason rankings:

1) Kansas City	9) Chicago	17) Atlanta	25) Tennessee
2) New England	10) Minnesota	18) Pittsburgh	26) New York Jets
3) Indianapolis	11) Cleveland	19) Oakland	27) Detroit
4) Los Angeles Rams	12) Baltimore	20) Jacksonville	28) New York Giants
5) Los Angeles Chargers	13) Seattle	21) Carolina	29) Tampa Bay
6) New Orleans	14) Green Bay	22) Washington	30) Cincinnati
7) San Francisco	15) Houston	23) Buffalo	31) Arizona
8) Philadelphia	16) Dallas	24) Denver	32) Miami

 

LOOKING BACK AT THE CHUCKSTRONG TAILGATE GALA

King: “The average raised per year in the first six years of the event was about $800,000. On Thursday night, in Indianapolis, the seventh Chuckstrong Tailgate Gala raised a record $1.86 million. It’s how Chuckstrong got to the $1.86 million that is the story of the night.”

King: “Late in the evening, an Indianapolis entrepreneur, Gary Edwards, donated $250,000. And when emcee Pat McAfee was heading to the microphone to hip-hip-hurray Edwards, Colts COO Pete Ward intercepted him and told him he’d gotten a text from Colts owner Jim Irsay (not in attendance) that he wanted to tell the crowd about. Pete Ward went onstage and told the crowd: ‘I have a text message from Mr. Irsay. If the entire crowd can match the DEEM donation of $250,000, I will personally donate $1 million tonight.’”

McAfee: “All I can say is it was magic. Chuck gets… lots of questions whether Chuckstrong continues, and not only does it continue, but these two rivals, the Colts and Bears, team up. That … was a fulfilling night in my life, a night I’ll never forget.”

 

ON A POTENTIAL TEAM FOR THIS YEAR’S HARD KNOCKS

King: “Remember that the show has some restrictions…My feeling is that, far and away, the most attractive team this year is Oakland, because Jon Gruden is a TV star, and the specter of Antonio Brown in camp will be TV-worthy, and because, well, because the Raiders are inherently so interesting.”

 

TOM BRADY VS. HALL OF FAMERS

King: “There are 27 quarterbacks in the Pro Football Hall of Fame whose careers stretch from the 1950s to today.

Total playoff wins for those 27 quarterbacks after their 39th birthday: 1.

Total playoff wins for Tom Brady after his 39th birthday: 8.”

Read the rest of the column here.

A new “Football Morning in America” posts every Monday morning exclusively on NBCSports.com through the NFL season. It was announced in May that King signed an exclusive agreement with NBC Sports Group that included writing a weekly Monday morning NFL column for NBCSports.com; making regular appearances on NBCSN’s and NBC Sports Radio’s PFT Live with Mike Florio; and continuing to contribute to Football Night in America, the most-watched studio show in sports.

—FOOTBALL MORNING IN AMERICA—