If I could sum up the 2014-2015 National Football League
season in one word, it would be controversy. Unless you have been living under
a rock for the past seven months, then you know all about the woes that plagued
the most profitable sports league in the nation.
In what was yet another season of incredible games, amazing
individual performances, and outstanding plays that left football fans with
their jaws on the ground in awe, the overall image of the NFL was tainted as
instances of domestic abuse cast a dark shadow over the league for much of the
season. The cases of Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson were discussed for the much
of the year and rocked the National Football League to its core. However, the
NFL appeared to weather the storm, despite being guided by a commissioner who
has become a bumbling buffoon in the eyes of many football fans, and prepared
itself for its most interesting and exciting series of games of the year: the
playoffs.
Most of the postseason contests were exciting and memorable
games that had the country talking for weeks. Who could forget the pounding the
Denver Broncos suffered on their own home turf at the hands of Andrew Luck and
the Indianapolis Colts? What about the Seattle Seahawks’ improbable come from
behind victory over the Green Bay Packers in what could be considered the
greatest conference championship game of all time? It was all overshadowed by a
potential cheating scandal that occurred during the AFC Championship game
between the Indianapolis Colts and the New England Patriots.
Instead of building up the Super Bowl matchup between the
Seahawks and the Patriots, all that was heard was speculation of how Bill
Belichick, Tom Brady, and the rest of the Patriots organization deflated the
footballs in their conference championship shellacking of the Colts. By the
time the Super Bowl arrived, talks of "deflategate" continued to
swirl around the game.
However, the entire “deflategate” discussion seemed to
vanish after the opening kickoff of the Super Bowl as a fantastic football game
unfolded before our eyes. It was an amazing battle that lived up to the hype.
It managed to make everybody forget about the domestic abuse cases and the “deflategate”
drama as well as remind football fans everywhere of the beauty of America's
game.
A dramatic goal line interception by a player drafted from a
college nobody had heard of ended the Seahawks’ quest for a second consecutive
world championship. It was an incredible play that could have perhaps put a bit
of a sweeter ending to what was a disastrous year for the NFL. Or so we
thought...
As the Patriots attempted to kneel out the clock and head
back to Massachusetts with their fourth Lombardi Trophy, a brawl broke out
which resulted in a player being ejected from the Super Bowl for the first time
in history. What a way to cap off the 2014-2015 NFL season.
In conclusion, this was a horrendous year for the National
Football League. Great games will forever be sandwiched between domestic abuse
cases and a Super Bowl that ended in a fight and was won by a team accused of
breaking the rules. Will the NFL be able to shake this controversial image?
Probably. Will the 2014-2015 season be considered one of the NFL's greatest
years? Doubtful. Will the controversy of this past season shape the league for
the better? As sports fans, we have to hope so. If not, then America's game
might not be America's game anymore.
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