"Next Man Up": A Roger Bertholf Review
From my great friend, Roger
Bertholf.
-------------------------
“Next Man Up: A Year Behind the Lines in Today’s NFL” by John Feinstein
The Baltimore Ravens ended their 2004 season with a meaningless 30 – 23 win over the Miami Dolphins. Just three years removed from their upset victory over the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXXV, the Ravens’ season began, as most NFL teams’ seasons do, with hopes of a championship. And in Week 17, the Ravens still had a chance for a wild-card berth in the playoffs, but a Broncos victory over the Colts officially eliminated the Ravens from the postseason.
John Feinstein, a journalism graduate of Duke University and sports commentator, has fashioned an enviable career revealing the human—and business—side of big time sports, including the PGA Tour and NCAA basketball. In his book, “Next Man Up: A Year Behind the Lines in Today’s NFL,” Feinstein recounts his experience after spending the 2004 season with the Baltimore Ravens. In some respects, it might have been his most challenging project.
NFL football is a $5.5 billion industry, and growing. No other sport has tapped anything close to that mother lode of cash flow. The late Pete Rozelle, who was Commissioner of the NFL from 1960 until 1989, deserves the credit for creating the economic juggernaut that the NFL remains today. Rozelle speculated that professional football would captivate the American desire to witness human physical confrontation by extraordinary athletes, and was able to sell the franchise owners on an economic model that required them to pool their wealth in a way that would ensure the financial viability of the sport; his model is often termed “League-think.” Look up “visionary” in the dictionary and Rozelle’s picture will certainly be there.
Feinstein’s penetration into the closed world of the NFL is remarkable, and due mostly to the good graces of the Ravens’ owner Steve Bisciotti and Head Coach Brian Billick, who allowed Feinstein unprecedented access to virtually every facet of their operation. From the weekly coaches’ meetings in which every player is evaluated, to a tense meeting between Billick and a player he is about to release, to private discussions between the men who play the physically brutal game of professional football, and to personal thoughts of the young, maverick owner of the team, Feinstein reveals, in his characteristically detailed and sparkling commentary, the inner workings of an NFL franchise. For a shameless NFL football addict like me, it was absolutely riveting. A glimpse inside the locker room, the head coach’s office, the owner’s suite, and the heads of these elite athletes humanized the violent game that is played behind layers of polycarbonate armor and corporate secrecy.
Casual fans of professional football see the game as a chess match, with coaches moving and swapping interchangeable pieces to fool the opponent and create strategic advantages. But the game is far more complex than fantasy leagues and video games. I was disappointed that Feinstein gave only superficial attention to the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NFLPA and the owners penned in 1994 (after the players’ strike) which created the salary cap that dominates the way NFL teams operate today. Simply put, franchises (like the New England Patriots) that are able to effectively and responsibly manage their salary cap are likely to be successful, and teams that don’t (like the Washington Redskins, as an extreme example), may enjoy short-term success, but inevitably face a period in which they cannot field a competitive team. Professional football is a business, and the salary cap, coupled with free agency, ensures that you cannot assemble an all-star team for any extended period of time, like the Steelers did in the 1970s, the 49ers did in the 1980s, and the Cowboys did in the 1990s. As my sportswriter friend Vic Ketchman is fond of saying: “It’s professional football; it’s about the money.”
A secret to most fans of NFL football is that the persistent goal of most NFL head coaches is not to win the Super Bowl, it’s to make the playoffs year after year. Winning the Big One requires the confluence of too many variables over which coaches have little control: injuries, momentum, schedule, a quarterback on a hot streak, key players reaching their peak during the playoffs. Get your team in position often enough, and eventually the stars will align.
For Brian Billick, the stars aligned once, in 2001. The 2004 season that Feinstein spent with the Ravens ended when they narrowly missed the playoffs. After the 2007 season, in which the Baltimore Ravens finished last in the AFC East with a 5-11 record, Billick was fired.
For professional football players, it’s about the money. For their coaches, it’s about winning.
-------------------------
“Next Man Up: A Year Behind the Lines in Today’s NFL” by John Feinstein
The Baltimore Ravens ended their 2004 season with a meaningless 30 – 23 win over the Miami Dolphins. Just three years removed from their upset victory over the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXXV, the Ravens’ season began, as most NFL teams’ seasons do, with hopes of a championship. And in Week 17, the Ravens still had a chance for a wild-card berth in the playoffs, but a Broncos victory over the Colts officially eliminated the Ravens from the postseason.
John Feinstein, a journalism graduate of Duke University and sports commentator, has fashioned an enviable career revealing the human—and business—side of big time sports, including the PGA Tour and NCAA basketball. In his book, “Next Man Up: A Year Behind the Lines in Today’s NFL,” Feinstein recounts his experience after spending the 2004 season with the Baltimore Ravens. In some respects, it might have been his most challenging project.
NFL football is a $5.5 billion industry, and growing. No other sport has tapped anything close to that mother lode of cash flow. The late Pete Rozelle, who was Commissioner of the NFL from 1960 until 1989, deserves the credit for creating the economic juggernaut that the NFL remains today. Rozelle speculated that professional football would captivate the American desire to witness human physical confrontation by extraordinary athletes, and was able to sell the franchise owners on an economic model that required them to pool their wealth in a way that would ensure the financial viability of the sport; his model is often termed “League-think.” Look up “visionary” in the dictionary and Rozelle’s picture will certainly be there.
Feinstein’s penetration into the closed world of the NFL is remarkable, and due mostly to the good graces of the Ravens’ owner Steve Bisciotti and Head Coach Brian Billick, who allowed Feinstein unprecedented access to virtually every facet of their operation. From the weekly coaches’ meetings in which every player is evaluated, to a tense meeting between Billick and a player he is about to release, to private discussions between the men who play the physically brutal game of professional football, and to personal thoughts of the young, maverick owner of the team, Feinstein reveals, in his characteristically detailed and sparkling commentary, the inner workings of an NFL franchise. For a shameless NFL football addict like me, it was absolutely riveting. A glimpse inside the locker room, the head coach’s office, the owner’s suite, and the heads of these elite athletes humanized the violent game that is played behind layers of polycarbonate armor and corporate secrecy.
Casual fans of professional football see the game as a chess match, with coaches moving and swapping interchangeable pieces to fool the opponent and create strategic advantages. But the game is far more complex than fantasy leagues and video games. I was disappointed that Feinstein gave only superficial attention to the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NFLPA and the owners penned in 1994 (after the players’ strike) which created the salary cap that dominates the way NFL teams operate today. Simply put, franchises (like the New England Patriots) that are able to effectively and responsibly manage their salary cap are likely to be successful, and teams that don’t (like the Washington Redskins, as an extreme example), may enjoy short-term success, but inevitably face a period in which they cannot field a competitive team. Professional football is a business, and the salary cap, coupled with free agency, ensures that you cannot assemble an all-star team for any extended period of time, like the Steelers did in the 1970s, the 49ers did in the 1980s, and the Cowboys did in the 1990s. As my sportswriter friend Vic Ketchman is fond of saying: “It’s professional football; it’s about the money.”
A secret to most fans of NFL football is that the persistent goal of most NFL head coaches is not to win the Super Bowl, it’s to make the playoffs year after year. Winning the Big One requires the confluence of too many variables over which coaches have little control: injuries, momentum, schedule, a quarterback on a hot streak, key players reaching their peak during the playoffs. Get your team in position often enough, and eventually the stars will align.
For Brian Billick, the stars aligned once, in 2001. The 2004 season that Feinstein spent with the Ravens ended when they narrowly missed the playoffs. After the 2007 season, in which the Baltimore Ravens finished last in the AFC East with a 5-11 record, Billick was fired.
For professional football players, it’s about the money. For their coaches, it’s about winning.
Posted: Thu - February 21, 2008 at 10:44 PM
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Published On: Feb 21, 2008 10:44 PM
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Published On: Feb 21, 2008 10:44 PM