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GOODELL, MADDEN DEBATE SHORTENED PRESEASON
Posted by Mike Florio on September 24, 2008, 7:40 p.m.
During a Wednesday appearance on Sirius NFL Radio, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell debated with NBC’s John Madden the question of whether the preseason will be shortened, if/when the regular season is expanded.
The good folks at Sirius have sent us the transcript. Here it is.
Said Goodell: “We’re doing an entire analysis of the offseason, how we prepare our players for the season, making sure that player safety is of primary importance, but making sure, do we need four preseason games? I’ve been on record as saying I don’t think the quality of the preseason meets NFL standards and in talking to a number of people throughout the league, particularly on the football side, I don’t think we need four preseason games to get our players and our teams ready for the season. So if we did extend the regular season it would only be at the expense of losing an equivalent number of preseason games. And I think it is something that we can try to replace what I think is not high quality football in the preseason with quality regular season games. It’s something we’re seriously considering and we may do in the future.”
Madden disageed. “You know, I respect everything that you’ve done, Commissioner,” Madden said. ”This is one area that I really differ with you. I think that you need four preseason games. You always have to say, ‘For who?’ You say you don’t need them. Well, who doesn’t need them? Maybe a running back doesn’t need them but a quarterback does or a rookie does, a young defensive back, an offensive lineman obviously needs them. I think if you look at the football if you had any negative thing, in my mind anyway, to say about the football in the first couple of weeks I would say that the teams weren’t in shape and they weren’t ready to play pro tackle football for four quarters. Now I think if you take two of those preseason games out there and add two more [regular season] games at a high, four-quarter-play level, I think you’re going to have a heck of a lot more injuries and I think they’re going to be less ready to play.”
Responded Goodell: “I just had a conversation with a G.M. this morning about it. I think teams will adjust. They’ll find other ways of preparing their teams. As you know, they’ll go into more scrimmages. They’ll do other things to get that game action. But I disagree with you. When I talked to a couple of players this year they told me they played less than three quarters of a game in the preseason this year to get ready. And part of that is the coaches having to balance how much playing time do I give them over four preseason games, how much evaluation am I giving to the younger players to see who is going to make the club? And I’m not sure we are putting the focus on preparing the players properly for the regular season.”
“Well, we’re not,” Madden said. “They don’t want to play in the preseason and then they don’t want to wear pads and then they don’t want to practice hard in training camp. And then you get to the regular season and say, ‘Ok, now go! Boom! Everything goes.’”
“I’m not suggesting that, Coach,” Goodell said. “I agree with you. But I’m not suggesting that. You know these athletes. It’s hard to have them play at 30% and say, ‘Ok, now I’ve got to play at 100% in the regular season.’ And that’s a little bit what we’re doing in the preseason. We’re saying, ‘Don’t play the whole game.’ These games are different and I think that’s the challenge that I think we have. If we had two or three preseason games I think you’d see the players playing more and at a higher level and being better prepared to play the regular season which, as you know, is a completely different level.”
“Right,” Madden said. “Those are the three areas that the custodians of the game, I think, have let it slip a little. One is preseason football, two is the end of the regular season, three is the Pro Bowl.”
“And I agree with every one of those, by the way, and we’re trying to address each one of those,” Goodell said. “We haven’t come to any conclusions of it so we’ll continue to do the analysis. You know, we used to play six preseason games and you know that because you played them.”
“Yes, I did and I was one that argued when we went from six to four,” Madden said. “I’m the same guy arguing when we go from four to two. What the heck do I know?”
Posted by Mike Florio on September 24, 2008, 7:40 p.m.
During a Wednesday appearance on Sirius NFL Radio, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell debated with NBC’s John Madden the question of whether the preseason will be shortened, if/when the regular season is expanded.
The good folks at Sirius have sent us the transcript. Here it is.
Said Goodell: “We’re doing an entire analysis of the offseason, how we prepare our players for the season, making sure that player safety is of primary importance, but making sure, do we need four preseason games? I’ve been on record as saying I don’t think the quality of the preseason meets NFL standards and in talking to a number of people throughout the league, particularly on the football side, I don’t think we need four preseason games to get our players and our teams ready for the season. So if we did extend the regular season it would only be at the expense of losing an equivalent number of preseason games. And I think it is something that we can try to replace what I think is not high quality football in the preseason with quality regular season games. It’s something we’re seriously considering and we may do in the future.”
Madden disageed. “You know, I respect everything that you’ve done, Commissioner,” Madden said. ”This is one area that I really differ with you. I think that you need four preseason games. You always have to say, ‘For who?’ You say you don’t need them. Well, who doesn’t need them? Maybe a running back doesn’t need them but a quarterback does or a rookie does, a young defensive back, an offensive lineman obviously needs them. I think if you look at the football if you had any negative thing, in my mind anyway, to say about the football in the first couple of weeks I would say that the teams weren’t in shape and they weren’t ready to play pro tackle football for four quarters. Now I think if you take two of those preseason games out there and add two more [regular season] games at a high, four-quarter-play level, I think you’re going to have a heck of a lot more injuries and I think they’re going to be less ready to play.”
Responded Goodell: “I just had a conversation with a G.M. this morning about it. I think teams will adjust. They’ll find other ways of preparing their teams. As you know, they’ll go into more scrimmages. They’ll do other things to get that game action. But I disagree with you. When I talked to a couple of players this year they told me they played less than three quarters of a game in the preseason this year to get ready. And part of that is the coaches having to balance how much playing time do I give them over four preseason games, how much evaluation am I giving to the younger players to see who is going to make the club? And I’m not sure we are putting the focus on preparing the players properly for the regular season.”
“Well, we’re not,” Madden said. “They don’t want to play in the preseason and then they don’t want to wear pads and then they don’t want to practice hard in training camp. And then you get to the regular season and say, ‘Ok, now go! Boom! Everything goes.’”
“I’m not suggesting that, Coach,” Goodell said. “I agree with you. But I’m not suggesting that. You know these athletes. It’s hard to have them play at 30% and say, ‘Ok, now I’ve got to play at 100% in the regular season.’ And that’s a little bit what we’re doing in the preseason. We’re saying, ‘Don’t play the whole game.’ These games are different and I think that’s the challenge that I think we have. If we had two or three preseason games I think you’d see the players playing more and at a higher level and being better prepared to play the regular season which, as you know, is a completely different level.”
“Right,” Madden said. “Those are the three areas that the custodians of the game, I think, have let it slip a little. One is preseason football, two is the end of the regular season, three is the Pro Bowl.”
“And I agree with every one of those, by the way, and we’re trying to address each one of those,” Goodell said. “We haven’t come to any conclusions of it so we’ll continue to do the analysis. You know, we used to play six preseason games and you know that because you played them.”
“Yes, I did and I was one that argued when we went from six to four,” Madden said. “I’m the same guy arguing when we go from four to two. What the heck do I know?”
