Why has American football become so brutish? This seems to be a question increasingly asked by many people, and the seriousness of the issue was just brought to my notice by an email this morning.

Years ago rugby used to be similar: violent and dangerous. To avoid being steam-rollered in the scrum or set upon by three people at once, all running at you at top speed, the answer was to get rid of the ball as quickly as possible by kicking it. Gradually, rugby games became two thirds kicking backwards and forwards up and down the field, and one third what you might call ordinary play.

The reason I mention this is that the body that governed the sport one day woke up to the fact that the sport had become boring and the spectators were fleeing. They changed the rules to reduce unnecessary violence, stop futile ball kicking and to make the game a fast and exciting one. My nephew is a rugby enthusiast and a few years ago sat me down to watch an international rugby match (personal note: my father once played international rugby for England against France, and I felt I had to emulate him. But I was left with a deep prejudice against the game). I hardly recognised the game called rugby – fast, exciting, fewer dangerous tackles and none to the crude violence as used by over-muscled American players. (Note: England won).

As with rugby, reform will come in the NFL, and civilised behaviour will hopefully be restored. It has to be. Timing is the only issue. With it,hopefully, the strange case of the tail wagging the dog will be resolved in favour of academic excellence (I refer to the importance of sport at universities that are supposed to be centers of learning). The 300lb guys will have to do some slimming, but in general it will be really positive news for the rest of us. Good to look forward to.