If The NFL Really Cares About Player Safety, The Schedule Sure Doesn't Make Sense
The NFL constantly tries to tell players and fans that it cares about player safety. It doesn't, because what's far more important is money.
That's not a surprise, the NFL is a business. They're going to choose money over their employees every, single time. Most companies do this.
That's OK, except the part where the NFL tries really hard to convince people that they DO care about player safety.
Take, for example, grass fields vs. turf fields. The players overwhelmingly (near unanimously) want to play every game on grass fields. There is plenty of data to support the idea that grass is the safer surface, not just for head injuries, but lower-body injuries as well.
New York Jets QB Aaron Rodgers was injured during the first game of the 2023 NFL season on the turf at MetLife Stadium.
(Al Pereira/Getty Images)
There's another, more recent example, and that's this year's NFL schedule. While the league previously had a 16-game schedule for over 40 years, they went to a 17-game schedule in 2021. By all accounts, an 18-game regular season schedule is coming. Soon.
It's hard to argue against the idea that more football games mean more chances for injury. It's also very hard to argue against the idea that more NFL games equals more money.
The 2024 NFL schedule is proof that the league doesn't really take player safety into account… at least not when it conflicts with making or spending money.
Even with the 17-game schedule, let's take a look at some notable scheduling quirks this year that fly in the face of the idea of player safety. First, there are two games taking place on Christmas Day, which falls on a Wednesday this year. The NFL previously said it wouldn't put games on "non-traditional" NFL days.
Pretty sure Wednesday qualifies as a "non-traditional" NFL day. But Christmas Day games last year drew record TV ratings. That meant the NFL could auction off this year's games to the highest bidder. More money in their pockets.
Playing games on Christmas Day 2024, a Wednesday, puts several teams in a terrible spot from a scheduling perspective, but it's going to make the league A LOT of money.
(Kirby Lee/Getty Images)
In fact, the NFL is putting games all over the weekly schedule in 2024. Gone are the days with one Thursday game, one Monday game and the rest of the NFL schedule played on Sunday. We're going to have Monday doubleheaders, more Friday games (those "traditional" NFL Fridays, amirite?) and more Saturday games.
Now, we've added a couple of Wednesday games for good measure.
Warren Sharp, a data-driven NFL analyst, did a deep dive into this year's NFL schedule and found some very interesting quirks. Those quirks include many NFL teams playing previously rare stretches of games in very short periods.
"After not scheduling three games in 10 days for any team over the last five years, the NFL scheduled this scenario for NINE teams this year," Sharp reported. "For context, in all the games of the last decade combined, there were only two such sequences like this, with none occurring in the last five years. It occurs NINE times this year alone!"
Here are the nine teams that Warren lists: Steelers, Ravens, Texans, Chiefs, Bengals, Bears, Seahawks, Saints, Cowboys. As OutKick's Amber Harding pointed out, the Jets start on Monday Night Football, then play on Sunday, then play the following Thursday. That makes them the 10th team on this list.
No surprises in that team list, a lot of popular teams (or popular quarterbacks) are forced to play on non-Sundays because they'll draw the best ratings.
So, after literally not forcing any teams to play three NFL games in the span of 10 days (which is a game every 3.3 days for a week-and-a-half) in five years, they're going to make ten teams do it in 2024 alone. Player safety is important, right?
The NFL, specifically Commissioner Roger Goodell, preaches player safety, but the 2024 schedule provides many counterexamples of that.
(Nancy Lane/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images)
Not only do ten teams have to go through a brutal three-games-in-ten-days-stretch, but seven of the ten instances come after Week 10. So, it's not just that they have to go through it, but they have to do so late in the season when their bodies have already taken a pounding. Player safety, amirite?
Here's another "fun" quirk in the 2024 NFL schedule (via Sharp):
"After not scheduling four games in 17 days for any team for the last two years, the NFL scheduled this scenario for SEVEN teams this year. For context, in the prior five years, this sequence occurred just five total times. It occurs SEVEN times this year alone!"
Look, I love the NFL and I wish teams played every day like they do in baseball. Obviously, that's not feasible. And, to be clear, I'm not mad at the NFL for scheduling games this way.
Their job is to get their product out there and have the maximum amount of interest, which leads to the maximum amount of profit. That's Business 101.
But please, NFL, miss me with the player safety stuff. You don't care, just stop pretending.