George Kittle advocates for two bye weeks
San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle became the latest to advocate for multiple bye weeks just after the the NFL completed its first ever 17-game, 18-week season.
“There’s a huge physical toll,” Kittle said on Kevin Hart’s latest “Cold as Balls” show on Tuesday. “17 games is a lot of games, whether the bye is Week 4 or Week 11. I’m advocating to two byes, so if you can get that to happen, that’d be cool. Pull some strings, Kevin. You feel [the physical toll] week in and week out.”
Kittle, who makes $15 million per year, mentioned he invests a couple hundred thousand dollars in his body alone per season. This isn’t uncommon: Odell Beckham Jr. and Tom Brady — with the famous TB12 method — both invest several hundred thousand dollars into their body; when he was playing, retired defensive lineman James Harrison spent $300K on his body; Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson spends $1 million on his body. One less game would save a chunk of change out of NFL players’ pockets.
The NFL has tested out multiple bye weeks just one other time: In 1993, when the season expanded to 18 weeks for a season. Both changes reverted back to the norm prior to 1994. Though it makes way more sense to reinstate the two-bye policy with more teams, a consistent 18-game schedule instead of 16 and 14 playoff teams instead of 12.
Select networks — primarily FOX and CBS — sportsbooks and, most importantly, the NFL itself still might not be too fond of this because of revenue loss. You can’t predict injuries in football, like any other sport, but players’ season-long health should be a priority for a on-field better product because of the natural wear-and-tear on the body.
Though one issue that would arise is how to divvy up the bye weeks per team. One team getting two byes in Week 3 and 7 would be at a higher disadvantage towards the tail-end of the season compared to another with byes 6 and 11. The schedule-making could become way more complicated, which would be another (small) reason why the NFL might balk at the idea.
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