http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08290/920304-66.stm
Troy Polamalu looks at the recent fines to Hines Ward for unnecessary roughness, the penalties to players who hit quarterbacks and wonders what those running the NFL are turning the sport into.
They're taking the physical nature of the game out of the game, Polamalu said.
"It loses so much of its essence, and it really becomes like a pansy game," the Steelers' Pro Bowl strong safety said.
"I think regarding the evolution of football, it's becoming more and more flag football, two-hand touch. We've really lost the essence of what real American football is about. I think it's probably all about money. They're not really concerned about safety."
Polamalu said it's tough to know when you can even hit a quarterback anymore.
"You have to figure out how to tackle people a new way," he said. "There's such a fine line. I guess, hitting quarterbacks late and whether they're going to slide or come forward -- it's too much.
"If you look at any sport, maybe besides mixed martial arts, it's a real gladiator sport. We go out there at a high speed, killing each other."
Players from previous generations would not make it today, Polamalu said, not because of talent but because they were too physical.
"You see guys like Dick Butkus and those types of really raw, old-school, pound-it-out football players; they could never survive in a game like this today.
"The Ronnie Lotts, the Jack Tatums -- these guys who really went after people. They were that way because the game was physical. They couldn't survive in this type of game. They wouldn't have enough money because they'd be paying fines, and then they'd be suspended for a year after they did it two games in a row."
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