_Sez Me …_
The NFL is going to have an 18-game season, _tout de suite_. If not that fast, soon.
It’s inevitable. Ice melts. Rivers flow. The League plays 18 games.
It gathered fuel last week at the winter meetings, with Patriots boss Robert Kraft throwing his weight behind the idea of adding one regular-season game, a second bye, dropping an exhibition game (leaving one), and ensuring all 32 teams play once annually overseas.
And he claims to have a posse of owners on his side.
Of course, all this is pending approval by the NFL Players Association. But next to baseball’s union, which has the strongest bite on earth, the NFL’s has gums. Which is why there has been labor peace for so long.
So, sooner or later, there are going to be 18 games. If you have a stone, go ahead and cast it with a big 1 and an 8.
You care how all these affairs will affect the record books? The NFL doesn’t care about records. It cares about money, and commissioner Roger Goodell has proved himself a master of making it.
You care about more games, more injuries? The NFL talks a good game. That player safety comes first, along with the integrity of “The Shield.” If you buy that, you’ll fly to Tahiti to pick up ski boots.
This is not a case of the NFL being too big for its britches. Its britches already have a 90-inch waistband, and there is room for more. There already are games on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, and they dominate television ratings. To watch every game this year, you will need something like 10 TV channels and streaming outlets.
And people will buy it because they gamble. Millions play fantasy football, which is a fantasy term for gambling. Wagering drives The League, which it took Roger to discover. Las Vegas, once taboo, has become an altar. The League has its own gambling sponsor.
I readily admit I love football, so getting rid of a useless exhibition game and adding a real one is OK with me. But for some teams, that’s one more tank job. And what’s to keep the few of them who have clinched playoff spots from sitting their best players twice instead of once? They become exhibitions.
My biggest problem — and the one for which the union should fight — is every team playing overseas. It’s not such a big deal for greedy owners, who are compensated for losing a home game. But it should be. And it definitely is bad for players, who have their routines, and must leave the comforts of home and travel thousands of miles. The extra bye helps. Not enough.
Face it. Football is a brutal sport. Players get hurt. One more real game means one more chance for injury. Last year. 20 starting QBs missed games due to injury, up around 17% from 2024. And they are the most precious commodities in sports.
But Goodell gets what he wants. The season continues to push ahead into February. And Roger long ago decided the Super Bowl should be scheduled on Presidents’ Day weekend.
So, forget quality of play. Forget about injuries. Forget about home games being taken away. It’s about money.
It’s estimated that $30 billion was wagered legally on NFL games in 2025. Untold billions illegally.
There will be 18.
Bet on it. …
The only way Bruce Pearl should be on TV is if he’s using it for a chair. …
The amazing thing is Dan Hurley is the second-biggest jackass coaching basketball at UConn. …
Duke is a terrific academic institution. So Dukies know how to spell C-H-O-K-E-D. …
In its last three Final Fours, Duke has blown double-digit leads. That is gagging. …
UConn scored 16 points off second-half turnovers. The Blue Devils? Zero. Duke swallowed an olive the size of my head. …
South Carolina’s Dawn Staley says that, now, one of the first things she asks a portal recruit is: “How much is it going to cost us?”
I am so, so tired of missed free throws. I could shoot a bit, play defense, but couldn’t dribble (although now I could run with it tucked under my arm), which meant I couldn’t play basketball. But I never air-balled a free throw. …
Capital One commercials, terrific tournament fixtures, have fallen dramatically without Spike Lee. Magic Johnson is not Spike. …
Trivia (answer below): Who was the first person on the moon?
I have a question. Why wasn’t Mason Miller closing for the Padres last year? Didn’t have the right song picked out? …
Willie Mays claimed the Candlestick Park wind cost him 100 home runs. Agree. Maybe more. The greatest of all home run hitters. Besides being the best player. …
Mariners shortstop Colt Emerson has agreed to a $95 million extension. He has yet to play a minute in the majors. Baseball money is guaranteed. I guess he’s really going to be good. …
Remember, Emerson did bat .268 last year. …
GM Howie Roseman tells everyone who inquires: “A.J. Brown is a member of the Philadelphia Eagles.” Let’s see if he says that after June 1, when the dead money salary cap for Brown drops more than $20 million. …
Kyle Shanahan says the Rams lobbied to open the season in Australia to keep 49ers fans from taking over SoFi Stadium, as they always do. He’s probably right. Now if he only can get his fans to help him win something with a title in it. …
If the NFL goes to replacement officials, it must find at least one who knows what pass interference is. But the last time it did this, it was a Salvador Dali nightmare. …
John Harbaugh may bring Odell Beckham Jr. to the Giants. A receiver who built his rep on a one-handed catch John Jefferson made every week without those Gorilla Glue gloves. …
The League says the Raiders are worth $11.5 billion. Just about a billion per loss. …
RIP, Joey Browner. Norv Turner coached the remarkable USC secondary that included Browner, Ronnie Lott, Dennis Smith and Jeff Fisher. I once wondered what Turner had to do to coach these guys. “Every once in a while, Joey would ask me a question.” …
I see an SNL actor trying to sell me medicine. Do they make a funny pill? …
I wonder what “No King’s Day” would have been like for Henry III? Slaughter. …
Trivia answer: Alice Cramden. …
One of my fondest memories as a kid was the Lions Tournament. And it was played at one venue — Navy Field. Downtown. …
Sean McVay didn’t come up with the great quote, “Comparison is the thief of joy.” Theodore Roosevelt did. And not one NFL draft guru has heard it. …
There is a Ted Leitner-Jim Laslavic podcast coming your way soon. Hopefully, Laz, nicknamed “Vic” by Rick Smith, knows where edgewise is and can get a word in. …
I could have told you the Padres would win at least one game. …
“Baseball is not an obvious game.” — Roger Kahn …
Anonymous sources should remain anonymous. They have no literal or figurative reproductive organs.