Whatever happened to ditching 2 preseason games and adding 2 regular season games?

[Fin-Loco]

Mods, please let this one brew a bit before you move it to NFL forum.

A couple years ago, the league seemed ready to ditch two preseason games and add two regular season games. They were going to allow teams to then have a 60 person roster. What happened to this? I love the idea. Why make us suffer through four meaningless games when we could have regular season starting late August? I know the CBA and players getting injuries and all but NFL is entertainment. Why wouldn't they want to give us more?

I hate four preseason games!

 

[Tannchise]

makes some sense that the 1st and 4th are just to see who barely makes or doesn't make the roster.

 

[Sons Of Shula]

It's been ditched because it's a dumb idea.

Under the new CBA teams now have 90 players to start their roster, 2 preseason games is not enough to evaluate that talent, give starters a fair amount of time to warm up for the rigors of the season, and have coaches make decisions on whittling it down to 53, especially with all the new practice restrictions.

Also, it's not an even give and take here. Most starters do not see extensive action in the pres-season, so tacking on two more regular season games that require 100% expenditure is putting more players at risk for injury and waters down the level of competition for the post-season due to fatigue and injury.

 

[Geforce]

Colts players say preseason games are 'necessary evil'

But eliminating or reducing the preseason is not a cut-and-dried proposition, however unsightly the games might sometimes be. This was the only reasonable conclusion after the topic was raised Monday in the Colts' locker room. Even veteran players — those for whom the preseason is least valuable — offered somewhat surprising sentiments on the subject.

"I definitely think it's a necessary evil," inside linebacker Jerrell Freeman said. "No matter how much training you do, whatever you do in the offseason, whether you have two-a-days practices, there's no substitute for playing in a game. You can't get in game shape without playing in a game. That's why (starters) get more and more playing time each week. In this third preseason game, we're going to be out there for a while.

Considering something a "necessary evil" is a long way from embracing it. But Freeman wasn't the only Colts veteran who will take playing in the preseason over the alternative.

"I know for me, it would be impossible for me to go into a season without preseason reps," said linebacker D'Qwell Jackson, now in his 10th season. "Just from a conditioning standpoint, getting your timing, getting a feel for things, there's only so much you can do. So, preseason is helpful.

Players with attitudes like Mike Adams is the reason for the reduced amount of time players have in working with the coaches in the off-season.

"My take on it is that I was a (rookie) free agent before and I needed those games to make the team," said safety Mike Adams, a 12-year veteran. "Now that I'm established, I can't now look at it like, 'Man, forget those preseason games!'

"But I think we have too many. I think four is just too many. I think a lot of teams can make their (roster) decisions after two weeks. You might have a couple guys who show flashes at the end, but other than that, they pretty much know."

http://www.indystar.com/story/sport...-say-preseason-games-necessary-evil/32313779/

 

[Kdawg954]

It will never happen.

The NFL is already facing tons of bad press in regards to player safety. Adding two REAL games to the mix is a certain way to increase that pressure on them. They can at least spin the preseason games as "the starters usually play 1 game over the course of 4".

 

[Geforce]

Players picking the right battle

The players oppose an 18-game regular season for the simple reason that they feel they already put their bodies through more than enough over 16 games. The NFL asserts that it wouldn't be adding games, since it would subtract two preseason games that everybody hates anyway and keep a total of 20 games between preseason and regular season. But the players correctly reject that argument, because as everyone knows the grind and punishment that come with regular-season games is far more intense than what's required in the preseason. In August, if your hamstring is a little tight, you sit. In December, if your hamstring is a little tight, you might play, and risk pulling it, because the game matters.

The owners are, as always, looking for ways to make more money. And turning two easily ignored preseason games into regular-season games would help them sell more of everything from beer to foam fingers to TV deals. But while the players share in the league's revenues and would also derive a financial benefit, they oppose this on the grounds that they would prefer to regulate the extent to which they are asked to damage themselves physically for the enjoyment of the general public.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/10641085/nfl-players-association-right-fight-18-game-schedule

 

[Fin-Loco]

Argh. I just want more NFL games that matter!