Should the NFL Get Rid of Thursday Night Football?

Richard Sherman injury renews arguments against mid-week games.

Richard Sherman
Cornerback Richard Sherman #25 of the Seattle Seahawks reacts after an injury on a play in the second half of the NLF game against the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium on November 9, 2017 in Glendale, Arizona. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman’s Achilles tendon injury, which will bench him for the rest of the season, is another piece of ammunition in the case against Thursday Night Football, according to Sports Illustrated.

An uptick in injuries at this early point in the season has many tenured players, most recently Buffalo Bills guard Richie Incognito, calling for an end to mid-week football games. “As physical as this game is, as much work and preparation that goes into this, to force us to play games on four-day weeks, it’s completely unfair and bulls—,” he told ESPN.com, as reported by Sports Illustrated.

Incognito and others have indicated that Thursday Night Football is purely an NFL cash grab that the actual players can’t stand.  Others have noted that the NFL’s 2016 expansion of its broadcast package, which includes 14 Thursday night games and two additional Thanksgiving day games, is risking oversaturation.

Whether that’s true or not, the league’s injury problem (six other players were hurt during the game where Sherman ruptured his Achilles) looms over Thursday Night Football, and for that reason alone, ending it is worth considering.

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