by Ric Martens

Created on: March 02, 2010

Nothing is more heart breaking to a football fan than watching their team come from behind, tie the game, and then loose on the first kick off of overtime. To see your team perform on a heroic level only to lose without getting a chance to respond just plain sucks. Not only does it suck for the fans, but the players who poured every fiber of their being into the game probably feel even more gypped than the fans. Finally it just seems unfair in a lot ways to not give each team a chance at winning the game. While not every overtime game ends on the first possession, enough do that it can at times make watching football regardless of what team you are rooting for.

 There are people who do feel that the way the NFL handles overtime is perfectly fine. They would probably argue that both teams had equal opportunity to win during regulation. Furthermore, since it is possible for the kicking team to stop their opponent from scoring and thus ensure their own chance at winning the game, both teams have an equal chance at winning during overtime. Finally, NFL players understand how the game works and part of being a professional athlete is learning to deal with losing on occasion.

 The above points do have merit, but the argument against those points hold a bit more strength when considered. First is the fact that while it is true that both teams have a chance to win the game before overtime, this doesn't always happen and that is why an overtime exists. Whereas it is still possible for ties to happen even after over time (and at one time there were no overtimes in the NFL), these tend to leave fans disgruntled and make calculating standings a bit more of a chore. The NFL is existence because fans are willing to pay for the privilege of watching football, and keeping them happy is important.

 There is not debating that the argument about the kicking team being able to stop the receiving team is a good one. The problem it presents however, is really an issue of fairness. While not every overtime is ended during the first possession of the period, a majority of them are. This essentially means that whoever wins the coin toss has a far better chance of winning than the looser does. This flies in the face of the concept of fair competition. Football is not a game of luck, it is a game of skill and strategy and it is sad to see that negated simply by how a coin fell on the ground.

 There is no arguing the fact that NFL players learn to deal with loosing.

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