Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning isn’t convinced expanding the National Football League schedule to 18
regular season games is a good idea. But not for the reason you might think.
Most players are worried about not getting more pay to play two more regular season games, or are concerned about the wear
and tear that those games will put on their bodies. And Manning is concerned about those things too. But he’s chiefly
concerned with how those two games will affect the productivity of his team and their overall chances to win.
Manning thinks the two additional games could hurt the Colts’ chances of evaluating and signing good undrafted free
agents. Colts President Bill Polian has cemented his place in football history with his ability to evaluate talent taken deep
in the draft and plucked out of the abyss of players who slipped through the draft’s cracks.
“It sounds like it’s going to happen next year … the biggest challenge is going to be is for a guy, an
undrafted free agent … some times a guy like that needs a third and fourth preseason game to show the coaches, hey,
I belong here,” Manning said.
Manning realizes that without a steady flow of productive undrafted free agents, his supporting cast in Indianapolis would
have looked much different over the course of his career.
“Jeff Saturday said with two preseason games, he probably wouldn’t have made it in the NFL,” Manning said.
“There are certain guys who look great in practice on the field, but all of a sudden they get in games and they just
don’t look quite as comfortable. The lights come on and something just doesn’t go well. Vice versa, there
are guys who look average in practice and they get on the playing field and all they do is return punts for touchdowns, make
one-handed catches, make interceptions. I think you’ll lose that ability for coaches to evaluate those players. That
would be a shame because there are so many great stories of undrafted guys like Jeff Saturday on our team and Dominic Rhodes
a few years ago and so many throughout the history of the league. I think that’s something the league is going to miss
out on.”
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Welcome to The Score, your place for hard-hitting sports business news, fast-breaking updates and fuel-injected debate. Buckle up. I'm your host, Anthony Schoettle, IBJ sports reporter.
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See, I told u Indyman and Dipsicle....this 8 days is overkill. It's barely worth a weekend....great job Tony George! Your dream has been fulfilled....he fans want the I r l back. Thats how good it was.....and that sucked.
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Pimlico
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While I understand the severity of their actions as well as everyones eagerness to hold them responsible for thier lost funds, these gentlemen did know how to make money. Dispite thier poor decisions over the ownership of Fair they had made several wise investments which paid them greatly. This proves they do have the potential to rebuild so they can repay. I do not feel they should live the life of luxuary but given an opportunity could they find ways of repaying the debts? They are doing nothing now but being a burden on tax payers. Just a thought!!!!!
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You guys have some "interesting" comments to say the least. I hope you will call in and share those opinions starting June 1. I'm looking forward to having you on the air.
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Sad......
A) continue with the current schedule of 4 preseason/16 regular season, or B) 2 preseason/18 regular season. However, they're not considering what would possibly be the best solution - C) slash the ticket prices of preseason games and keep the current schedule. Lower preseason prices would both satisfy the season-holders and allow those who can't afford to pay full price to catch a game.
First, if this was the case, why does this imply that the fans automatically want an extended 18 game season. These two things don't have to go hand in hand.
Second, i think fans really want a fairer price on these preseason games. They are glorified practice games, so why should full price be paid. I believe that teams need at least 3 preseason games to evaluate talent. Jeff Saturday and Gary Brackett have both admitted that if the preseason had been cut to two games they may have never made it in the NFL.
Ultimately greed wins out on any decisions that are made, and it doesn't seem like Goodell can see past this either. A 18 game season is going to be a watered down version with more potential injuries to star players and more meaningless games. Someone said it earlier, but the NFL will eventually ruin itself. Just wait until the lockout next year.
Simply slashing prices for preseason games would bring in no additional revenue and would likely bring in less. There is no way this would help break the stalemate between the two sides.