Friday Morning Cup O’Chiefs

While Traveling America’s Highways and Byways

The NFL meetings this week in California wrapped up with little fanfare. As they met in the middle of southern California opulence, we thankfully did not hear much from the league and ownership about tough financial times.

That doesn’t mean there was not a bit of hypocrisy in the air.

During the meetings, the owners voted in a handful of rules provisions that were supposedly based on player safety. Thanks to the Bernard Pollard rule they’ve now made the quarterback all but untouchable and they’ve legislated out some of the game’s most physical plays.

Again, all of these tweaks of the rules were done in the name of player safety.

But then Commissioner Roger Goodell wrapped up the meetings talking about extending the NFL regular season, making it 17 or 18 games, rather than the current 16. The 20-game pre and regular season would continue, it would just no longer be broken up into segments of four and 16.

Now, how does playing more regular season games exist with this theme of player safety?

Legislate the football out of football, but then play more games, thus exposing players to more hits and more potential injuries? Sorry, the league talking out of both sides of its mouth.

Don’t get me wrong; I’ve got no problem with taking one or two pre-season games and making them count in the standings. The pre-season is important, but pre-season games have become meaningless, something for coaches and players to endure. Teams with established rosters and stability in the starting lineup don’t need more than two games.

It also means there are going to be more opportunities for players to get injured? Right now the average veteran plays about five quarters of football over four pre-season games. Usually, it’s one quarter in the first game, two in the second and two, possibly a few plays in the third period of the third game. Generally, they will not play in the fourth and final game.

Change the equation to two pre/18 regular and the veteran player would probably still play those five quarters in two pre-season games. He would add eight quarters in the two new regular season games. That’s almost a three-fold increase in playing time.

OK, so what’s the difference between the rules changes for player safety on one hand, and more games on the other, which would create more injury potential?

Money.

More real games means the league can get more real money from their television partners. Ticket revenue wouldn’t change, since nearly every team charges the same prices for pre-season as they do regular season and they force season ticket holders to buy all 10 games. So the gate wouldn’t increase like the television money. It could generate money from games played at neutral sites or internationally like the regular-season game that’s been played the last two years in London.

“That’s been one of the appealing features of converting preseason games into regular-season games is it gives you more inventory, more games that you can take to neutral sites, either internationally or domestically,” said Goodell. “So that is a compelling feature.

“I think the quality of NFL programming, that every one of our network partners would say, if they have the chance to have more regular-season programming, they’d be interested in it. A key point is the fans also recognize players they want to see are not in those pre-season games. That’s why they are not attractive. They want to see those players play.”

None of this will get shoved down the throat of the players without it being part of the new collective bargaining agreement that will be negotiated in the coming years. Other than more money, it will be interesting to see how management sells the idea of more work for the players.

“We want to have core discussions on this,” Goodell said. “Anytime you have change, there is some reluctance. But it’s clear we don’t need four pre-season games anymore.

Issues that team owners must discuss with a longer regular season are many. When the regular season would begin? How many bye weeks would be scheduled? How deep into February the playoffs and Super Bowl would go? When would off-season events, like the combine and NFL Draft, be held?

There’s a quality of play issue that must be considered as well, both at the start of the season with less preparation time, and at the end of the season with the possibility of more attrition due to injury.

Yes, injury. Protect the players with rules and interpretations, but the surest way to get more of them hurt is to have them play more games.

GOODELL WANTS A DEVELOPMENTAL LEAGUE

One other item that the Commissioner brought up at the end of the league meetings was the NFL establishing a developmental league, something along the lines of NFL Europe, but with competition in this country.

Three years ago, NFL Europe was put out of business by the league insiders who convinced the owners it was a waste of money. If the NFL is going to go to longer regular seasons with fewer pre-season games, then there is a void of opportunities for young and developmental players to impress a coaching staff.

“The way we look at the developmental league would be mostly in the off-season where players could get those reps and then have the opportunity to play in the NFL as they work into the season,” said Goodell. “That’s the key. That’s what we did with NFL Europe. That would be valuable, I think.”

League owners killed off NFL Europe in June 2007, insisting that after “significant investment” it was time to close the league and concentrate internationally on regular-season games outside the United States.

The Associated Press reported that NFL Europe was losing about $30 million a season when it was closed. If true, then the league was costing each team an average of $937,500 per team. For instance, this year that would be much less than one percent of the league’s salary cap figure.

“If it was a developmental league, it should be done for that purpose, for the purpose of developing players,” Goodell said. “So the commercial aspects, the international aspects, I think those would become secondary.

“That was my issue primarily with NFL Europe was that, what objective was it trying to meet? Was it trying to develop players? Was it trying to grow our game internationally, trying to be a commercial success?”

FROM THE NFL PERSONNEL WIRE

PACKERS – signed C Duke Preston (Buffalo).

SAINTS – signed S Pierson Prioleau (Jacksonville); released S Kevin Kaesviharn.

SAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY …

Born on March 27, 1952 in Honolulu was RB Arnold Morgado. He played in 52 games with 14 starts for the Chiefs over four seasons (1977-80). Morgado carried the ball 285 times for 956 yards and caught 19 passes for 150 yards and a touchdown. He averaged 16.6 yards on eight kickoff returns as well.

Born on March 27, 1964 in Houston was G Gene Chilton. He played six seasons in the NFL, including the 1989 season with the Chiefs when he appeared in 16 games in that season under Marty Schottenheimer.

Born on March 27, 1966 in Jacksonville was WR Naz Worthen. The Chiefs third-round selection in the 1989 NFL Draft out of North Carolina State, Worthen played two seasons (1989-90) with the team, playing in 19 games with one start. He caught five passes during the ’89 season.