Former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger did not hold back on the NFL for having four teams play three games in 11 days. The Steelers, Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans are going through a crammed three-game gauntlet, and it all centers around the NFL wanting a doubleheader to featured on Netflix on Christmas Day.
“It’s miserable. It’s a shame that the league does this. It just shows that it’s all about money and this is a way that they can, you know, make more money and figure this thing out because it’s not fair for the players,” Ben Roethlisberger said on his Footbahlin podcast. “You wanna talk about injuries and making the game safer, changing the kickoff rule and preventing guys on hip-drop tackles, and concussions, and this that and the other, and you’re going to make guys play the most violent game in the world, arguably, three games in 11 days. I mean, there’s no time for your body to get healthy and rest.”
Netflix shelled out a reported $150 million for rights to the games. It’s the first time one of the four sports considered the U.S.’s most popular will be aired live on Netflix. Christmas falls on a Wednesday this year, so the schedule is definitely wonky. But the NFL wasn’t going to pass up an astronomical payday from the leader in subscription streaming, even if it’s clearly not the best practice for player safety.
Steelers defensive tackle and NFLPA representative Cameron Heyward was not shy in expressing his frustrations with the schedule on Monday.
“Yeah, I think that’s definitely a concern,” Heyward said when asked about player safety. “It’s a PA thing as well as an NFL thing. You don’t want to mess up the product, but we’ve been saying this since we got Thursday night games. It’s not easy.”
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The Steelers aren’t the only ones upset about having to play on Wednesday. Their Christmas day opponent, the Kansas City Chiefs, have also voiced their opinions on the matter.
Chiefs safety Justin Reid said he wasn’t a fan of the schedule when it was released and that’s still the case.
“When it came out, I thought it was horrible,” Justin Reid said via Vahe Gregorian of The Kansas City Star. “And I still think it’s horrible. But it is what it is.”
Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones also weighed in a few weeks ago before beginning a similar schedule as the Steelers.
“One thing I’m doing this offseason is going to the NFLPA, especially with us having like three games in a 10-day span, that we’re mandatory to have a late bye week because with our schedule it’s kind of awkward, to say the least,” Jones said. “I think that’s a conversation to be had this offseason.”
Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes was quoted recently as not being much of a fan of playing three games over an 11-day span, as well.
“It’s not a good feeling,” he told the Associated Press. “You never want to play this amount of games in this short of time. It’s not great for your body. But, at the end of the day, it’s your job, your profession. You have to come to work and do it.”
Alan Saunders and Aaron Becker contributed reporting for this story.