Yankeetorial: Bounty reaction shows NFL has moved beyond disillusioning its fans

Last year, I unleashed my Kraken after MLB pressured the toads at zazzle.com into killing my "I BRAKE FOR YOUKILIS BEANINGS" T-shirt, even though I had to fight my way through crowds every time I wore it. (And hitting old ladies gets tiresome.) That shirt spoke for me: Pure, unadulterated evil. I was damn proud. And MLB was out of its lane. Seriously, had it copywritten "I BRAKE FOR YOUKILIS BEANINGS?"

I could have hired William Kunstler and fought the bastards, won a victory for free speech, in the SuperPac sense of the word. But my heart wasn't in it. Besides, if I wore it to court, I'd have to fight my way through more old ladies. Damn, that shirt was e-villllll.

Unfortunately, it would be tame for the NFL.

Last week brought revelations that the Saints - the heroes who restored New Orleans from Katrina, according to the folks who conjured up the original Pat Tillman story — posted bounties to injure opposing players. This news captured the outrage of fans in the way that posting school cafeteria lunch menus does. Nobody acted surprised. Nobody acted angry. Injuring your opponent is just good, clean football.

Two years ago, the Giants had a brief string of five games where they knocked out QBs — including Tony Romo! — which we cherished. I don’t know if they had a bounty, but they sure revved up the fan base.

But what if Yankee pitchers put out batters with beanings for five straight games? Would we boast about it and wear "I BRAKE FOR YOUKILIS BEANINGS" shirts? Yeesh, it would be terrible.

In the NFL, nothing bothers us anymore. We have 350-pound players who somehow pass steriod tests, and nobody even questions how. We have Hall of Famers arrested in hotels with underage girls, we have guys shuttling between prison and training camp, we have shootings in bars, we have rampant DWIs, we have guys kicking opponents heads on the ground, we have players dying in off-season domestic disputes, we have coaches put in a quarterback after he's been knocked out, we have ex-players unable to function at age 40, we have a guy shoot himself in the heart so his brain can be studied for concussion disease - and it's just football. Now, we have bounties.

Yeesh, I'll always brake for a Youkilis beaning. But when a player gets hurt in football, why bother? Too common to notice anymore.