Opinion: 17-game NFL season will force players, teams to prepare for heavier toll

One of the longest-running debates in modern times on the NFL landscape is over. The NFL has officially flicked the switch on a 17-game season.

No, the support from the rank-and-file poised to collect a few more bruises is hardly unanimous. As Alvin Kamara, the explosively versatile New Orleans Saints running back, expressed in a recent Tweet: “(Expletive) dumb…as hell.” 

Just don’t say you’re surprised, Alvin. NFL owners and the NFL Players Association hammered out the expanded schedule last year as an essential element to the 11-year extension of their labor deal. We’ve seen this coming for some time.

That’s why Richard Sherman, the savvy veteran cornerback who so often reflects the conscience of NFL players — and has railed in the past against 17 games — was rather mellow after NFL owners voted in the measure during their virtual meetings on Tuesday.

“No reaction other than this is what we agreed to, smh,” Sherman texted to USA TODAY Sports.

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