Breaking the Rules of Sports, Vol. 2: American Football

David Gardner (0:00)

It's that time of year again. America's most popular sport is in full swing, both at the NFL professional level and of course, the college professional level as well. Football dominates our weekends, our conversations for millions of us, our fantasy leagues, and every week, we watch referees throw flags, coaches make decisions, and fans argue about rules that perhaps nobody had previously thought to question. Well, this week, we're questioning them. My friend Kimball Crossley returns to challenge some of football's sacred cows.

Help us rethink a few rules maybe, remind us that even America's favorite game has plenty of room for Rule Breakers, Breaking the Rules of Sports, Volume 2, American Football, only on this week's Rule Breaker Investing.

SPEAKER_2 (0:52)

It's the Rule Breaker Investing podcast with Motley Fool co-founder, David Gardner.

David Gardner (1:00)

When Kimball Crossley first joined me back in April 2025 for Breaking the Rules of Sports, I invited him to do what Rule Breakers love doing, and that's challenge conventional wisdom. And Kimball came ready to play. He brought three provocative assertions. First was that momentum in sports is largely a fiction. We love talking about it, and we're not very good at proving it exists. Second, that quarterback is the most overrated position in sports. Yep, well, the most important position in football is certainly also the most overrated. And third, that basketball should eliminate the corner three-point shot, which Kimball argued has helped make the modern game increasingly predictable and homogenous. We're not gonna talk about those this time because that's what we did last time. But if you're a sports fan, I think you're gonna enjoy that April 2025 podcast. This one is Breaking the Rules of Sports, Volume 2 It's football season. A lot of people are talking and thinking about football. And that's what we're doing on this week's podcast as well. So yes, my return guest this week is my longtime friend Kimball Crossley, a sports journalist, podcaster, high school basketball coach, who's also worked as a Major League Baseball scout since 1999

Most recently, the San Diego Padres, now in his ninth season. For years, Kimball hosted Three Point Range. That's a podcast devoted to challenging conventional wisdom in sports. He continues to blog from Substack at Three Point Range. So if you find yourself interested in our conversation this week, and especially if you're a college basketball fan, he's going deep into the X's and O's of the college game on Three Point Range on Substack. But Kimball spent decades thinking critically about the games we love. I'm also happy to say both he and I attended the same New England High School, where we happened to both have played varsity football.

Kimball, as it turns out, you didn't have enough nor did I to play football at our alma mater, the University of North Carolina. Did you walk on?

Kimball Crossley (3:01)

No, I didn't. Not after my horrible high school record.

David Gardner (3:06)

Well, before we get into football, our topic this week, I do want to acknowledge something, and that's that not everybody listening to this week's podcast is a sports fan. Even among those who are, I don't know, American football, it may not be your game. That's perfectly fine. One of the things I've always loved about Rule Breaker thinking is that it travels well, whether we're talking about investing business, life, or sports. Here's what I'd like to do. Kimball, you've come prepared today with some provocative ideas about how to make American football better. But before we get into those specifics, I want you to give us a broader lesson. Think especially of people who don't care about sports and tuned into this week's podcast. And right up front, Kimball, if you were to abstract what we're really doing this week, and then we'll let all the non-sports fans go, what at the heart underlies these things we're going to be talking about, about football?

Kimball Crossley (4:00)

Well, I think it's quite simply, the punishment needs to fit the crime. And that probably goes for just about anything in our society. And certainly, I think it's necessary in sports. It undermines sports if it doesn't.

And as much as I love the NFL, I think there's several areas, a few of them we'll talk about today, where there's no question in my mind the punishment doesn't fit the crime. And it drives me crazy when I watch a game. And I expect it does a lot of our listeners as well.

David Gardner (4:29)

Excellent, a lot of us are used to in the short term, the stock market, as is often said, Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger, et cetera. In the long term, the stock market is a weighing machine, but in the short term, the stock market is a voting machine. And so in some ways, I think investors can sympathize with what you've just said, Kimball, because in the short term, stocks can be misunderstood and mispriced. And the punishment or the reward may not fit the action or the value of the thing itself. But in the long term, at least in the stock market, I think it's a weighing machine. And I think over the long term, you should be getting the just desserts, for better or for worse, based on the investment you've made. Now, let me just say, there you go, fools. For the rest of our time together, Kimball and I are gonna be bringing ideas to life about American Football. If that's your sport, you're in for a treat. If it isn't, you've already got your primary Rule Breaker thought to take with you today. So thanks for joining us and we'll hope to see you again next week. Kimball, let's get into it now. I think you have three provocations. I don't know if that's the right word or not, but three things that you think if we fix them, football would be a better game. Let's get started with number one. What is it?