NFL has 17 regular season games and then its sudden death playoffs while NBA, MLB and NHL have like 80 season games and the playoffs takes forever I don’t understand, if NFL is so popular in America, how come the season only goes from September to late January?
Because they pretty much beat the crap out of each other every week. They play for four months. that's 1/3 of the calendar year.
Because the lose of players to injury is such a factor in American Football that you would have no players left after a certain amount of games. NFL schedule 4 Exhibition/Pre-Season/Friendly Games* *(I expect this to be reduced next time the Union & Management negotiate a contract) 16 Regular Season games in 17 weeks 3-4 Playoff Games for the Super Bowl teams. About 15-20 years ago the US magazine Sports Illustrated did a whole series of articles on the injuries suffered by NFL players & the health consequences afterward. The thing that I still remember is one doctor saying is that if you wanted to simulate the injuries of a typical NFL career you should: A) Put on the full football uniform (which weighs 20lbs or so - maybe more) B) Run full speed into a closed Garage door 30 to 40 times - try to hit it @ different angles each time C) Repeat everyday for 3 to 4 years ---- The only sport that really compares injury wise is boxing.
Also you have a lot of full contact drills in practice & during training camp (which starts in July) -- that adds to the injury/fatigue factor.
So, the Pro Bowl is usualy the first week of February. The draft is near the end of April. That is about 2 months of nothing football related, but they must be working something, predraft stuff in March at least. So in reality, it is a 12 month a year business. I would guess that the owners and comish would want more games. Lamar Hunt is known to have been asking for more playoff teams to be added. The players have a strong union and would not want more games which is basicly more work for its members. Even though the players stay in shape in the offseason, it is known that football shape is not the same as overall fitness. That said, the teams have tried to use passive force to make players come to camp earlier each year. The rookie camp is always first, but they also have these non-mandatory mini-camps where player participation is encouraged...cough...cough...required. It would be cool to have this fixture in the future. 32 teams 16 teams per conference 15 games against every team in your conference 4 games against all the teams from one division from the other conference, with a set rotation, so you play every team at least every 4 years. Total of 19 games I know, and like the NFL's divisional structure and my plan kinda kills that. Just think, it does create divisional races for teams that otherwise would be giving up on the season after the first few weeks. You know, no matter how bad the Bengal and Browns are, they are still within the division title and a chance for the playoffs. It keeps us interested. Remember, the only undefeated NFL team is the Miami Dolphins at 17-0. They played only 14 regular season games back then, and Miami won both playoff games and the Superbowl.
Well, Garcia, here is the problem with your idea, at least that I see (wouldn't necessarily like 32 teams, but a restructuring - again - might be nice): If there are 19 regular season games, the US market demands a playoff structure. Look how both baseball and football have expanded their playoffs. That being said, That might push forward the start of the season, which would start it in the hottest part of the year. That would be unsafe, specially with that added 20lbs of gear. If the season is not pushed forward, then the post season would be pushed back. Assuming the minimum first and second place teams, then that would mean an additional 3-4 weeks (a rest week before the Superbowl possible). That would likely cut into NCAA basketball, NBA, and NHL stretch run. Also the NBA all-star game would be effected (because we know that TV dictates it all). Hopefully that would eliminate the pro-bowl, which more and more players seem to be skipping because of "injury." But this is the NFL, and Hawaii is a glamarous location. So, at the minimum, there would be a 20 game season and 3 weeks of playoffs. That is almost 6 months. For the injuries that the NFL players have, they need the 6 months off.
True But still, most NFL teams have 70,000 to 80,000 seater stadiums and they only really use it approximately 10 times a season for home games, don't think any other sport can afford to do that. I know they rent it out for other activities during off-season
Re: Re: why is NFL season so short? The players basically stand aroun all game and take some swings in the entire game. They can play 365 days per week if they can.
Actually, there's very little contact during training camp, at least at the three I've visited on one or two occasions (Vikings in Mankato, MN, Patriots at Bryant College in RI, and the Rams in Macomb, IL), not to mention the one that takes place where I work in Latrobe PA where I can watch workouts that are closed to the general public. It's almost all conditioning and timing, with contact limited to scrimmages and exhib... ooops, pre-season games. Rarely are there contact drills in the camps I've seen. This is done for obvious reasons, preventing injury being first and foremost, but also because it's assumed that by the time you're in the NFL, even as a free-agent invited to camp, you can take the contact. It's pretty funny to hear high school kids watching their first Steeler camp declaring that their practices are harder. Well... you do a lot more hitting in August in high school, but I'm betting the Steelers are putting in their fair share of work. And by the time you're in the NFL, one hit in a game situation equals a couple hours of blocking and tackling drills at the high school level.
Some points I'd like to make... 1) Lamar Hunt is pushing for more playoff teams but ABSOLUTELY NOT more games. He wants to eliminate the first round bye in the playoffs. All that would do is create four extra games in total during the first weekend of the playoffs. So the team that won the Super Bowl would definitly have to play in 20 total games (24 counting preseason), whereas right now it is 19-20 depending on if they were a bye team. He essentially wants a completely level playing field. 2) You won't see the NFL move from its current situation for a very long time. Teams may move from city to city, but a 32 team league with its current schedule structure is absolutely perfect. They have finally gotten to where schedules are set mathematically based on the previous season, so no biased can go into the decision making. 3) To kinda touch on #2...The NFL used to play a 14 game regular season with 6 preseason games. They moved two games to the regular season making it 4 preseason and 16 regular season. The NFL, more importantly Paul Tagliabue, has recently said they will NOT shorten the preseason and make it a 2 preseason and 18 regular season schedule. Basically because of what I said in #2, the scheduling is perfect as is. 4) Most of the previous posts covered the original question. The point I'd like to make is that you hear more and more of the older NFL players (60's and 70's) say how todays game is a 12 month a year job. Back when they played it was literally a 6-7 month job. The players are bigger now, causing more pain during the season which needs more time during the off season to recover. Many of the star players to take the most hits can't even start training camp because they're still recovering from injuries they sustained (and usually played with) in the previous season. Think about it, thats over 6 months and they still arent recovered. 5) Dr. Wankler, there is plenty of contact in training camps. Sure no where near a game, but they have certain days that are all out pads. Especially when other teams come and they get together for a scrimmage. The Chiefs just this year lost a WR that was probably going to make the squad as a special teamer from a hit he took vs. the Vikings in a preseason scrimmage.
I said "very little" when I should've said "surprisingly little." Other than that, you'll notice that the rest of my post responds to the notion that there are a lot of contact drills. There aren't a lot of contact drills, mainly because it would be too costly in the long run, and because, as professionals, they really don't need to work on contact in training camp. As you note yourself, most contact comes during scrimmages, which is what I said in the rest of my post.