I hope you know Matt Taibbi as one of the best, brightest, and funniest political writers around. But you probably didn't know he also writes an irregular column on pro football. In his latest, entitled "Twilight of the Running Back", he laments how the NFL's passer-friendly rule changes and 390-pound defensive linemen have reduced the role and the public recognition of today's ball carriers. Pigskin or politics, Taibbi can turn a phrase with the best of 'em. Here's an excerpt:
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Back in the league's glory years, the game's biggest stars were running backs. Long before his days of stalking and double homicides, O.J. Simpson was the icon of the NFL, hurtling through cheering airport crowds with the league's most recognizable face. But today, none of the top running backs is a household name. If the Tennessee Titans' Chris Johnson ran through an airport, even a Tennessee airport, he'd be gang-tackled by vigilant Tea Partiers who wouldn't know him from the next young black dude with dreads and gold teeth. (The modern-day Chris Johnson Hertz commercial would probably end with him seizing on the gate floor after being tased, while a TSA agent looks down and barks, "Where'd you get the briefcase, son?").
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QB's are the gold pieces in fantasy football but RB's still score better than WR's. If I were at an Urgent Care, I think I'd recognize Peyton Hillis by his claims of ouchies - sore throat, pulled muscle in the back of my thigh and bump on my hip - more so than his face!
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