Hi, this is Fred Wallace with ” Off the Wire “.
The National Football League season begins tonight with the Kickoff Game pitting the defending Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs against the Houston Texans.
Like every season in the BIG Four of North American team sports, there are changes, several of which are linked to the ongoing pandemic.
The NFL and the Players Association have allowed players to opt out of the season in light of coronavirus concerns and more than 60 players, including more than a half dozen from New England, elected to exercise that option
There are other changes…..
The NFL Playoffs have been expanded to 14 teams, adding a third Wild Card team from each conference
Those 14 playoff teams will be aiming to get to Super Bowl LV February 7th at Tampa Bay.
Speaking of teams, the Oakland Raiders are now the Las Vegas Raiders and the Washington squad will compete with a temporary name of the “Washington Football Team”.
Naturally, players have shifted teams from last season, most notably. Quarterback Tom Brady hiked from New England to Tampa Bay,
Along with Brady, by my count, 5 other prominent QBs will line up behind a new offensive line
And there are Rule changes including the “Bill Belichick Rule” which forbids dead ball fouls late in games or in overtime as a tactic to manage the clock.
Yes, as Houston & KC meet tonight, there are multiple changes and plenty of uncertainty.
But the start of the NFL season, as scheduled, is a progressive step towards returning to what we once knew and accepted; Football in the Fall.
And the better news, labour wise, is the NFL has a Collective Bargaining Agreement that will run for the next decade.
Welcome to the 2020 NFL season.
I’m Fred Wallace