The sentiment on Baltimore Sports Report and among most other NFL fans is that Roger Goddell’s proposal to expand the NFL schedule to 18 games is a bad idea. The commissioner has been campaigning for the idea on the basis of the fans and players not wanting so many pre-season games. Goddell’s 18-game schedule would provide more of what the fans love and allow more money making opportunities for NFL owners, some of which would trickle-down to soon to be cash strapped players.
The main opposition to the adding of 2 regular season games is the increased wear and tear and added injury risk to the players. Fan and players have both voiced this concern and it should not be taken lightly as more and more evidence comes forward about the long term effects of repeated collision impact to the brain and other body parts. After all, what fan wants to see their team’s starting left tackle go down with an injury while trying to secure home field advantage in a week 17 game? The added games will mean more injuries and could therefore mean less star power come play-off time.
I like most fans have been set against an 18-game season, but I have to admit that I heard a proposal involving the 18 game schedule that has me thinking it could be more feasible. The idea came from one Steve Czaban, who is a national sports radio host for Sporting News Radio. If you are not familiar with Czaban, who also has gigs in the DC metro area, you should check him out. He is the perfect blend of intelligent (despite his being a huge Redskins fan) sports talk combined with the right amount of Simpson’s soundbites.
Most 18-game season proposals I have heard involve and additional bye week as well as expanded roster. More rest and more players can help minimize injury and allow for depth when they invariably do strike. Czaban’s idea incorporated those ideas but went a step further. He proposed that each player on an NFL roster be limited to 16 games played of the 18-game season. Regardless of health, every player on the roster would have to sit out at least 2 games a season. Czaban was willing to exempt kickers and punters from the game limit and I would even propose making long snappers exempt as well.
At first I thought…dumb idea. How lame would it be to have to sit a key player in a big late season game because of a game limit? If you think about it though we already see these type of self imposed innings or minutes limits in the other major sports. How often does a MLB team pull a young pitcher to avoid over stressing his arm, or an NBA team cut the minutes of a veteran playing two nights in a row? But the more I think about it the more intrigued I am by the idea. It would allow for more NFL football, but theoretically not expose the players to increased injury risk. Fans get more bang for their buck, owners make greater revenues and more players get the opportunity to draw an NFL pay-check. Win, win, win, right?
Plus, the game limit would open up a whole new realm of strategy for coaches and GM’s who have to figure out who to leave inactive from week to week while minimizing the roster decision’s impact on your team chances for an upcoming game. The only negatives, besides the crazy fantasy football ramifications, that I can see, are that having to sit a healthy starting QB for 2 games every season, this not only gives teams with quality back-ups an advantage, but it also lowers some of the quality of QB play in a league starved for good signal callers. Another disadvantage would be when a team has to sign some guy off the street to play in an NFL game when a starter at a position is already injured and the back-up has to sit out because of a game limit. Again that puts players on the field who have no place being there. Injuries are apart of the game, could game limits become another challenge for NFL teams to overcome?
People don’t want the 18 game schedule for many more reasons besides injuries and poor quality of play.
I took an informal poll 30 people representing almost 100 PSLs. All but 2 people (4 PSLs) were dead set against an 18 game schedule.
The idea of another game at home just doesn’t appeal to most. The pre season game stuff is a red herring. When I get my season tickets I look at it as 700/8, not 700/10. Preseason game tickets are basically worthless.
Expanding the regular season is a terrible idea on all fronts and Czaban’s proposal (which has been floated for awhile now) is just as bad, if not worse IMO.
The NFL better hear the voice of the fans with this one.
Get off the 18 game idea.
I have enjoyed the Steve Czaban show for years, but I tend to listen exclusively during the football season.
If they do expand to 18, I think this is a good idea. There are a few things I would like to see included if they did this (and if Czaban didn’t already mention it). First they should eliminate all bye weeks. No more having a team on two weeks rest playing a team that hasn’t had their bye yet. Next they should require all players that are having their down week be on the inactive list. To avoid problems with injuries they should apply the same rules to the entire inactive list that they do with the emergency QB meaning those players would be available to play in an emergency due to injury, but if they enter the game they don’t qualify for their missed game. I think they would also have to figure out some kind of rule where either players can’t play more than 9 consecutive games or some kind of scale where regular starters are required to have their first rest week by week 7 and second by week 16.
Seems like something that could work and I would think the union would be in favor of it because it means more players get more exposure. Who knows a backup QB could have a couple of monster games and earn themselves a heafty payday like Rob Johnson in the late 90’s.
I hope they cancel the season. The NFL has gotten too big for it’s jockey shorts.
Really?
You “hope” they cancel the season?
Seconded. This is the richest sport in the country and they can’t live with the deal they have? They deserve to make nothing this year.