Reports have surfaced the last couple of days that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell proposed that an extra regular season game be added to the season at the owners' meeting on Tuesday in Atlanta. The potential swith would mean that the preseason would be shortened from four games to three, and the extra preseason game would translate into a regular season game. This idea was spurred by the rapidly declining interest in preseason games and the belief that the league would increase its overall revenue. While it may generate a little more interest in the league, it would cause damaging effects to the players and therefore should not be implemented on the basis of two things.

First, the chances that a player could be injured would increase significantly. The NFL is one of the most violent sports there is, and players get injured nearly every game. Take, for example, former Buffalo Bills tight end Kevin Everett. Last year, Everett suffered a devastating spinal injury, one in which the doctors said that it was likely he would never walk again. He made an amazing recovery and, while not being able to play football again, is walking and talking fine. But this type of recovery is extremely rare, and adding another game in which players are going all out would only give them another opportunity to suffer a severe, sometimes life-threatening injury. Also, many retired players who endured a successful career in the NFL have complained about the breakdown of their body, and their inability to even play with their kids because of the pounding and beating they took over the duration of their career. Adding another game would only contribute to this and possibly force the early retirement of some of the league's great players.

Almost every young boy who grows up playing football dreams of making it to the big leagues. This dream continues on through childhood until they come to the realization that the opportunity of playing in the NFL is slim to none. But those who are able to play deserve the chance to show everybody that they deserve to be in the league. Unknown players are given the chance to prove themselves throughout four preseason game, and shortening that to three would only almost crush their dreams. Many players need that fourth game to showcase their skills because they spend the first few learning their plays and adjusting to the speed of the game. Also, the number of players on a team's roster are shrinking almost every year, and that closes the door on many player's dreams and aspirations. So adding an extra game to the regular season is a bad idea because it limits an individuals chance to truly be all that the can be. 

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