During the negotiations for the last collective bargaining agreement, the NFLPA rejected the opportunity to fight for, say, decentralized disciplinary power of the commissioner. Instead, they went to the wall for reduced contact in the offseason.
And at least one of their members wishes they hadn’t.
Giants linebacker Jon Beason said he misses the days of two-a-days and more padded practices, and thinks the game would be better with them.
“I miss that,” Beason said, via Tom Rock of Newsday. “The new CBA, I understand that they’re taking care of guys’ bodies and everything has changed so much. But the two-a-days, pads every day, banging every day, it helps you. . . .
“Think about the brand of football that you see during the preseason. It’s sloppy. And then the teams that get it figured out, hopefully they come out in Week 1 good. But blocking and tackling is always at a premium. . . . You take advantage of these full-padded days [in practice] because you know that that’s the game. On Sunday, it’s no tagging off. You need to work your craft.”
Of course, the fact it’s coming from a guy who hasn’t exactly been durable lately (missing 40 games the last four seasons after playing nearly every snap his first four years) is interesting, but Beason has always been a bit of an old-school player.
“I just want to get out there and get my nose bloody a little bit and get back in the swing of things,” Beason said. “When you are doing something you feel like you were born to do, I tend to get excited about that.”
There are likely others who feel the same way. Of course, most of them are either coaches or former players.
