Rodney Don Holder Analyzes How Football Has Changed Over The Last Decade
From the early beginnings, the NFL struggled to forge its true identity. Its rules were borrowed from college football and the Super Bowl was a dream still decades away in the future. But as the game started to carve a niche in the national psyche, that’s when the real changes came through that helped make football what it is today.
Rodney Don Holder is an audio, visual and security specialist at CEI in Dahlonega, Georgia. His passion for football started at an early age. “I remember the game from a few years back and I can tell you it wasn’t the same. Football has changed and I can honestly say it’s for the better.” While some people might disagree with that, there’s no doubt that football has seen a great change over the last decade.
Going International
Football has always been a truly American game. It might have some similarities to rugby, but at heart, it represents our nation’s spirit more than any other sport. That doesn’t mean that the game doesn’t have fans all over the world. A quick look at fantasy sports shows that football is by far the most popular sport for fantasy play.
To bolster that popularity, the NFL decided to take the game out of America and played a game in London in 2007. “It wasn’t the best game in the league,” says Rodney Don Holder, “not by a long shot and the score was a meager 13–10 as the Giants took on the Dolphins. The pouring rain didn’t help matters.” However, among Londoners, it was a huge success. Since that game, it has become an established custom to take a few games to London every year.
Extra offense
Another major change has to do with the game becoming more dynamic, physical and fast, with the offense dominating the game overall. The numbers paint a clear picture of the direction football is going. In 2018, 1371 touchdowns were scored in the regular season, the most in the history of the NFL. Even in Superbowl LII, the game featured the most combined yards in an NFL game at 1151. In other words, we are seeing the ball moving a lot faster and the players scoring touchdowns at higher rates thanks to the extra offense.
More Passing than Running
According to Rodney Don Holder, the main reason behind the speed and high scores that have characterized the game of late has to do with the fact that football has evolved into more of an aerial game. “This is evident,” he continues, “from the fact that quarterbacks are more prone to throwing than running with the ball.” The data back these claims. Since the 90s, there has been close to 2 pass attempts per game per team more than before.
Will football keep gaining speed and energy in the near future to continue this offensive onslaught? Rodney Don Holder believes that only time will tell. But if the last ten years are any indication, we can all expect to see more touchdowns and a faster game overall in the coming seasons.
