What the NFL Preseason Tells Us
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by user Coreyisarealboy
As I witnessed the Brewers lose yet another game and drop even further out of the National League Wild Card race the other night, I couldn't help but think, "Well, at least the NFL season starts soon."
However, it is just the preseason, and my favorite team (the Green Bay Packers) is coming off a miserable 4-12 season. Then I got to thinking about all the useful establishments that could've been built on the thousands of square feet that house Wisconsin's losing franchises, like a shopping mall or a Neil Diamond museum.
Alas, those franchises are here and with them comes misery; though, as much I would like to divert my attention away from them, I am a sports fan and a loyal one for the most part and I just cannot see myself cheering for other teams.
Hence, I come full circle, back to my original thought: At least the NFL season starts soon. Therefore, I'm forced to find some good reasons to watch the preseason. So, I ask, what exactly is the NFL preseason good for?
- Since the preseason is filled with games in which first team offenses and defenses spend less than a half combined on the field, we can learn how well our second team offense would perform against another team's second team defense and vice versa. This gives us an idea how good our team would be if a debilitating virus struck the NFL but only affected first teamers.
- We can share in the glory and splendor of a touchdown scored by a guy whose name you've never heard and won't find on the roster in two weeks. Or you can look at this situation as scouting the top Arena Football League prospects.
- We get to learn that the players believe that the preseason is useless. I think I heard this week that Shaun Alexander is sitting out the first game due a broken fingernail. At least they come up with subtle excuses, instead of forcing us to sit through "My season is when I get paid" rants. Of course, that could only be because they are getting paid.
- We can see how silly most sports fans are. Forty-two thousand won't show up to a Brewer game on a regular basis, but 61,000 will turn up for the Packers' annual meaningless intrasquad scrimmage, even after a 4-12 season.
As proof for how useless the NFL preseason is, I can't even make a list of more than four ironic reasons to enjoy it, and I probably wouldn't be able to make a list of more than four honest reasons to enjoy it.
Unlike Major League Baseball's Spring Training, we don't get a chance to see the future of the ballclub in action, and unless someone comes out with Arena or NFL Europe Fantasy Football, we just won't care as much about the players whose rights belong to our favorite NFL teams as we will about those under contract by our favorite MLB teams.
Therefore, unless your name is Ahman Green, closet-poop -- I mean, Najeh Davenport -- or Samkon Gado, you're not likely to make it off of the scout team, and I'm almost positive that coaches know this even before training camp starts. That is, unless one of them gets injured in a preseason game.
So...well...hmm...
At least college football starts soon...
Date
Thu 08/10/06, 2:37 pm EST
Oh, and don't forget, you have LOT to look forward to. Remember that this is the best team Brett Favarah has ever seen!