NFL Holiday Wish List For 2017

Touchdown Dance Freedom

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The NFL made its point. Joe Horn planting a cell phone, Terrell Owens pulling out a Sharpie and Chad Johnson operating a TV camera were probably directing the league in the wrong direction.

Aw, who am I kidding? It's ridiculous that the NFL doesn't give its players freedom with touchdown celebrations. As Cam Newton says to his opponents, "If you don't like it, keep me out." NFL fans want to see their players pump up the crowd. Rival fans want it as fuel. Everyone should be winning except people who don't like fun.

Much like the NBA Dress Code, which still exists but is not enforced, the NFL excessive celebration clause should be relaxed. We live in an age of choreographed challenges, whether they be in running man or mannequin form. Let the players celebrate, no matter how many pumps it takes.

Throwback Thursday Night Football Jerseys

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Color Rush is an admirable idea. In principle, one-color uniforms sound like a good thing that should drive merchandise sales. But the execution has been poor. For the most part, teams have been subjected to jerseys that have limited resemblance to their identity and are just straight embarrassing.

The solution should actually come from this season's best Color Rush jerseys, displayed in the Oct. 13 meeting between the Broncos and Chargers. Both teams actually wore hybrid Color Rush-vintage uniforms that Thursday night. The Broncos broke up their orange with white and blue stripes with a retro helmet. The Chargers brought back their royal blue from the early 1980s.

The NBA and MLB have done an incredible job incorporating throwback jerseys into the fold. For franchises like the Sacramento Kings, Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Mets, retro uniforms have simply molded into the kit rotation. In terms of one-off jerseys, the NHL has also found a good way to bring back throwback styles for the Winter Classic.

America loves nostalgia, not randomness. Forget the flashy colors and bring back classic styles to showcase on Thursday night.

No More Ties

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The NFL has had two ties this season. One was an amazing battle in London between the Redskins and Bengals. One was a disgusting display of football between the Seahawks and Cardinals.

Ties have no place in football. It makes no sense. Why are we leaving wins and losses on the field? The NFL is the only major sports league that still includes ties, with the NHL adding a shootout after the 2004-05 lockout. On top of that, college football does not have ties. Only the NFL does.

Maybe the NFL will never adopt a college football-style overtime (can you imagine how that would rock the fantasy football world?), but ties need to be obsolete. It's time for the NFL to turn off the overtime clock and let two teams figure it out, so we don't have crooked numbers in the standings.

More Social Media Games

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For all the criticism thrown at the NFL, the league made an incredible tech advancement this season, beating the other major sports leagues (NBA, NHL, MLB) to a social media-streamed game. (It should be noted MLS has done this in the past). The NFL streamed select Thursday Night Football games live on Twitter, meaning fans could simultaneously engage with each other while watching the game away from a TV.

The difference between Twitter games and a standard livestream is that normal TV ads still run on Twitter. The viewer saw what was actually on TV, so commercial money still had value, even if Twitter is a free website. Also, viewers could not change the channel because there were no other channels to change to.

Eventually all games will be streamed on social media. The NFL made a first step to get ahead of the curve and could expand that in 2016.

Let Them Wear Pink (And Other Charitable Stuff)

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Last season, DeAngelo Williams got fined for writing "Find the Cure" on his eye black outside of the NFL's "Breast Cancer Awareness" month period for October. Williams' mother died of breast cancer in May 2014.

This is just a sample of the many restrictions the NFL puts on its players' attire. This season, the NFL allowed players to wear custom cleats one weekend, as long as the cleats promoted a charity. Another week, the NFL dressed its players in camouflage accessories for a "Salute to Service" tribute. But if a player wants to support his charity or the military or any other organization outside of these designated times, the player is fined.

The NFL has a prime opportunity for progress. Football is the most-watched sport in America and its players have a chance to send messages on Sundays. If a player has an accepted cause (let's keep politics out of it) to promote, there should be a way for them to get the message across. These men can be role models in ways other than hitting the crap out of other humans. Understandably, there is a somewhat slippery slope here, but the NFL can find a way to gives its players more fashion freedom.

And this isn't a charity thing, but let the players wear Yeezys.

Free Mike Tirico

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Last spring, Tirico announced he would leave ESPN after 26 years -- 10 as the play-by-play announcer for Monday Night Football -- for NBC. With NBC taking over half the Thursday Night Football slate, it was reported Tirico would be assigned those games, with Al Michaels maintaining his role as play-by-play for Sunday Night Football. The NFL then claimed its contract with NBC required Michaels to call both Thursday and Sunday night games.

After some perseverance from NBC, Tirico, 50, worked three broadcasts in November, giving Michaels, 72, about a week and a half off. Tirico will reportedly become NBC's lead play-by-play announcer whenever Michaels chooses to retire. In the meantime, the NFL and NBC will hopefully sort out their differences to give Tirico some more airtime. Both announcers are great, and it will only help the league's product to see both fresh on the mic.

Eagles Will Make Controversial Draft Selection

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Being a fan at the NFL Draft can be an emotionally wrenching experience. Your head spins while you watch the draft board and you can't do anything about the results. You blood is boiling as you waver who your team should pick before they are even on the clock. Then your team picks and you either pop with excitement or disgust.

Now consider the intensity of Eagles fans and the fact that the 2017 draft will be in Philadelphia. The Eagles traded their 2017 first-round pick to move up for Carson Wentz in 2016. But the Eagles got back on the first-round board by trading Sam Bradford to the Vikings before the season started, so Philadelphia is probably looking at a mid-round pick.

Think about that New York kid who cried when the Knicks drafted Kristaps Porzingis. Eagles fans will be on another level. These are the people who threw snowballs at Santa Claus. If the Eagles make a bad pick, the city may burn Independence Hall to the ground. That would be incredible. Sorry for the dark humor.

A Proven Coach in Los Angeles

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Jeff Fisher came to Los Angeles toting plenty of St. Louis baggage but apparently he forgot to pack his challenge flag. The Rams have the chance to start fresh. They have a 22-year-old franchise running back, maybe a 22-year-old franchise quarterback and a stout defense. Now that the team is in LA, it should be one of the most attractive coaching destinations in the league. Seeing as Fisher was the first head coach fired this season, the Rams actually have the inside track on any coach on the planet. They can't mess this up, right?

Quarterbacks For Jets, Bears and 49ers

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On Jan. 23, 2011, the Jets and Bears played in their respective conference championship games. New York lost to Pittsburgh, 24-19, behind Mark Sanchez. Chicago lost to Green Bay, 21-14, with Caleb Hanie coming in for Jay Cutler. The 49ers reached the next three NFC Championship Games, making one Super Bowl along the way.

All three of these historic franchises have four wins or less this season. Together, they've played eight quarterbacks. Honestly, Matt Barkley may be the best of those eight.

These three teams will not compete for a Super Bowl next season, but they at least deserve to gain some respect back. All three should be in the QB market this offseason, pulling from the draft or trading for a player like oh, I don't know, Tony Romo. The NFL gods have made their point and made life miserable for these fans. Now, do something nice for them.

A Close Super Bowl

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OK, one wish for the rest of the 2016 season. Of course we want a close Super Bowl. It's what we want every year. But specifically for this season, we want an exciting game to replace the memory of what was generally a boring defensive Super Bowl 50 last February.

Give us the Patriots. There, I said it. New England has been the NFL's evil empire for a decade and a half now, but there is no denying the Patriots give us engrossing Super Bowls with dramatic finishes.

While we're at it, just give us Patriots-Giants. Those never go wrong. Not that I'm biased or anything.