Caleb Harris
Ryan Kelly isn’t buying into Roger Goodell’s proposal for an 18-game regular season. Kelly, a center for the Indianapolis Colts and vice president of the NFLPA, offered a critical response to the NFL Commissioner’s recent promotion of an extended season.
“I hope not,” Kelly said when asked about the prospect of an 18-game season, via Atlético. “Yeah, 18 games sounds great when Roger (Goodell) is saying it on Pat McAfee’s podcast. But until you’re the one putting on a helmet in 18 of these games, yes, then come talk to me.”
Kelly was referring to an interview Goodell gave just before the draft, when he lobbied for an 18-game regular season and a two-game preseason.
“If we get to 18 and 2, that’s not unreasonable,” Goodell said. said at the time. “The other thing it does, [Super Bowl Sunday] it ends on President’s Day weekend, which is a three-day weekend, meaning it’s Sunday night and then you have Monday off.”
Goodell improved the range a bit in an 18-game season late last month. He said certain things would have to be implemented before the season was extended.
“The main thing for us is to make sure we continue to do the things that make our game safer.” Goodell said. “Seventeen games is a long season. That’s No. 1. Working with our players’ association is No. 2. We would come to an agreement with them if we wanted to proceed at that level.
“Third, that’s not necessarily in order, it’s the quality of our game. We would do this in the context of reducing the number of preseason games. I think almost everyone would think it was beneficial.”
Goodell’s most recent comments were likely in response to some of the pushback regarding an expanded regular season. While the majority NFL owners are reportedly in favor of extending the regular season, Giants owner John Mara is not one of them.
“I can’t say I’m necessarily crazy about extending the season,” Mara said recently, via ESPN. “I worry more about player fatigue and player burnout in the future. That’s one of the reasons we have to discuss it with (the players’ union).”
An 18-game season coming to fruition is inevitable if the majority of owners are truly in favor of it. The real question is what the players will receive in exchange for a longer season.
Along with a shortened (or even eliminated) preseason, Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow recently lobbied for an extra week off if the season was extended.
“Eighteen games is definitely a big ask,” Burrow in the last month. “That’s not easy. Adding that extra game, obviously, would be great for revenue. But I feel like adding that week off, if you want to have an 18-game schedule, is pretty critical for our bodies… If you keep that first week off – some teams have that first off (in) Week 5, Week 6 – and then you’re going to play 12, 13 games in a row. It’s probably not a Thursday night game there either. So, these two goodbyes are quite critical.
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