Preseason Football

The days are once again growing shorter and the steam is rising from the hot NYC streets.  It’s that time of year again for preseason football.  Nothing makes me more excited for fall (and less unhappy that the carefree days of summer are coming to a close) than the upcoming football season.

Preseason play offers teams the opportunity to sort out their lineups and prepare for the smash-mouth football of the months to come.  While preseason games can be extremely beneficial in preparing teams for the season, they do come with some risks.

As I was watching the Jets/Rams game (Rams won over Jets 23-20) on Friday night, I witnessed one of those hits that elicits audible gasps from fans as it is replayed over and over in slow-mo.  WR Wallace Wright received a nasty helmet-to-helmet hit from LB Chris Chamberlain (see about 7 minutes into the highlight video).  Wright, fortunately, was able to walk away from the injury and even came back to make plays.  Others aren’t always so lucky.  Baltimore Ravens WR Marcus Smith will be out for the season after sustaining a tear to his right anterior ligament following Thursday’s 23-0 win over the Washington Redskins.

Several friends have expressed that they actually dislike preseason play for exactly this reason.  While there may be benefits to playing these games that are somewhat “off the record,” there are huge risks to players.  While the outcomes of these games tend to be relatively unimportant into the fall, the effects of injuries during these matches can be felt well into the regular season.

I’m not advocating against preseason play entirely; I think it is a vital way to prepare football organizations for the months to come.  I do think (and I know that organizations do try to do this already) that teams need to be smart in how they play and utilize players.  Nothing is worse than seeing your highly anticipated, star player riding the bench in the fall due to injury.

Note: I apologize, but because I can’t embed the video, you will have to navigate away from this site to watch it.