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The 2018 NFL Season Will Be Dominated by Penalty Flags: Traina Thoughts

The NFL's new helmet rule has led to a slew of truly absurd penalties.

Jimmy Traina

Tim Bradbury

1. I'm not going to declare doom and gloom for the NFL because no matter how much we all complain, we will still watch the games each and every week. If it's Sunday, you're going to watch football. Plain and simple. For all the talk about the ratings dipping last year, an average of 15 million people watched the NFL last season. 

However, the league has a full blown debacle on its hands with this new helmet rule. Yes, player safety should be a priority and we should applaud the league for taking steps to help prevent head injuries. But can we have just a little teeny tiny bit of common sense? There has to be some judgment used in these calls. Just look at the slew of completely ridiculous calls that took place during Week 2 of the preseason.

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If this goes on during the regular season when games actually count, and the outcome of games are affected, it's not going to be good. It will be very interesting to see if the league reworks the rule before the real games begin on Sept. 6. You simply cannot have 15-yard penalties against guys who are using their shoulder to make tackles. 

On a side note, if you're someone who likes to bet on the NFL, pound every over since 15 yards are going to be handed out like candy.

On a second side note, this had nothing to do with the helmet rule. It was just an excellent celebration, but it drew a flag because it's the No Fun League.

2. The latest SI Media Podcast features an interview with New York Post sports media reporter Andrew Marchand, who broke the story that ESPN wants to expand Chris Berman’s role for the upcoming NFL season. In addition to discussing what role Berman would have, Marchand also talks about ESPN using Keith Olbermann on MLB play-by-play, the story behind Bob Ley taking a six-month sabbatical, ESPN’s programming changes, Craig Carton, Mike Francesa and more. You can listen below or download the podcat on iTunes.

3. The best story of the weekend came on Friday when Gabrielle Union posted this picture to Instagram.

Timberwolves guard Jimmy Butler was a big fan of the photo and left a comment on Union's post. However, this did not sit well with Butler's former teammate, and Union's husband, Dwyane Wade. 

4. The second-best story of the weekend was Colts owner Jim Irasy taking to Twitter and making people think someone was about to die.

It just turns out longtime Colts radio play-by-play man Bob Lamey, who couldn't even get his name mentioned by Irsay, was retiring.

5. Props to Mets pitchers for sitting with kids at the Little League Classic yesterday. It was especially cool to see Noah Syndergaard pass along some pitching tips to one youngster.

6. Kevin Love shared some very personal details of his battle with anxiety on Today on Monday morning. It was a very important and powerful interview.

7. This tweet by new Cavaliers forward Sam Dekker was in my brain and had me rattled all weekend. 

How did I never catch that? 

8. RANDOM HARD KNOCKS VIDEO OF THE DAY: With Hard Knocks under way (check out senior coordinating producer Ken Rodgers on the SI Media Podcast talking about how the show gets put together), Traina Thoughts will feature some of the most memorable moments from the series this week. First up, Vince Wilfork and his overalls from the 2015 edition with the Texans.

Traina Thoughts is the best of the Internet, plus musings by SI.com writer, Jimmy Traina. Get the link to a new Traina's Thoughts each day by following on Twitter and liking on Facebook. Catch up on previous editions of Traina Thoughts right here.And make sure to listen to and subscribe to the SI Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina.

IN CLOSING: It's about damn time Roman Reigns won the title. WWE fans have made it a thing to hate him, but he's a good dude and I'm happy for him.

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Jimmy Traina
JIMMY TRAINA

Jimmy Traina is a staff writer and podcast host for Sports Illustrated. A 20-year veteran in the industry, he’s been covering the sports media landscape for seven years and writes a daily column, Traina Thoughts. Traina has hosted the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast since 2018, a show known for interviews with some of the most important and powerful people in sports media. He also was the creator and writer of SI’s Hot Clicks feature from 2007 to '13.

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