Shorter pre-season?

[BD Sullivan]

I was surprised when the league extended the season to 17 games and cut the pre-season to 3 games. The decision was certainly driven by the needs of the TV networks. It would have been better for the players, I thought, to add a second week off for each team during the season. That would have extended the season an extra week and cut the pre-season to 3 games without adding a single hit to a player.

Of course, the NFL disingenuously said that it was done because fans and players wanted fewer exhibition games. Damned if they'd give up another cash cow.

[SixtiesFan]

50 years ago this summer, the 1972 NFL Hall of Fame Game kicked off with Kansas City facing the New York Giants. It was the first of seven exhibition games the Chiefs played that season.

R.I.P. Lenny Dawson

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This was the game in which Cosell referred to white running back Mike Adamle as a "little monkey" and nobody batted an eye. Fast forward 11 years later and all hell breaks loose.

As far as the six-exhibition schedule, many of those games were actually worth watching--unlike the trash that season ticket holders are now forced to subsidize.

In the 70s some exhibition games were televised in prime time, usually matchups fans liked to see. And the play was pretty good.

[Retro Rider]

In the 70s some exhibition games were televised in prime time, usually matchups fans liked to see. And the play was pretty good.

Totally agree. I looked forward to the NFL Champions vs. College All-Stars as well. Even the Pro Bowl was worth watching in the '70's. You couldn't pay me to watch it now.

[RyanChristiansen]

You can't continue to have preseason games if you don't offer some value for the fan. If the starters aren't playing and the games don't matter, then so what? You get better value paying to watch the teams practice and scrimmage (sometimes against other NFL teams) at training camp with the possibility of getting an autograph or at least seeing the players up close. Training camp has become much more of a fan-friendly event and preseason games have lost their appeal.

[SixtiesFan]

In the 70s some exhibition games were televised in prime time, usually matchups fans liked to see. And the play was pretty good.

Totally agree. I looked forward to the NFL Champions vs. College All-Stars as well. Even the Pro Bowl was worth watching in the '70's. You couldn't pay me to watch it now.

Yes. In the 70s the Pro Bowl was shown in prime time (starting with the 1975 game as I remember) by the ABC Monday Night crew with high TV ratings because, I read, the fans liked to see the star players.

[Todd Pence]

I was surprised when the league extended the season to 17 games and cut the pre-season to 3 games. The decision was certainly driven by the needs of the TV networks. It would have been better for the players, I thought, to add a second week off for each team during the season. That would have extended the season an extra week and cut the pre-season to 3 games without adding a single hit to a player.

In 1993, they did an an extra bye week for each team. This caused the regular season to extend into January for the first time ever. This must have caused too many complications because they went back to the one-bye format.

[Retro Rider]

Yes. In the 70s the Pro Bowl was shown in prime time (starting with the 1975 game as I remember) by the ABC Monday Night crew with high TV ratings because, I read, the fans liked to see the star players.

The 1976 Pro Bowl was Mike Boryla's fifteen minutes of fame. I thought he should have been the MVP. It was an entertaining contest with the NFC winning 23-20.

Seattle hosted the Pro Bowl in January 1977, a prime time Monday Night game on ABC. A school friend of mine gave me an extra ticket courtesy of his uncle. I had planned on going with them but I had driver's ed that night and my parents said NO. I did get to see a good chunk of the game on television. I still have the unused ticket.

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[sheajets]

I was surprised when the league extended the season to 17 games and cut the pre-season to 3 games. The decision was certainly driven by the needs of the TV networks. It would have been better for the players, I thought, to add a second week off for each team during the season. That would have extended the season an extra week and cut the pre-season to 3 games without adding a single hit to a player.

In 1993, they did an an extra bye week for each team. This caused the regular season to extend into January for the first time ever. This must have caused too many complications because they went back to the one-bye format.

It was like The Year of Three Kings, or the Year of Three Popes. The Year of 2 byes

For the health of the players, I would like to see it return...the networks won't like it but having another week for the players to heal from the grind of the regular season would be good for football overall.

[ChrisBabcock]

I was surprised when the league extended the season to 17 games and cut the pre-season to 3 games. The decision was certainly driven by the needs of the TV networks. It would have been better for the players, I thought, to add a second week off for each team during the season. That would have extended the season an extra week and cut the pre-season to 3 games without adding a single hit to a player.

In 1993, they did an an extra bye week for each team. This caused the regular season to extend into January for the first time ever. This must have caused too many complications because they went back to the one-bye format.

It was like The Year of Three Kings, or the Year of Three Popes. The Year of 2 byes

For the health of the players, I would like to see it return...the networks won't like it but having another week for the players to heal from the grind of the regular season would be good for football overall.

Actually 2020 would have been the perfect year to try it and I'd be shocked if it wasn't considered. To minimize the need for rescheduling gymnastics due to a Covid postponement game. In the first half of the season each team gets a bye with all other teams in their division plus the division they are playing interconference. In the second half of the season each team gets a bye with all other teams in their division plus the division they are playing INTRAconference. In the case of a game postponement, there would be a reasonable chance that the two teams would share an upcoming bye that the game could be moved to.

[racepug]

I recall in the 1960s they were called "exhibition games" and the "exhibition season." Pete Rozelle came up with the idea of calling them "preseason games."

I seem to recall a movement a while back by (certain) news organizations to purposefully refer to it as "exhibition season" and NOT "pre-season." It doesn't seem to have gained a whole lot of traction.