Another "changed the NFL" claim

[JohnTurney]

Not it's Darrelle Revis

https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/07/18/darre ... twitter_si

[sheajets]

Have to say it was incredible the level he was able to dominate in an era where defensive backs have to play practically with both hands tied behind their backs. For a period of time it was absolutely impossible to throw on Revis

[JohnTurney]

Have to say it was incredible the level he was able to dominate in an era where defensive backs have to play practically with both hands tied behind their backs. For a period of time it was absolutely impossible to throw on Revis

All that is likely true, but my point is that this "changing the game" thing has jumped the shark as a phrase. It's been used to much it's not really meaningful anymore.

I can be wrong but I cannot think of how Revis "changed the NFL". I really can't.

[sheajets]

Have to say it was incredible the level he was able to dominate in an era where defensive backs have to play practically with both hands tied behind their backs. For a period of time it was absolutely impossible to throw on Revis

All that is likely true, but my point is that this "changing the game" thing has jumped the shark as a phrase. It's been used to much it's not really meaningful anymore.

I can be wrong but I cannot think of how Revis "changed the NFL". I really can't.

I agree with that. Also with the gross overuse of the word "Beast" when describing dominant performances. Or a dominant player. The amount of true beasts, guys that impose their will on the game you can probably count on two hands (Jim Brown, Earl Campbell, Lawrence Taylor, Bo etc)

[Bryan]

All that is likely true, but my point is that this "changing the game" thing has jumped the shark as a phrase. It's been used to much it's not really meaningful anymore.

I can be wrong but I cannot think of how Revis "changed the NFL". I really can't.

Good find on the article, thanks for sharing.

The article kind of “doubles down” on its own stupidity by saying that Revis not only changed the game merely with his play on the field, but he also changed the game by holding out during preseason for a new contract.

Writer Connor Orr’s lame ‘justification’ that Revis changed the game because “the truth is that Revis’s fingerprints are all over the evolution of the modern NFL cornerback and modern NFL defense” is just nonsensical fluff one would expect from a Peter King piece, but the whole “he was a really good player…HE CHANGED THE GAME!” angle has been done ad nauseum so I can’t really fault Orr for jumping on that bandwagon.

I am more interested in Orr’s claim that Revis changed the game by holding out during preseason, as if Revis’ actions were similar (and, with Dr. Emmett Brown’s help, somehow a precursor) to John Riggins sitting out the 1980 season. One, veteran players holding out during the preseason is par for the course. Two, really good players who are underpaid are almost expected to hold out. In terms of NFL contracts, I think Jay Cutler “changed the game” moreso than Darrelle Revis, because Cutler had proven himself to be a mediocre QB and the Bears still made him the highest paid player in the NFL. The Cutler contract kind of set the stage for Matt Stafford, Kirk Cousins, etc. I don’t know what Revis’ hold out really affected. Three, by the writer’s own admission at the end of the article, teams aren’t investing big money contracts on DBs these days. So…what exactly did the Revis holdout “change”?

[NWebster]

the Common Thread amongst all of this changed the game at talk appears to be, he was so great that he had to be individually game plan for, forgetting about all the other grades that came before said individual. It's just classic hyperbole or recency bias depending g on how forgiving you want to be.

In my 44 years I think maybe a couple players might have changed the game. It is, by definition harder to change a mature thing, these people ignore that by definition more players and coaches in the 20's to 40's must have changed the game. I like the pass rush and have to say Bill Hewitt, Ed Sprinkle and Len Ford each changed the game as much or more than LT, and Bruce Smith may well be the all time sack leader, but I cannot think of a single way he changed the game.

[bachslunch]

Unless his great CB coverage skills "Changed the NFL" in some way, this claim re Darrelle Revis is a non-starter. Great cover corners have existed at least since Jim Johnson during the early 1960s, and surely before then.

That of course doesn't change the fact that Revis is a true no-brainer HoFer -- likely first ballot material, in fact, even given the competition he'll face in folks like Joe Thomas and Jason Witten. He probably indeed belongs on the short list of the best cover corners ever to play the game along with Johnson, Deion Sanders, Mike Haynes, Roger Wehrli, and Albert Lewis. But let's not get silly here.

[zachary stephen]

All that is likely true, but my point is that this "changing the game" thing has jumped the shark as a phrase. It's been used to much it's not really meaningful anymore.

I can be wrong but I cannot think of how Revis "changed the NFL". I really can't.

Good find on the article, thanks for sharing.

How is a leading article on the most popular (in terms of web traffic) sports website today a good find?

[Bryan]

How is a leading article on the most popular (in terms of web traffic) sports website today a good find?

I didn't know Sports Illustrated was still producing content. I thought they were usurped by The Athletic.

[zachary stephen]

How is a leading article on the most popular (in terms of web traffic) sports website today a good find?

I didn't know Sports Illustrated was still producing content. I thought they were usurped by The Athletic.

Ha, that's a fair point. And it remains to be seen how long The Athletic will last. They look like they have sports journalism locked up right now, but a recent deep dive on them revealed they're throwing big money at all the top writers hoping it will pay off in profits down the road. But at this point, it's an experiment.