Re: Defering in the NFL

As an added piece of info, the following link provides info;

http://premium.si.cnn.com/football/nfl/news/2001/06/21/drz_mailbag/

I'm not sure that the link will work to gett o the correct article,
so here is the paragraph that describes the situation;

I think a team like the Ravens, with a crushing defense and so-so
offense, should choose to kick off every time, but no coach would
agree. It sends a bad message to the offense, although the defense
would love it. Lyle Alzado once told me that the guys on the '77
Orange Crush Broncos defense always wanted to lose the coin toss, so
they'd be on the field right away. I asked their coach, Red Miller,
why he didn't elect to kick all the time. He looked at me as if I were
nuts. Coaches choose to kick off when there's a heavy wind. Bill
Parcells used to do it every now and then. You'd see it in Buffalo,
too, late in the season, when The Hawk is flying and those terrible
winds come in off Lake Erie. I like the college rule, allowing you to
defer, when you win the coin toss. As far as the back-to-back
possession thing, well, they aren't really back-to-back because
there's the halftime break in between. If you say it's of greater
advantage to kick off in the second half, well, you can make your
offensive adjustments, but the defense can make its switches, too.
Good offensive coaches like to have the first possession in a game
because that's when they can unveil their new stuff. Does this answer
your question, Dr. Rippo? A final note -- just when this guy seemed as
if he were actually turning human, he ends his diatribe with: "If this
question is way past you, I will throw you an easy question. Who won
the first Super Bowl." (He didn't even include a question mark after
the last sentence.) Buddy, if this were only a different type of
publication, I'd have some advice for you regarding what you could do
with yourself and certain farm animals.

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So there you have it....

'defer' is not an option in the NFL.