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You don't believe me? Here's the proof

Football of the future will be the game we played as kids

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Nate from Ames, IA

Vic, I want to see pictures of you in your hunting getup or it didn't happen.

This is from last year. I shot at him and missed, but I think it scared him to death.

Scott from Lincoln City, OR

Vic, the opposition has scored 27 points in each of the last three losses. What do you think the defense has to hold the Vikings to in order to win this Sunday?

I'm looking for something like Packers 17, Vikings 13. That's my expectation for a cold-weather football game, and the first cold-weather game of the season is always the coldest cold-weather game of the season.

Andy from Mt. Pleasant, MI

How do you think Tolzien will fare in the cold weather?

He didn't play at the University of Hawaii. I think this is an advantage for the Packers. Christian Ponder played at Florida State and then in a dome with the Vikings. I have to believe Tolzien welcomes the cold weather.

Dan from New Albany, OH

Vic, does anyone in the Packers front office read these questions you get from the fans? If so, have they made any comments to you about us?

They love you. I love you. Always know that you are the Packers' most valuable asset.

Brad from Arlington, VA

Vic, I've solved your college recruiting woes. Any player interested in education and football can sign a letter of intent to any school. Included in the letter is a provision the student must complete a degree. Any player not interested in that path can enter into an NCAA recruiting pool with no educational requirements.

Here's an idea: For every player completing four years of eligibility without receiving a degree, the program forfeits one scholarship. Think of the impact of that rule on college football. Would it be improper? Unfair? Yet, every big-time college football coach would be against that kind of rule because they know they aren't recruiting players to be student-athletes, they're recruiting them to use them until their eligibility is up. It's a disgrace.

Jakub from Glogow, Poland

Vic, there's something wrong. In the documentary about the forward pass, experts talk about football of the future without running plays at all. This could really happen?

When I look into my crystal ball, I see a game with a minimum of protective equipment being worn by its players. The helmet will all but be gone. Players will wear some kind of protective headgear that will sit on top of the head, a batting helmet without a visor, a bicycle helmet but smaller. Football players will appear as though they are soccer players, and it pains me to say that. They'll wear shorts and high socks. Shoulder pads will be gone. Why all of this? Because somewhere along the line, the game will understand that the more you pad the body, the more you promote injury. Football is going to resemble the game we played in the backyard when we were kids, the one that always ended with two kids fighting and one of them crying. There was no running in those games; there was only passing. The game will survive because the game will find a way to survive. We need it. We can't live without it. The problem right now is we can't live with it the way it is. It must change and that change has not only been dramatic over the past few years, it's going to become overwhelmingly dramatic over the next several decades. That's what I see in my crystal ball. There are young readers of this column who will remember these words and will live long enough to know whether I was right or wrong in my vision. I'd like to know. I'd like to know what happened to the game I loved. If you see me in an after place, please tell me. Until then, don't forget "Ask Vic Halftime" this Sunday.

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