Scrap Preseason Football
Talk about the worst thing in pro sports. I’m serious. Pro Football preseason football is worse than choosing to watch a WNBA game.
Yesterday the Hall of Fame game was played between the Colts and the Redskins. I think teams shouldn’t even use their real names actually. None of the good Colts really played and only some of the good Redskins played. It was like watching a game of pickup football on a typical Thanksgiving afternoon. The Redskins won 30-16 with the star being Colt Brennan from Hawaii. Brennan threw for 2 touchdowns and looked really good playing against a shell of the Colts defense.
The funny thing is that the preseason is to be used to evaluate players and talent. How? Brennan didn’t play against anyone good or anything that he would see if the two teams played again during week 1. Why even go through the motions. I think the teams are better off taking 3-4 weeks to get ready for the season and just start playing. We’ll have less injuries, more team fights and more build up for the first week. The Preseason only takes away all of that for me.
Recently teams only play the best skill position guys maybe one or two series a game because the risk isn’t worth it for either party. Let’s talk through this…I’m Ladanian and i’m the best running back in the world. I work for the Chargers on a non guaranteed contract. I’m out there busting my butt during the preseason and get hurt. Really hurt, like a torn ACL or blown achilles and i’m done for the season. I’m not paid for preseason games at all so what is the point of me trying to get out there and play and risk my livelihood. Same for the team that I play on. The Chargers don’t want to risk injury in a game that doesn’t even count.
This is the most physical of the mainstream sports by far where injuries happen all the time. Players careers average around 3 seasons as it is but we still try to throw them out there for an extra 4 preseason games for no reason. Baseball is different because of the way the game is played and the guaranteed contracts. Pro Basketball is the same.
Players can earn spots on the team by how they perform in training camp like they did in high school and college. For some reason the NFL thinks they need the preseason. Sure people go watch the preseason football games but for me you need to scrap it all together.
