possibly the best article I have seen on the Drew Brees-Dan Marino record
By early 2005, during the denouement of the steroid era, Donald Fehr, then the executive director of baseball's players' union, had grown tired of the emphasis on performance-enhancing drugs as the reason behind the explosion in the game's offensive statistics, home runs in particular. Certainly, anabolic substances (Fehr's preferred term) were a factor in the rising numbers, but they weren't the only factor. At least as important was an issue in the larger sports culture, he said, and not singular to baseball.
"Everybody wants to see more scoring. It is true in every sport," Fehr told me then...
http://espn.go.com/espn/commentary/s...passing-record
Re: possibly the best article I have seen on the Drew Brees-Dan Marino record
Marino's 84 season remains the greatest single season by a quarterback in NFL history. He didn't just break the existing records for touchdown passes and yards that season, he absolutely blew them up!
Re: possibly the best article I have seen on the Drew Brees-Dan Marino record
Pretty soon the NFL will be arena league football played on a 100 yard field with outdoor stadiums and grass, all thanks to Goodell Castro and his goons
Re: possibly the best article I have seen on the Drew Brees-Dan Marino record
IMO Marino still holds the record... There should be a post defense asterick next to the record.... 3 QB's with 5,000 yards this season... The league is now set up for big passing numbers and high scoring games.. Marino did it when you still had a chance as a DB.. Now it's like playing with your arms tied behind your back.. 5,000 yards will be the bench mark of a good QB.. This is the way they have set up the rules..
Re: possibly the best article I have seen on the Drew Brees-Dan Marino record
This touches on some other hotbutton issues concerning the diminishment of the league that we've been discussing in other threads...good read
Re: possibly the best article I have seen on the Drew Brees-Dan Marino record
I don't agree that rule changes are the only culprit. What about "better film study"? Or the better, faster, bigger WRs?
The game today is more of a science than a "game", everything needs to be pinpoint exact. If a defender makes a 1/2 step in the wrong direction he gets burned.
Have rule changes increased offenses ability? Sure. But what rule changes went into effect for the 2007 season, which is when all the high yardage seasons started with Brees?
Also, everyone clamors about Marino but if you put all your eggs in one basket (Marino had no running game) then you WILL pass for more yards. The reason he had no running game is b/c he commanded so much money that it left other areas starving for talent, even without the salary cap.
If Marino had gone to the Steelers he would have been good but in no way would he have set the records he set. The Steelers would not have allowed them to become a "pass only" team.
I think athletes today, both QBs and WRs (and catching RBs) are just better than yesterday.
Just like the 1000 yard season for RBs. Noone complains about "rule changes" that allow for that to happen. Yesterday it was a milestone, today it is expected.
Sure, "better passing" might open up the running game so "rule changes" could arguable have helped, but teams that continually have 1000+ runners don't' necessarily have noteworthy QBs.
Re: possibly the best article I have seen on the Drew Brees-Dan Marino record
The game is getting ruled and regulated to death, IMO.