Thoughts on a 17 game season

[NWebster]

Somehow an odd number of games is just . . . well, odd to me.

Obviously lots of records will be broken without any asterisk assigned.

How long till injuries get blamed on the longer season.
When is enough enough, will there be an 18 or 20 game season in 2030?

[RyanChristiansen]

The CFL plays an 18-game season, but each team gets three byes to help players recover.

[Reaser]

Somehow an odd number of games is just . . . well, odd to me.

Obviously lots of records will be broken without any asterisk assigned.

How long till injuries get blamed on the longer season.
When is enough enough, will there be an 18 or 20 game season in 2030?

I don't think being an odd number is what is odd. Having grown up with college football teams playing 11-games and there only being around 18 Bowl games a year -- which still felt like a handful too many. A majority of college football teams had "odd" total records: 6-5, 2-9, etc., and had 11-0, 8-3 type records going into the bowl games. Similarly, at least since I was born, HSFB in my state has had a 9-game regular season. And when I grew up only league champions and a few second place teams made the state playoffs (unlike the 50% of teams who make playoffs now) so that's what I watched and followed growing up and would see 6-3, 4-5 type records, or my three years of Varsity HSFB, 8-1, 9-0 and 9-0 regular season records.

So don't think that it's an odd number of games that's an issue, or that seeing 9-8 or 8-9 would be too odd, other than what really makes it odd: how long it's been that we'd see 8-8. For our generation, the NFL has "always" been a 16-game season. That's really why and where it will look weird.

In general, no legitimate reason for 17-games, adds nothing competitively or to the league structure. Obviously will exist for one and only one reason. And it's the same reason that yes, it's more likely than not it'll move up to 18-games in our lifetime.

[racepug]

Somehow an odd number of games is just . . . well, odd to me.

Obviously lots of records will be broken without any asterisk assigned.

How long till injuries get blamed on the longer season.
When is enough enough, will there be an 18 or 20 game season in 2030?

I'm completely, 100% against the idea. Obviously I have no say in the matter, but I run a simulated season based on each franchise's best players of all time and I can assure you that I will never go to a 17-game season within that.

[warrensfh]

I do like the way they are going to work out the odd number of home games vs. away games. I think alternating conferences each year is the best solution.

[RichardBak]

I can see the league going to an 18-game regular season in just a few years. It's all about the Benjamin$$.

It's fascinating in a way to think that, as recently as 1959 (well, recent to some of us), Detroit played 7 ex. games before embarking on a 12-game season. I think the players got $25-50 for each exhibition and didn't start drawing their regular paycheck until the Monday after the regular-season opener.

[RyanChristiansen]

I can see the league going to an 18-game regular season in just a few years. It's all about the Benjamin$$.

It's fascinating in a way to think that, as recently as 1959 (well, recent to some of us), Detroit played 7 ex. games before embarking on a 12-game season. I think the players got $25-50 for each exhibition and didn't start drawing their regular paycheck until the Monday after the regular-season opener.

The 1950s truly were a special time for the NFL, don't you agree? The football was hard-nosed and the pay wasn't great at all. It's probably a sweet spot in American pro football for a lot of reasons.

[RichardBak]

Of course, the reason teams scheduled that many ex. games is because they were still surviving primarily on gate receipts. When you're paying guys 20 bucks a game, there's an opportunity to bank a bunch of money before the real season begins and real salaries have to be paid. Preseason receipts kept many teams afloat during that era.

I agree with you---the '50s were a great era for fans to watch and for us researchers to study, but the average player generally got screwed when it came to salaries and pension benefits. That said, it's hard to find an ex-player who wouldn't do it all over again. Most of them bitch about the money, but all of them say they loved--and missed---the competition and camaraderie. Saying someone played "for the love of the game" can seem hackneyed, especially in these cynical times. But more often than not, it's true. It's like most of us on this board who played FB (or any sport) in school. You can barely remember 2% of the details or scores of the games. What you really remember best, and miss the most, is the guys you played with and the fun you had together. But I suppose that holds true for all sports at all levels in any era.

[Brian wolf]

To me, the goal has always been for the NFL to try to monopolize the winter months and try to have play get closer to March ... harder for any spring competition to ever try to develop.

I believe if the NFL developed a 60 minute league, where players played on both sides of the ball, with running offenses, no forward passing, similiar to rugby or single-wing football, it could be successful. The league could have just two divisions of four teams, play just eight games with a championship game and start the season during week 13 or 14 of the NFL regular season, until the week between the Super Bowl, where it can play its ninth game, the championship game. I believe if properly thought out, with players willing to play hard-nosed, running football and trench style defense for 60 minutes, this small, "throwback" league could bring in fans.

[rhickok1109]

To me, the goal has always been for the NFL to try to monopolize the winter months and try to have play get closer to March ... harder for any spring competition to ever try to develop.

I believe if the NFL developed a 60 minute league, where players played on both sides of the ball, with running offenses, no forward passing, similiar to rugby or single-wing football, it could be successful. The league could have just two divisions of four teams, play just eight games with a championship game and start the season during week 13 or 14 of the NFL regular season, until the week between the Super Bowl, where it can play its ninth game, the championship game. I believe if properly thought out, with players willing to play hard-nosed, running football and trench style defense for 60 minutes, this small, "throwback" league could bring in fans.

Wow, that's a throwback to 1905. I sure wouldn't want to watch it but obviously I speak only for myself.