Posted in: NFL, Sports | Tagged: Drew Brees, entertainment, HRL, New Orleans Saints, nfl, Richard Sherman, sports

Drew Brees Calls Thursday Night Football "Absolutely" Unsafe

Published Fri, 08 Dec 2017 14:52:06 -0600

NFL Players are starting to speak out about the dangers of Thursday night football matches. New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees spoke to reporters after their 20-17 loss to the Atlanta Falcons last night where he said that it is "absolutely" not safe to play on Thursday nights due to the high injury rate. Brees said:

"It's 100 percent a product of playing on Thursday night. Do you understand what guys' bodies go through in a game? And then to have to turn around four days later and to play? … Is this smart as it pertains to guys' health and safety? No, absolutely not."

To his point, the Saints lost five key players to injuries during the game. This included running back Alvin Kamara (concussion), safety Kenny Vaccaro (groin), linebacker A.J. Klein (groin), guard Senio Kelemete (concussion), wide receiver Ted Ginn, Jr., and defensive end Trey Hendrickson (ankle). All of them left the game and did not return.

Brees is not the first player to make this assertion. Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman had his season end on Thursday, November 9th when his Achilles tendon tore. Sherman is an outspoken critic against Thursday night games having written a column in 2016 for The Players' Tribune called Why I Hate Thursday Night Football. In the piece he says:

"The whole idea of Thursday Night Football is terrible. It's ludicrous. It's hypocritical."

A week prior to Sherman's injury, Buffalo Bills lineman Richie Incognito spoke out against Thursday night games after his team lost to the New York Jets 34-21:

"They throw a wrench in our schedule. It's absolutely ridiculous that we have to do this. As physical as this game is, as much work and preparation that goes into this, to force us to play games on four-day weeks, it's completely unfair and bulls–t. The league makes money off it, and that's all they care about anyway."

There is only one more Thursday night game this season, that will be on December 14th as the Denver Broncos play the Indianapolis Colts.