The NFL is Rigged!

You must either agree with me or be strongly considering the possibility if you are reading this article. How else do you explain a QB with a career rating of 73.4 winning a Super Bowl? Especially when this season was his worst season (a paltry 73.9) since his rookie year ? Yes Eli, I'm talking about you. This from a father who has a totally pathetic 67.1 career rating. Don't think I'm picking on the Manning family, Peyton has my respect. He is probably the hardest working player out there and has more than earned his ring with a 94.7 career rating, which includes a staggering 121.1 in 2004! Hell, Peyton's rookie year (71.2) was better than his dad's career rating.

But more to the point of this article. Just look at the information above and tell me how the hell both Manning's can win a Super Bowl...back to back no less? And look at Tom Brady's rating this year, a stunning 117.2. This team set so many records this year that it is almost beyond comprehension. I'm afraid that a conspiracy is afoot. Tom Brady was a robot this year, to see him struggle like that in the Super Bowl (which he has more than one win in, including an MVP) on a team filled with Super Bowl veterans versus a team that only had one player in the Super Bowl before (and he was a backup player on the Patriots at the time) just doesn't make sense. Eli is not athletic by any means, so please explain how he escaped that sack in the closing minute of the Super Bowl... I'll explain, it's called scripted.

OK, now that I bombarded you with stats and what-not. Here's a look at the WHY. As in "Why the hell would the NFL be scripted?" Eli Manning entered the NFL as one of the most hated players, where his brother is one of the more loved, (and his dad? Well, we'll leave him out of it). How did he do that you ask? Simple, he told the San Diego Chargers to not draft him, that if he was drafted by them, he wouldn't show up to training camp. Sorry, playing in the NFL is a privilege, not a right. So San Diego drafts him and traded him to the Giants. Now he's expected to be a passing freak like his dad and brother (who by the way has the worst win/loss ratio in NFL history, even worse than Ryan Leaf (who incidentally has a career rating that is comparable to Archie's)). He sucks as a passing threat, turns out he's no Peyton (guess not working very hard might be a factor). So, now he's four seasons into the NFL, the critics call him a weapon...and in that I agree...he's like a hand grenade, if you don't throw it far enough or soon enough, he'll blow up your hand. Anyway, his statistics and his game play don't match the critical acclaim he's getting. He needs something monumental in order to etch his name into immortality along with his big brother's. What better way than to topple the only undefeated team since the 72 Dolphins in the Super Bowl during the closing minute? What could be more poetic than that? More perfect? More scripted? OK, now if you've been paying attention, you'd be asking yourself "But Sports Assassin, how can it be scripted if it was just one game? Wouldn't it be more like a few payoffs to key people in the last game instead?" Sure, but who's to say that the whole season wasn't planned out this way. You get the momentum and attention set on New England right from the starter's pistol and have the Giants choke out on a couple of games. Right from the beginning you have the whole David and Goliath setup. One team that is just absolutely unstoppable and one team that is the underdog in damn near every game they play. And as long as everyone follows their scripts, you have the best NFL drama to date. Mark my words, we'll see both Manning boys in the Super Bowl soon. I'd be shocked if it happened in the 2008 season though, as that'd arouse too much suspicion from the fans, but never underestimate the power of stupid people in a group.

And now, because of all this, we have to listen to Don Shula run his egotistical mouth for who knows how many more years...*sigh*

-Love me, hate me, flame me, I am The Sports Assassin