Fan ideas on how to improve the NFL -- Peter King's latest FMIA column

[Logic]

Peter King solicited ideas from fans about how to improve the NFL. He received 766 submissions. He chose 30. Shameless plug: mine was one of them! Pretty neat. When I saw how many people submitted ideas, I figured mine hadn't been chosen. It was a fun to scroll down and see my name. At any rate, some of the ideas are pretty interesting. I've posted a few that I like below. There are a bunch more, some of which are terrible, but almost all of which are interesting. Give it a read!

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2022/07/11/fmia-guest-nfl-ideas-improve-peter-king/

 

17th Game Ideas

Tim DeLaney, Tempe, Ariz.

My idea is twofold: grow the game domestically/internationally and create a consistent and fair way to allocate the recently added 17th game.

Every team plays one neutral-site game (so eight home, eight road, one neutral-site).

Continue to schedule several international games: London, Mexico City, Munich, and let’s mix in some new locations each year such as Dublin, Barcelona, Sydney, Rio de Janeiro, Toronto.

Here’s the twist, and a way to connect with casual U.S. fans who may be college football fans first:

Schedule the remainder of neutral-site games in traditional college markets (with behemoth stadiums)—Lincoln, State College, Clemson, Tuscaloosa, Tallahassee, Baton Rouge, Norman.

Think of what the “Winter Classic” has done to bring charm and nostalgia to the NHL. Imagine the Steelers and Eagles playing for bragging rights in front of 107,000 at Beaver Stadium. Let’s play a salute-to-service weekend matchup between the Bills and Giants in West Point.


 

Move The Super Bowl To Saturday Night

Rob Jensen, Voorhees, N.J.

I know the old school fans will clutch their pearls at such a notion since it had been referred to as Super Bowl Sunday for most of my 50 years alive. But one thing we have learned in watching sports is that baseball has failed in making their most important games available to younger audiences. It makes no sense to me to hold the most important game in the season, and the parties that go along with it, on a school night. Having the game on a Saturday would make it more accessible to kids and the millions of us who have to get up early for work the next day.”



 

Give Ownership 10 Years To Win

Bill Miller, Savannah, Ga.

I grew up in the fifties in Detroit, with Bobby Layne and the Lions winning three championships during that decade. Unfortunately, in 1960, William Clay Ford bought into the Lions. Over the past 61 years, the Lions have won one playoff game. We have had William Clay running the team, then Billy, then a bunch of sisters, grandmothers and others. How many coaches and GM’s have failed in Detroit over this period? The common denominator is that the Fords picked them.

I have a proposal for a new NFL rule. If a team does not win a playoff game in 10 years, the team must be sold to another owner, or the NFL must step in and pick the next GM, similar to Pete Rozelle forcing the Giants to hire George Young as GM in 1979.

Cool idea, but it’s one lawsuit from one spurned owner away from being overturned.


 

Tickets For Deserving Kids

Hank Zellman, Ohio

The NFL could purchase a block of, say, 20 to 25 seats in every stadium for every game and provide those tickets to underprivileged kids who would never get to a game. Criteria of eligibility could be grades or community service.


 

Adopt A Red Card—Sort Of

Keith Heisler, Palos Verdes, Calif.

The NHL power play is one of the most exciting fixtures in sports. Instantly, the style of play changes. Teams implement offensive and defensive strategies the fans wouldn’t otherwise see. For two minutes (or five for a major penalty) the power play injects the game with a nitro boost of offensive opportunities.

I propose the NFL implements a power-play penalty where a team is required to play a man down for some period. For example, a helmet-to-helmet hit that knocks a player out of the game or into concussion protocol for a few plays. A 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty (and a midweek fine) doesn’t seem like fair compensation for an illegal hit that takes out a team’s star receiver. What if the team causing the infraction had to play with 10 players for one play or until the other team got a first down?


 

The Best Teams Should Pick Playoff Foes

Andrew Stathulis, Ann Arbor, Mich.

[Higher-seeded] playoff teams should get to draft their opponent in the first round. The current system tries to reward the highest seeds by giving them matchups versus the playoff teams with the worst records. But record is not a perfect indicator of how good a team is. We saw this in the NFC this past year. In the first round, the Dallas Cowboys, the three seed, got the San Francisco 49ers, while the Los Angeles Rams, the four seed, got the Arizona Cardinals. The Rams, the lower seed, had an easier first-round opponent. Giving teams the ability to choose which wild-card team they play in round one is a more reliable method of rewarding the highest-seeded teams the most.

Not sure how often this would come into play, but it does make sense to give the best teams their choice of first-round foe.



 

Another Idea For Game 17 
Matthew Rule, Portland, Ore. [It's me!]

Make the extra game special and buzzworthy, rather than just a regularly rotating non-conference opponent.

The slate of extra games should be hand selected by the league to draw interest and eyeballs, using specific themes and player matchups. Some games could feature area rivalries, with, for example, the Jets versus Giants battle for New York, Chargers versus Rams battle for SoFi. Another theme could be Super Bowl rematches … Patriots-Giants or Cowboys-Raiders. Using this method, the league could create opportunities for great matchups we otherwise don’t get to see often.

If they want Josh Allen versus Aaron Rodgers but the Bills aren’t slated to play the Packers until 2025, no problem! Maybe they want one more bite at the Brady-Belichick apple, but the Bucs aren’t scheduled to play the Patriots till 2025. The NFL would have the power to create 16 monster matchups each season, however they see fit. Imagine, in the midst of schedule release mania, looking to see what “special feature” games were on the docket each year.



 

The Birch 18-Game Season Plan

Larry Birch, Warrenton, Ore.

There would be 18 regular-season games and two preseason games. No player could play more than 16 regular-season games. At the beginning of the week, for that week’s game, teams must list their eligible players from a newly expanded roster. Ineligible players would have the week off and would not be allowed to practice with the team. This would make an interesting coaching strategy. Most teams would use their best players for strongest divisional opponents. 

This plan would do the following:

- Prolong playing careers. Players would have two weeks off, at least, plus the bye.

- Show what backup QBs can do in real games.

- Give more players a chance at an NFL career.

- Players with borderline injuries may be less likely to be pressured to play.

- The players’ 16-game season records would be comparable.

The biggest downside would be that fans would not always get to watch their favorite players in every game.

 

 

Edited July 11, 2022 by Logic

[17islongenough]

My favorite is that the 17th game should be a neutral site game.  It helps grows the game and doesn't put a team at a disadvantage with one less home game. 

[eball]

14 minutes ago, Logic said:

The Birch 18-Game Season Plan

Larry Birch, Warrenton, Ore.

There would be 18 regular-season games and two preseason games. No player could play more than 16 regular-season games. At the beginning of the week, for that week’s game, teams must list their eligible players from a newly expanded roster. Ineligible players would have the week off and would not be allowed to practice with the team. This would make an interesting coaching strategy. Most teams would use their best players for strongest divisional opponents. 

This plan would do the following:

- Prolong playing careers. Players would have two weeks off, at least, plus the bye.

- Show what backup QBs can do in real games.

- Give more players a chance at an NFL career.

- Players with borderline injuries may be less likely to be pressured to play.

- The players’ 16-game season records would be comparable.

The biggest downside would be that fans would not always get to watch their favorite players in every game.

 

King actually selected and published this?  It has got to be the most moronic idea I've ever seen, and I'm trying to be kind.

 

[Logic]

25 minutes ago, eball said:

 

King actually selected and published this?  It has got to be the most moronic idea I've ever seen, and I'm trying to be kind.

 

Respectfully, I don't hate the idea.

I agree that it would improve player health and keep long-standing NFL records in tact.

The only real negative I see -- and it's a considerable one -- is that, as noted by the person who submitted it, it would deprive fans who go to the games of the ability to see their favorite players sometimes. Imagine shelling out tons of money months in advance for tickets to a big time Bills game, only to find out the week before that Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs would be sitting. Not great.

[TheBrownBear]

41 minutes ago, eball said:

 

King actually selected and published this?  It has got to be the most moronic idea I've ever seen, and I'm trying to be kind.

 

I agree.  It would be nearly ruinous to the product.  It's a short schedule as is.  You need every team putting their best players on the field when healthy.  If you want an 18th game, just give them a second bye week - or put the Pro Bowl (make it non-contact) or other all-star showcase - at the halfway mark of the season and put games on pause for 2 weeks.

[JoPoy88]

50 minutes ago, eball said:

 

King actually selected and published this?  It has got to be the most moronic idea I've ever seen, and I'm trying to be kind.

 

King printed it because he himself proposed a similar moronic idea a few years back. I vividly remember Tasker’s reaction to it on the radio - it was basically what you just said.

25 minutes ago, Logic said:

Respectfully, I don't hate the idea.

I agree that it would improve player health and keep long-standing NFL records in tact.

The only real negative I see -- and it's a considerable one -- is that, as noted by the person who submitted it, it would deprive fans who go to the games of the ability to see their favorite players sometimes. Imagine shelling out tons of money months in advance for tickets to a big time Bills game, only to find out the week before that Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs would be sitting. Not great.

I’m sure starting QBs around the league would be super pumped to play in games without their healthy starting left tackle (for example.) very good for the “health” of those guys.

[sherpa]

I'm pretty certain the NFL and its sponsors like the Super Bowl on Sunday.

The Super Bowl is a major economic event.

Host cities put up a bunch of money to be chosen.

 

Saturday night is the major revenue avalanche for the businesses in those cities.

The teams are not known until two weeks prior. Getting corporate jet scheds, VIP folks and a bunch of other things lined up takes time.

The major parties and social events are on Sat night, and losing this revenue would make the event far less attractive to the host cities and the NFL as well as their corporate sponsors.

[Logic]

16 minutes ago, JoPoy88 said:

I’m sure starting QBs around the league would be super pumped to play in games without their healthy starting left tackle (for example.) very good for the “health” of those guys.

Fair point!

[sherpa]

Here's an idea.

I find it idiotic how the referee has to waste so much time during games, especially challenged plays,

Coach throws the flag.

Ref heads over to talk to him.

Ref heads back on the filed to announce the challenge, which everybody already knows about.

Ref heads to booth to review play.

Ref reviews play.

Ref talks to coaches.

Ref heads back on field to announce the result the result of the challenge.

 

Total waste of time.

[Gugny]

Either play the Super Bowl on Saturday or make the Monday after the Super Bowl a national holiday.

[boater]

1 hour ago, Logic said:

I have a proposal for a new NFL rule. If a team does not win a playoff game in 10 years, the team must be sold to another owner, or the NFL must step in and pick the next GM, similar to Pete Rozelle forcing the Giants to hire George Young as GM in 1979.

Cool idea, but it’s one lawsuit from one spurned owner away from being overturned.

With ownership changes, often comes a team moving. I think we might have lost the drought Bills.

[eball]

I guess the Birch 18-game plan was @nedboy7's idea. 

 

[ProcessAccepted]

22 minutes ago, sherpa said:

Here's an idea.

I find it idiotic how the referee has to waste so much time during games, especially challenged plays,

Coach throws the flag.

Ref heads over to talk to him.

Ref heads back on the filed to announce the challenge, which everybody already knows about.

Ref heads to booth to review play.

Ref reviews play.

Ref talks to coaches.

Ref heads back on field to announce the result the result of the challenge.

 

Total waste of time.

You need to have challenges but there are better and more efficient ways to handle them

[Mr. WEO]

SB on Saturday.  Give away tickets to kids who can't afford them.

 

The rest of the ideas are pretty dumb.  Playing in a college stadium to lure college ball fans (who won't watch the NFL??)---and yet these uninterested people ("107,000 of them") would fill the biggest stadiums in the country!  lol.

 

Have "the NFL" (i. e. "the owners") pick some other owner's GM?  I'm sure they would be very helpful!  Would that include only owners who have a history of picking good GMs?  What struggling team's owner wants Jimmy Haslam chiming in with GM suggestions?  Or Woody Johnson? 

 

Top seeds pick your opponent?  I would pick the Cowboys every time...

 

These were the "Top 30"?  I want to see the bottom 30 then.

Edited July 11, 2022 by Mr. WEO

[C.Biscuit97]

My platform for becoming president is the Monday after the Super Bowl is a national holiday called America Day. Also, we are searching for better cheese to be American cheese. We can do so much better as country.

 

C.Biscuit97 ‘24

[Jauronimo]

30 minutes ago, sherpa said:

Here's an idea.

I find it idiotic how the referee has to waste so much time during games, especially challenged plays,

Coach throws the flag.

Ref heads over to talk to him.

Ref heads back on the filed to announce the challenge, which everybody already knows about.

Ref heads to booth to review play.

Ref reviews play.

Ref talks to coaches.

Ref heads back on field to announce the result the result of the challenge.

 

Total waste of time.

That isn't an idea.  Thats a summary of the current system.

[RoyBatty is alive]

26 minutes ago, Gugny said:

Either play the Super Bowl on Saturday or make the Monday after the Super Bowl a national holiday.

Good in theory but you cant have a national holiday that effectively subsidizes one industry, the NFL.  Plus where does it end, what about after basketball, hockey baseball final games?

[Rigby]

All those sound ok  except the Red Card one. That one sounds terrible to me at least.

[Freak-O]

43 minutes ago, sherpa said:

Here's an idea.

I find it idiotic how the referee has to waste so much time during games, especially challenged plays,

Coach throws the flag.

Ref heads over to talk to him.

Ref heads back on the filed to announce the challenge, which everybody already knows about.

Ref heads to booth to review play.

Ref reviews play.

Ref talks to coaches.

Ref heads back on field to announce the result the result of the challenge.

 

Total waste of time.

This isn’t an idea. It’s an observation or a complaint.

[Gugny]

14 minutes ago, RoyBatty is alive said:

Good in theory but you cant have a national holiday that effectively subsidizes one industry, the NFL.  Plus where does it end, what about after basketball, hockey baseball final games?

 

Perhaps the U.S. should just adopt a 4-day work week and solve this problem once and for all!