BroBible
More NFL regular season games? No thank you. At least, that’s the stance of the NFLPA when addressing the issue prior to Super Bowl LIX. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said Monday that any talk of expanding the regular season from 17 to 18 games would need to wait until the current CBA expires in 2013. Now we know why.
NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell fervently shot down the idea of an extra game when speaking with members of the media on Wednesday.
“Right now, when I have talked to the players the last two seasons, no one wants to play an 18th game,” Howell said via Front Office Sports. “No one. Seventeen games is already, for many of the guys, too long. Seventeen games is also so lengthy that you’re still dealing with injuries going into the next season.”
Jalen Reeves-Maybin, the current NFLPA player president, echoed those sentiments.
“I don’t think anyone was really in favor of going 17 [in 2021],” he said. “I definitely think you feel it on your body. You feel the mental toll just going through the season. … Actually, I would say that guys were against 17, and I think the guys are against, I know the guys are against 18.”
While Washington Commanders star and NFLPA executive committee member Austin Ekeler called the idea adding yet another game to the schedule “outrageous.”
“Eighteen games makes me cringe. … the 18th game, personally speaking, not speaking for membership, is something that is really outrageous.”
The NFL moved from 16 games to 17 in 2021. Prior to that, the league played a 16-game schedule for more than 40 years. In 1978, the league moved 14 games to 16 games.
Howell also shot down a recent report about the league attempting to expand to 10 international games in the near future. He claimed that the variance in playing surfaces are a danger to the players’ long-term health.
“The fact is, there’s very little consistency across surfaces in the league, and the variability gets worse when you factor in soccer fields we’re playing on internationally,” he said.
It’s not often the NFLPA gets one over on the league. But it sure seems like they’re ready to hold steadfast when it comes to these two key points.
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