Has the NFL Gone Soft? A Top 10

I don't know about you, but has anyone else noticed that the National Football League is getting kinda - for lack of a better word - girlie? I guess there are other terms I could use: soft, feminized, lame. Though "girlie" pretty much explains it.

I mean, these are fierce competitors, many of which are up to 300 pounds of muscle, height and girth. They bang into each other during practice and during games, risking life and limb. If any section of our society should be all man, it would be these dudes. 

But something has happened over the years, and now we have the likes of new penalties that soften the blows, new attitudes and personalities, and the latest joke: Miami Dolphin Justin Martin walking off in a pout claiming he was bullied out of football by some teammates. Oh brother!

It's as if Mrs. Brady from "The Brady Bunch" is now NFL commissioner. Yes, the same Carol Brady who didn't want her son Greg to play for fear he may get hurt. Even if Greg did get hurt, it's part of the game, part of life, part of the hard knocks that has a man get back up to be an even stronger man, or in that case a stronger character sitcom actor. 

In either case, I do believe it's finally time for the NFL to allow these men to be men and not cater to the lawsuits and fears and pouty babies who are detracting from the battle that takes place on the gridiron. 

In either case, I do believe it's finally time for, yes: "The Top 10 Things That Helped Make NFL Girlie." 

1. Heaters on the Sidelines - This came in during the 1970s I believe. So the boys can keep their hands warm. Vital, so that the ball hitting them doesn’t get that stingy feeling.  
2. Dome Stadiums - No more frozen tundra, more and more they now can play indoors and, again, not get wet, cold or that stingy feeling. 
3. Pink Shoes and Penalty Flags - No comment on the purpose of the color scheme, but you can't get around the fact these "monsters of the midway" are dressed up in pink. I mean come on. Pink. Do I have to explain that one?
4. Penalties for "Roughness" - The game is rough. Life is rough. With such rules as roughness on a "defenseless" player, everything is up for debate, and if there is one thing that ain't manly, it's "debating" if you've been too "rough."
5. The Excessive Celebration - You see the fancy celebrating out there on the field? Whatever happened to the simple spike of the ball? Next they will break into a ballroom dance.
6. Penalties for Taunting - You can't taunt the other team now ... because that would be mean and unnecessary, and downright rude!
7. Banning the Lowering of your Head - Running backs can't lower their heads anymore when bashing into a defender. Good thing they don't try to enforce this with the actual rams out in nature. They might get some push-back.  
8. In a Word: T'eo - Here is a sports hero known for Walmart trips, as well as a fake girlfriend who not only exists mainly in fantasy, but is also a male.
9. Redskins Name “Controversy” – With all the emotional fussiness over the "Redskins" team name, the only ones apparently upset are those looking for existence of racism. If there is indeed a need for action, how about researching and correcting the political and societal treatment of actual Native Americans? No, that would be too much work.   
10. Jonathan Martin - This dude goes quiet, walks away from his team facility all upset, forgoes the "man to man" conflict resolution, throws his team and coach under the bus, blames everyone else around him for his feelings and his problems, and then hires a high-power lawyer to do the fighting for him. If this isn't the antithesis of a man then I'm not sure what is.