ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. made one of the most controversial football strategy takes in recent content history on Thursday morning’s episode of Get Up, when he called for the NFL to ban two-high safety defenses.
The take has set the internet ablaze.
Here’s what Kiper said, in part, on Thursday morning.
“Well, I grew up with the best of the National Football League, 60’s, 70’s, into the 80’s,” Kiper argued. “You’re talking about deep shots. The go route, the nine route, the post. You’re talking about Terry Bradshaw in the Super Bowl hitting John Stallworth. You see Leeroy Irving diving, right? Just off his fingers. There’s the receiver. They laid it out there, right? Hit the receiver in stride. 65-yard touchdown. It’s a beautiful thing to watch. That’s what I want to see brought back to the National Football League. Okay? Checkdown kings. Bubble screen sensations. Boring football. Uh-uh. Game manager I get it. I want to see those deep shots. That’s what the NFL was built on. I grew up with Johnny Unitas, Fran Tarkenton, Ken Stabler, Daryle Lamonica. You talk about quarterbacks—Joe Namath, Brett Favre when he was doing what he did. Herb Jones with the Baltimore Colts. You think about those quarterbacks who would thrown the ball down the field. I said what Bradshaw did with Stallworth and Swan. Roger Staubach. That’s what I want to see brought back.”
After continuing his rant, which included a reference to safeties playing so far back off the ball that it looked like there were only nine guys in the play on defense, Kiper made his most poignant point of them all.
“The NFL is being ruined by these two-high safeties.”
Dissenting opinions on the matter have emerged all across the internet during the day on Thursday. The most popular takes have included calls for better offensive line play and running back play to bring the safeties closer to the line of scrimmage.
For the most part though, it’s been straight up roasts of Kiper’s all-time football take. Here are some of the best reactions from social media from both current NFL players and former to Kiper’s call to ban two-high safety defenses.
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