Last night, Jim Trotter of SI.com reported that NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith said that the union won’t be agreeing to an 18-game regular season.
Our friends at 106.7 the Fan in D.C., which hosted the event at which Smith spoke, have video of Smith’s remarks.
Apart from citing player safety, Smith explained that the fans have made it “abundantly clear” that they don’t want 18 regular-season games.
Of course, the league consistently has said the fans want 18 games.
As far as we can tell, most fans want a shorter preseason, but not a longer regular season. The sooner the NFL realizes that, the sooner this mess perhaps can be resolved.
Put simply, there are other ways to grow the pie that don’t involve expanding the regular season. The league knows it, and it’s time for the league to act on it.