Thu, Nov 26 2009
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A Patrick McManamon column: Preseason scams NFL fans PATRICK McMANAMONAkron Beacon Journal They never reappeared.
Fans did get to watch backup quarterback Brady Quinn, which kept their interest. But by the fourth quarter, there were maybe... maybe... 12,000 watching. By the end, there were fewer. Which is probably a good thing, because they didn’t have to watch the third-team quarterback throw all those incompletions. Clang, clank, quack. It’s not even Dorsey’s fault. He’s the third-team guy for a reason, and he’s playing with guys who will not be in the league in September. Yet, the NFL teams charge full price for this pile of garbage — and then announce 70,000-some tickets sold as the attendance, with perhaps 10,000 in the stands when the announcement is made. Look around the league. In Arizona, quarterback Kurt Warner didn’t play because the Cardinals’ offensive line has so many injuries. How’s that again? A quarterback is too valuable a commodity to put on the field, yet the fans are charged full price for tickets for a game when players are held out at a coach’s whim? Is this the federal government spending your money here? New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick regularly keeps regulars sidelined in preseason. His quarterback, Tom Brady, didn’t play at all in the opener. Doesn’t that action in and of itself say how important these games are? It’s a glorified practice. A practice can be indicative of a team’s attitude, and it can give coaches an inkling of who can play and who can’t, but it’s not full effort, full speed. Coaches will say they need these games to evaluate talent. That’s fine, though in this day and age of offseason workouts and OTAs (offseason training activities), it does seem like teams could get away with two practice games. No matter, if the league wants to play four exhibition games — and they used to be called exhibition games until the league urged everyone to say preseason and avoid the reality and embarrassment of the true name — so be it. 
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