By Jim Thomas
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Wednesday, Sep. 05 2007
Decades ago, long before the days when television money turned the National
Football League into a billion-dollar business, players spent the offseason
working in banks or selling insurance to supplement their still-modest football
incomes. They showed up in training camp to get in shape for football.
Those days are long gone. Salaries have escalated to the point where the
minimum wage for even an undrafted rookie is $285,000, more than probably some
bank presidents and insurance executives make. Players are expected to be in
shape when they report to training camp, and those who aren't quickly can get
left behind.
These days, there's no excuse for players to be out of shape. Not with
offseason conditioning programs starting in late March, minicamps in the
spring, and those "light" practices in May and June known as OTAs — short for
organized team activities.
In the tradition-bound NFL, in which change occurs at a glacier-like pace,
training camp and the preseason have changed little over the last 30 years.
Around the league, at least some teams are cutting back on the number of
two-a-day practice sessions. But the exhibition schedule remains the same as it
has been since 1978 — four games.
For veteran players, four games in August are way too much.
"Two, I think, is more than enough," said wide receiver-kick returner Dante
Hall, an eight-year NFL veteran. "A couple of weeks of training camp. Two
preseason games. And let's get it on."
After all the work in the spring, it doesn't take long for the regulars to get
in game shape once training camp starts.
Take it from running back
Steven Jackson.
"Guys have been in 'game' mode for quite some time around here," Jackson said.
Jackson made those comments a week ago.
So who exactly benefits from four exhibition games?
"As a young guy, if you're trying to make a team — I was a benefactor of that
early in my career," Hall said. "I needed all four games. That's how I was able
to make the team (in Kansas City) early in my career. But once you've
established yourself, and you know what it takes to get through a season,
(preseason) really just wears you out."
For those players who aren't established, the preseason can be a tension-filled
proving ground, particularly if they suffer an injury early in camp. Such was
the case with linebacker
Tim McGarigle, who spent his rookie season (2006) on
the Rams' practice squad and then missed the first three exhibition games of
this preseason because of a hamstring injury.
"Fortunately, it healed in time to show this coaching staff what I can do,"
McGarigle said. "And I think that's the reason I'm here. In two games, I don't
think I would've been able to go out there with my hamstring and make this
team. I'm in favor of those four games, obviously."
But for those who aren't young players or fringe players, the preseason has
become increasingly irrelevant. It is becoming more common for star players,
such as San Diego's LaDainian Tomlinson and the Rams' Jackson, to sit out most
or all of the exhibition season.
It has become common practice to give starters extended playing time only in
the second and third exhibition games. None of the Rams' projected 22 starters
on offense and defense even played in the preseason finale Thursday against
Kansas City.
Coach
Scott Linehan, not one to rock the boat, gave a diplomatic answer when
asked if four exhibition games are necessary.
"I think they are," he said. "I don't know what the magic number is. We plan
for them, so they're a big part of what we're doing as far as our evaluation.
... If you were to change the amount of games, you're going to probably affect
what you do in practice."
But if the league decided on just two exhibition games, would Linehan be all
right with that?
"I'd do whatever the league tells me," he said, laughing. "They're my boss. I
think you would create other ways for competitive performance situations,
though, and scrimmages are fine."
Fans, of course, pay full price for exhibition games, and those contests are
part of season-ticket packages. The owners may enjoy the extra money, but fans
usually stay away in droves. There were perhaps as many as 20,000 empty seats
in the Edward Jones Dome for both the San Diego and Kansas City games in August.
One solution, of course, would be to drop two exhibition games and add two
regular-season contests. The network television money gained by adding two
regular-season games to the schedule would dwarf any money the owners received
for charging regular-season prices for practice games. And the resulting salary
cap increase would mean more money for players.
"That would be fine," Hall said. "Make them count, at least, instead of going
out there and wearing yourself down for games that have no significance. If
you're going to play 20 games, make 18 of them count."
RAMS
Linear Mode
