SHORTER SEASONS, LONGER LIVES

In the first week counting down to next year’s NFL season I will discuss a topic that I typically avoid in my football conversations but feel it is an appropriate time to discuss. As a fan part of me wishes that football was played year round and like most of America I would enjoy an 18 game season with two fewer preseason games. That’s the fan in me talking employing the same greed as the owners in their quest for a longer season. Their greed is financially driven and mine is for entertainment but the spirit of the wish is the same – to benefit myself at the health risk of others. In the talk of 16 games or 18 games the most significant number to me is 55. That’s the age at which the average NFL player dies. That’s the average age at which the players we enjoy watching turn their wives into widows and their children into orphans. NFL players are not stupid (ok, some of them are) and just like police officers and fire fighters they understand the danger of their profession before getting into it, but as fans who benefit from their efforts we owe it to them to encourage a safer playing schedule. Fining James Harrison for hard hits will not increase the life of any NFL players but offering them fewer games to play in each year might. I am not a doctor nor do I pretend to be, but it seems to me that a 14 game schedule in the same 17 week season that would provide all teams with a bye week in each third of the season, would somehow reduce players battling through injuries. That would mean that in addition to taking fewer hits in a season they would also have more time to recover before feeling the need to tough it out for another week. Pain numbing drugs that lead to long term kidney and liver problems would be needed on a less frequent basis. Unreported head injuries would have an extra week to heal without being once again subjected to violent hits. Don’t get me wrong, I love the aggressive nature of football but as fans we would have to give up very little for a 14 game season. We would still be able to spend 17 straight Sundays plus playoffs watching football and aside from watching our favorite team less often and altering our fantasy strategy slightly we would for the most part be unaffected. Sure, the owners would each have to give up one home game but with the popularity and growth rate of the league they will undoubtedly find a way to absorb it. I wish I could watch my team play every week but in the end of the day the shorter season means longer lives.

AND THAT’S THE BRUTAL TRUTH!