Is an ‘Enhanced Season’ really an enhancement?

In recent months, there has been a stream of rhetoric coming from both the NFL and the NFL Players Association regarding the length of the NFL season. The issue is seen as one of the major points in the next Collective Bargaining Agreement, which will be set after the current agreement expires in March 2011.

The NFL and the NFLPA have differing opinions on instituting an 18-game regular season. Roger Goodell, Commissioner of the NFL, has said that there “is a tremendous amount of momentum” for what the NFL has dubbed an “enhanced season.”

The players, however, have other ideas. Ray Lewis, perennial all-star Linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens, stated plainly, “We’re not automobiles. We’re not machines. We’re humans.“

There is little doubt that professional football is a brutal sport to play. From retired players like William “The Refrigerator” Perry and Earl Campbell, to more recent players like Bob Sanders and Connor Barwin (warning, the photo on this link is not for the faint of heart), NFL players suffer major injuries not only during games, but well after their careers have ended as well.

Then comes the money — isn’t that really what professional sports are all about? By adding two regular season games and removing two preseason games, NFL owners are betting that more fans will come to see “meaningful games,” which means more revenue for the NFL through ticket sales, parking, concessions and merchandise.

But by removing two preseason games, isn’t the NFL actually watering itself down? Broncos’ fans will remember Terrell Davis and Mark Schlereth both made the team through strong preseason performances, and both of whom, if the “enhanced season” were implemented, would have had greatly reduced opportunities to become the lynchpins of Denver’s championship runs. And what about teams like the Colts, who tend to lock up their division so early that their starters don’t even play in the final two weeks? Not to mention the compensation players will demand for the increased injury risk they will bear based on more playing time.

While the NFL, being a business first, has every right to generate more revenue and continue to “grow the pie,” there are a number of different issues they’ll need to address before doing so, and alienating the men responsible for putting the final product on the field may not be the best way to do it.

Maybe the NFL could get some advice from The Amazing Sollog, who apparently has some pretty good insight into the league.

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