Ray Lewis, Tom Brady offer caution as NFL trumpets potential change to 18-game regular season

Perennial Pro Bowlers Tom Brady and Ray Lewis expressed skepticism over the potential for an expanded NFL season on Wednesday as the NFL met with the NFLPA to discuss logistics of extending the regular season to as many as 18 games.

Green Bay Packers president Mark Murphy expressed support for the change, which would involve adding 1-2 regular-season games and decreasing the preseason by a corresponding amount.

"This is an idea that is really gaining momentum," Murphy said.

Murphy echoed comments voiced several times by commissioner Roger Goodell that four preseason games -- tickets for which cost as much as regular-season games -- are too much and short-change fans.

"There really isn't the same value there," Murphy said. "... I think there's a real issue we need to address.... I think it's very clear to many of us the players and teams don't need four (preseason) games to get ready for the regular season."

The NFL and NFLPA met on Wednesday in negotiations for a new CBA. The current deal expires after the 2010 season. Murphy said any changes to the schedule would be done in concert with the CBA and wouldn't come until 2012 at the earliest.

Brady, the three-time Super Bowl winning QB of the New England Patriots, and Lewis, the Baltimore Ravens LB who was the MVP of Super Bowl XXXV, said in statements to the NFLPA that they had major concerns about the effect a change would have on player safety.
Said Lewis:

"I know our fans may not like preseason games and I don't like all of them, but swapping two preseason games for two end-of-season games—when players already play hurt—comes at a huge cost for the player and the team."

Said Brady:

"I've taken part in several postseason runs where we have played 20 games. The long-term impact this game has on our bodies is well documented. Look no further than the players that came before we did."

Murphy said the league will consider such concerns, and added the NFL may adjust injured reserve rules to allow players to return from the list in-season. "We have the same concerns as the players regarding safety and will address those issues with the players," he said.

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(usatoday.com)