NFL atmosphere becoming too similar to NBA
March 18, 2019
The NFL is turning into the NBA, and this turn might be for the worst.
Over the past year the Pittsburgh Steelers have emotionally collapsed from within. Antonio Brown and Ben Roethlisberger continued to fight with each other throughout the season and Brown’s antics continued into the offseason, forcing the Steelers to trade him.
Le’Veon Bell did not even show up to sign his franchise tender with Pittsburgh, causing even more distractions, with players raiding his locker and refusing to ask questions about the disgruntled running back.
Football is a sport built on teamwork, where every position is valuable to success.
Those big egos and the distractions that came with them caused problems for the Steelers this year. Meanwhile, the Patriots — a team with no divas or distractions — won the Super Bowl again.
NBA teams, on the other hand, can rely on two or three star players, many with big egos, to push a team over the top and so it has success throughout the regular season and playoffs.
These diva-type players run the NBA with talent and ability. Even coaching is considered not as important as it used to be.
The NFL has seen an increased number of trades and star-player mobility in recent months, drawing comparisons to basketball.
Having the NFL draw more attention with constant chaos might be seen by some as a good thing, but the two leagues’ cultures differ. The NFL, built on stability and developing through the draft, is not designed to run this way.
NFL rosters have more than three times as many players as NBA rosters. The constant distraction that has worked in a locker room of 15 in the NBA has not worked in one of 53 in the NFL.
The NBA and NFL brands are flourishing and are unique in their own ways. But big egos have brought down potential NFL dynasties and while benefiting those in the NBA.