THE NFL X GAMES: IS LEAGUE LICENSED VIDEO GAME TOO XTREME?

          The marketing campaign for NFL Xtreme, an officially-
     licensed NFL video game whose slogan is, "After the coin
     toss, anything goes," flies "in the face of good taste and
     good sense," according Peter King of SI.  Referring to
     "celebrated late hits," serious concussions that have forced
     players to retire and players being suspended for unruly
     behavior, King writes that NFL Xtreme "is selling trash
     talk.  It's shameful. How can the league come down on cheap-
     shot artists and hotheads while also endorsing this video?" 
     Cowboys QB Troy Aikman, on the NFL: "They want this stuff. 
     It sells."  NFL Dir of Corporate Communications Chris
     Widmaier: "It's more of a fantasy game. ... The marketing of
     this game is consistent with how to get the attention of the
     upper-teen and early-20s market" (SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, 8/17).