I was wrong by a mile on the Super Bowl.  I thought we would have a close game.

Sam Pizzagati looks at how professional football has changed over the decades.  See these excerpts and then read his commentary.

The changes in pro football could hardly be more striking. Today’s players dwarf the size and strength of players back then. National Football League linemen here in the 2020s, for instance, weigh on average well over 300 pounds and stand almost six-and-a-half feet tall. Pro football players of that size simply “didn’t exist” before 1980.

Contemporary players earn much more as well. The first NFL collective bargaining agreement, signed a year after that initial Super Bowl in 1967, set a $10,000 minimum annual salary for veteran players, the equivalent of some $90,000 today. In 2024, NFL players averaged $3.2 million, with a median base pay of $860,000.

I will add that the camera work, the instant replays, play review and showcase introductions are far different than in 1967.

The Super Bowl May Stand as the US’ Most Visible Symbol of Plutocratic Excess

As corporate executives get to write off the billions they shell out for NFL game luxury suites as legitimate business entertainment expenses, average taxpayers don’t get to sit in those suites.

Sincerely,

Ed