No NFL preseason could fumble up the future

You know what they say: Be careful what you wish for. You might actually get it.

This could be true for many of the things that have been suggested so that sports teams and athletes can create a path through and around the coronavirus pandemic. What may seem to be temporary fixes just might become the new normal in the future.

Take, for example, the National Football League preseason, the length of which has been one of those hot-button topics for years. Franchise owners and the league itself in the past have lobbied hard to keep the four-game schedule of exhibition games intact. Much of the support for a long preseason have, of course, been related to the almighty dollar.

While college teams always have been accustomed to leaping right into their seasons without the luxury of “practice” games, the pros have come up with all sorts of excuses for suiting up for contests that don’t count — unless, that is, you’re a rookie battling for a spot on the 53-man roster. Remember, roughly 1,200 players are trimmed from the active player pool during each preseason.

Preseason games also are meaningful to a stadium concessionaire lugging cases of beer up and down the aisles to help put food on the table.

For as many reasons as those in suits and ties could come up with to stage four preseason contests, veterans in actual numbered uniforms could always counter with as many — or more — motives for staying off the field as much as possible.

A little ol’ thing called the National Football League Players Association, aka the union, always has been the thorn in the owners’ sides. The relationship between the owners and players has made the phrase “smooth negotiation” an oxymoron.

Then along came the interloper of all interlopers: COVID-19. Abracadabra! In the interest of the safety and health of the players, the preseason was slashed in half. Fans were told to expect two exhibition games near the end of the summer. Incidentally, they were advised there would be no butts in the stadium seats.

On July 19 the players took to social media to rattle the league on its lack of attention to specific medical guidelines and planning in general. On Tuesday, in the wake of spiking coronavirus cases (especially in the South and Southwest), the NFL made another offer to the NFLPA: zero preseason games this year.

Abracadabra 2.0!

How this ultimately will play out remains to be seen. There are many who admit that perhaps a one-game preseason would suffice to give players and coaches a chance to experience the health and safety protocols put in place. As for the evaluation of talent and roster cuts, well, such perplexing decisions are just going to have to be made during practice. An athlete’s opportunity for an “under the lights” assessment undoubtedly will be diminished.

As for the NFL audience, die-hards always will tune in to see names on the backs of jerseys that won’t be there when “go time” arrives for real. But preseason matchups have lacked basic overall intrigue for a long time (with the possible exception of the Cleveland Browns).

NFL owners had best remember one thing, though. If they concede that no preseason is a viable option in 2020, ever going back to a four-game or three-game slate will be next to impossible. A return to any preseason at all will be problematic at best.

What’s always been good for the college football goose, may forever be good for the pro football gander.