WiscoSportsTalk

Once The Who clear out of Sun Life Stadium this Sunday, the NFL is left with a seemingly larger problem than a potential lockout in 2011.

You see, The Who is the last “big” classic rock band to play the halftime show, and after them, it’s pretty much slim pickings in the pantheons of rock (personally, my fingers are crossed for a CCR reunion).

Think about it. Since 2002, the NFL already had Paul McCartney, Prince, The Rolling Stones, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, U2, and Bruce Springsteen. Any NFL fan knows that the league has taken the safe route since we were all granted the privilege of seeing Janet Jackson’s nipple in 2004, and it’s hard to believe that they would change that stance in the immediate future.

Here are a few bold predictions as to what the NFL’s next move is for the halftime show…

1. Jay-Z, Lil’ Wayne, Rihanna, T.I., etc.

In a surprising move, the NFL lets MTV produce the halftime show again. MTV responds with a glorified hip-hop mash-up, much like the one we saw at the Video Music Awards in 2009.

As a matter of fact, MTV just rehashes that same script and applies the theme towards football. Put them all in football jerseys, have them sing about “swagger” and cough syrup, and boom!

I’ve already thought of a name for it too! MTV presents: “We Really Phoned It In 2011.”

2. The Doobie Brothers

You laugh now, but savvy football fans will remember how the Doobie Brothers “rocked it” at the Orange Bowl in 2009.

In 2000, I attended a Doobie Brothers concert with my parents, courtesy of Northwest Airlines and Enterprise Rent-A-Car. I kid you not, after every song, they had to thank one of those sponsors. Nobody in the crowd stood up at any point, and only polite golf claps were allowed in between songs.

Oddly enough, in 2001 I would be starting my own rock band, partly because I vowed that we would be cooler than the Doobie Brothers. The jury is still out as to whether or not I was successful in this endeavor.

That being said, the Doobie Brothers are perhaps the lamest choice the NFL could make. Plus, they’d probably force them to change their name to the “Groovy Brothers” for the evening. You know how the NFL doesn’t like to co-mingle with pot!

3. Led Zeppelin

I’m assuming that Led Zeppelin isn’t reuniting anytime soon because Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, and John Paul Jones hate money.

But honestly, how hard can it be for them to crawl onstage, rip through a few classics (I’m thinking a medley of ‘Rock n Roll,’ ‘Black Dog,’ ‘Kashmir,’ then ‘Stairway to Heaven’), take their paycheck and go back across the pond?

If anybody can do it, it’s the NFL. Imagine what Roger Goodell’s resume would look like afterwords:

Accomplishments:

-Commissioner of the NFL.

-Personally responsible for cleaning up the league’s tarnished image through swift and severe punishments and suspensions.

-Reunited Led Zeppelin.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Your dream Led Zeppelin halftime setlist? Post em’ in the comments, mmmmk?