Now that we’re down to the Super Bowl, and are at the beginning of the Super Hype that will go with it, here’s my laundry list of things that need to change before training camps begin for the 2016 NFL season. 1. Payton Manning needs to retire. Yeah, he’s played well the last couple of games, and boy, he did a great job of handing the ball off against San Diego. Before the Broncos’ first playoff game, Manning had, in effect, nine weeks of rest. If he chose to play agan next season (and I can’t think of any good reason for him to do so; he’s got nothing left to prove) he might play well in the first half of the season or so. But that’s about it. I’m a fan of Manning, even though as a Kansas City Chiefs fan, Peyton allowed himself to go to The Dark Side four seasons ago. But so many players in all the professional sports have played a tick or two too long. This will be Manning’s best, last chance to retire on his terms. Manning is a smart man. He sees the opportunity, and he’ll take it. 2. The overtime rules need to be changed so both teams have the opportunity to snap the ball. The current rule, where the first team with the ball can end the game with a touchdown, is better than the old rule where first score won, and so many times a coin flip, a field goal and everyone goes home. What I propose is just taking it a step farther; let both teams have a shot. The rules in the NFL are bent toward offense and scoring; to deny a team an opportunity to put the ball in play on a matter of chance is just silly. In exchange, I’d limit the overtime in the regular season games to 10 minutes, but if the second offensive team has yet to finish its first overtime possession, they can see it through. If a team makes the stop and forces a punt, but then loses a fumble on the punt, well, there goes your possession. Better get the ball back somehow! Likewise with kickoffs. That would make for some fantastic finishes. 3. I like the point-after-touchdown kick being moved back. I’d tweak it a little more by adding an option. If the defense commits a penalty, the kicking team should have the option to take the ball at the 1-yard line, or half the distance to the goal for a two-point conversion, and do away with the option of taking the yards on the kickoff. That’ll make a head coach think twice in a close game, and who knows? It might prevent a game from going into overtime in the first place. 4. Add a week in the middle of the schedule where the entire league is off. No practice, no game film, just a week to heal. As an alternative, adding a second bye week would be a great step. My goal is to eliminate games played on four days rest. I didn’t watch all the Thursday night games, but from what I did see it appeared the quality of play was diminished from what we’re used to seeing on Sundays and Monday nights. Granted, some of that may have been games between lousy teams, and some of that may have been the Crayola uniforms worn during some of those games. But if you’re going to play on Thursdays, there should be a mandatory seven days between games in all cases. 5. Do away with the preseason games, and add more controlled scrimmages during training camp. It ticks me off that the league charges regular-season prices for games that, other than maybe kids having their first stadium experience, no one will remember. The argument is “well, the game-day experience in the preseason is the same as the regular season.” I call bullcrap. Yeah, there’s loud music, fire shooting up into the air when the home team runs onto the field, a great big, bright TV and the $40 hot dog. But the best players aren’t playing long, and certainly not giving their best effort in terms of scheme and an effort to win the game. Twenty games in a season is too long, without adding still more bye weeks (If they go to a 20-game regular season, the players will need, in my opinion, four bye weeks.) If they implement any or all of these changes, I’ll expect them to be called the “Howe In The World did we miss that? rules.” That’s not asking much, is it?
