As you watch the National Football League this weekend in anticipation for some gritty gridiron fun, think about something for a moment.
We are in a different age of football. During the 90’s and 2000’s we have heard the term ‘parity’ used numerous times when describing the objective of where the National Football League wanted to be. Let’s think about this term a little more in-depth.
According to Webster’s dictionary parity means equality, as in amount, status or character. When the NFL enforced the salary cap and free agency rules, they intended for the league to ‘even out’. They didn’t want there to be one or two dominant teams ruling the NFL with an iron fist beating anyone and everyone handily.
The NFL figured that if they could give the fans the sense of ‘anyone can win at any time’ then it would draw more fans in to watch the pigskin fly up and down the field.
Now, on one hand, the league has done well with marketing and fantasy leagues to make the sport of football take over as America’s sport. On the other hand, this little term called parity has been a failure in its masterful plan. There is no parity in the league. Take, for instance, when the Indianapolis Colts play just about anyone in the league, who will you pick in your weekly pools 9 times out of 10? The Colts. They are a dominant team in a time where salary caps and free agency were supposed to maintain a sense of balance in power.
How about the New England Patriots? In this new way of thinking the NFL wanted to take on, there wasn’t supposed to be repeat Super Bowl winners. There wasn’t supposed to be a stronghold of any team. Maybe the Patriots just found a way to beat the system, but they found it.
When you watch the games this Sunday paying close attention to your fantasy players and teams, tell me you haven’t already counted out the Raiders, Browns, 49ers or Texans. This is supposed to have ‘leveled the playing field’ in the teams and there will be no powerhouses.
Have they succeeded in their plan for parity? I, even as a New England fan, don’t think they have been successful at all. The attempt was something to marvel at and it looked good on paper but, in all actuality it was a feeble try at the concept.
Teams will figure out how to ‘beat the system’ and negate their attempt so why even talk of it. I don’t really have a solution or answer toward getting to where they want. But if they wanted to even out the teams and not have a ‘baseball-esque’ league of small markets and large markets, then they need to change their line of thinking.
Patriots Insider Blogger, NFL expert, More Accolades Coming 
