Jim Schwartz versus Jim Harbaugh—two young, up-and-coming NFL head coaches being pitted against each other after a childish postgame altercation.
What have we come to in today's sports world?
Two grown men, who put in countless hours of preparation each week to ready their teams for games on Sunday, who make millions of dollars to coach arguably the best athletes on the planet, can't place their egos aside for three seconds to perform the most universally known gesture of respect?
New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick made the claim that the NFL should do away with the coach's postgame handshake because "some coaches just don't like each other."
Well, I don't care, Bill, shake the opposing coach's hand—with humility in victory or with humbling gratitude in defeat.
You're both NFL coaches, show some mutual respect.
I'm not some old-school curmudgeon, as I enjoy the new school flash of the NFL. The game and its players evolving with the changing times is totally fine with me.
I think it's great that fans can communicate with their favorite athletes with social media. Bitter rivals talking a little smack during the week livens up everything. I love when players creatively celebrate in the end zone, and no one enjoys a defensive player's sack dance more than me.
But one tradition that transcends football is the sign of respect to another individual.
When Terrell Suggs pulverizes Ben Roethlisberger on a critical third down in the fourth quarter, should the Ravens terrorizing defender not offer Big Ben a hand?
I'm pretty sure those two don't like each other.
We see it all the time with the players, despite the fact that they're trying to take each other's heads off on every play. Nothing wrong with being ultra-competitive, but when the whistle blows, players return to being men fighting for a common goal. If the players can demonstrate respect among all the trash-talking, I think the coaches, who are are separate by more than 53 yards for the game's entirety, can too.
How hard is that?
Football is easily the most macho sport in the United States. Showing weakness or anything that can be misconstrued as "sissy" or "feminine" is typically not welcomed. The NFL would be making a huge mistake if they outlaw the coaches' postgame handshake because I don't care how old of a tradition it is, there will never be anything sissy about a man-to-man handshake.
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