Tommy Mann

To the best of my knowledge, there has never been a Super Bowl-winning football team that played their home games in a dome on artificial turf. There have been champions that played in domes, and some that played on turf, but never both. All the other champions have played under the elements on real grass.  Maybe that is a coincidence, or maybe it points to a true concept, that the teams that spend the season sheltering themselves from discomfort are hindering their growth as a team. Who wouldn't prefer to play under a dome? Too hot? Too cold? Snowing? Raining? No problem; we'll just close the dome. The kick returner never loses the ball in the sun. The quarterback never has a wet ball slip out of his hand. It seems great (and the fans have to appreciate it as well).  But the teams that play through it all may not enjoy it, but they are conditioning themselves to play through adversity. When you make it to the big game, and it starts to rain, and there is no dome to close, one...

The NFL has received a black eye, and I’m not just talking about a punch from Ray Rice. The National Football League has always had a few bad boys, but they were isolated events. Michael Irvin had drugs and Michael Vick had dogs; there were off the field issues with Adam “Pac Man” Jones and Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson. But today’s NFL seems to have given way to the thug culture, where violence, substance abuse, and fathering babies out of wedlock has become the norm. Ray Rice sucker punched his then-fiancée, and his team may have tried to cover it up so he could play. Greg Hardy assaulted and threatened to kill a former girlfriend. Adrian Peterson beat his toddler with a switch to the point that he had lacerations on his legs and buttocks. And although Ray MacDonald maintains his innocence, he was just arrested for hitting his pregnant girlfriend. These recent stories follow last summer’s unfolding drama of the alleged murders committed by Aaron Hernandez. The NF...