Do you love the NFL preseason? Of course you do! First, you have to pay full price for tickets, AND the best players don't play. Hold on, that's two bad things, why in the world do you like the NFL preseason? Are you also a fan of the new show "Pitch?" I suspect you are. For the rest of America (except Colin Kaepernick), the preseason is pretty uneventful and kind of like a handjob - it's better than nothing, but barely.
"But Tonyonball, if they don't have preseason games, they won't be sharp for week 1 and the product will suffer." - All NFL Owners*
Is that the case? Did anyone see a discernable difference in play from week 1 of college (Awesome!) to week 1 of the NFL (a little sloppy)? College football doesn't seem to need four preseason games to get ready for the season. Instead they play intersquad games against the walk-ons, or Illinois. While some college early season games turn into donating money to a small school so they will come play at your stadium, they still count and are still interesting to some degree (will Clemson cover the 58-1/2 point spread over South Carolina State, tune into ACCN at 11:00am to find out!).
The point is, college football finds a way to have games that count, while still tuning up for the conference schedule. The smaller schools generally get $250,000 - $500,000 for making the trip and getting thrown around, which they can use to improve their athletic department and help supplement other sports that don't make money (pretty much every female sport, Title IX you are killing college sports - just kidding, but seriously).
"But Tonyonball, the NFL doesn't have teams like that, all of the teams are 'equals'". - All NFL Owners*
Really? While I'm sure the Ram's owner didn't watch that game Monday night, there had to be a few owners that did. And the Falcons game, and the Bears game, and the Browns game. There are most definitely haves and have nots in the NFL. These teams don't need money though, so there would be no way to entice them with that; however, draft picks are more precious than Tom Brady's tears...
The idea is as simple as it is unlikely to happen. The NFL season is pretty well structured years in advance, though talking heads would like you to think that if a team has a winning record their schedule will be so much more difficult than a team with a losing record. That is sort of the case. Teams play their own division teams twice each (six games), then an entire division in their own conference (four games), and an entire division in the opposing conference (four games). This makes up all but two of their games. Those are based on your season last year, so technically, your schedule could be harder, but it doesn't always work out that way.
"Get to the point Tonyonball." - both readers.
Okay fine, so here's the fix. All teams have their 14 games set from weeks 3-17. However, weeks 1 and 2 are a free for all where teams negotiate their own schedule. This negotiation will start one week after the previous seasons Superbowl. Can you imagine how fast the Panthers will call the Rams to play them week 1 next season? They can offer draft picks, players to move after the game or after the season, etc. The claim is the only way to build a successful team in the NFL is through the draft, so why not give the have nots a better shot by loading them up with draft picks. There are plenty of teams that feel like they are in a "win now" mode and need to get just a couple of more wins to give them home field advantage through the playoffs. Sam Bradford just went for a first round pick, with the hope that he can get them one or two more victories throughout the season. The Vikings could have said the hell with that, we'll roll with Shaun Hill and guarantee ourselves a 2-0 start against the Browns and Rams. In the last 10 years 80% of the championship game home teams have gone on to the Superbowl; that's a pretty good incentive to load up your schedule with some wins!
Potential Superbowl teams get a couple of easy wins, the downtrodden get some more draft picks to screw up, fans don't have to sit through the preseason, everyone wins! And can you imagine how much ESPN and FOX would love this. "Those players are professionals, they have to feel disrespected that they have been chosen to be a blood donor." - every former player talking head. It would lead to endless debates on who the best and worst teams are, what is a win worth. "You cannot sacrifice your future for one win this season." - non former player talking head. Then, once in a great while, the crappy team would win, total chaos!
Tell your friends, it's going to be great, I guarantee it.
-Tony
