Former NFL quarterback Brady Quinn is no fan of the league's new 17-game regular season schedule, approved by league owners on Tuesday, calling it another example of the owners treating its players like children to get whatever they want.
The players had already agreed to an additional game as part of their collective bargaining agreement for the 2020 season, allowing for the owners to approve an expanded season as early as 2021.
Which of course they did. Now as a result, the preseason will be reduced from four games to three, also in accordance with the CBA, which prohibits the preseason and regular season from eclipsing 20 games total.
Simply asked if he likes the idea of a 17-game regular season, Quinn went off, saying, "No. This has more to do with off-the-field issues. The owners do whatever they want, man. That's how they treat the NFL players — they treat us like kids because we can't negotiate."
"I just walked my four-year-old and two-and-a-half-year-old daughter to school," he told The Sports Junkies. "I mean, I actually whoop them any time they want to stay up a little bit later. I just play some sort of Jedi mind trick and next thing you know, they're asleep, and so they don't get a bowl of cereal or candy or whatever to stay up longer."
"And that's kind of how the NFL is with the NFLPA," he continued. "They got us to sign a CBA early, they got the opportunity to put in 17 games in there, and then they go to the TV networks and they get $300 million per year richer, per each owner. And what do the players get out of it? I mean, honestly, like what do the players get out of it?"
"They get more injuries," Junkies host Jason Bishop remarked.
"Well, more injuries, probably. They didn't get expanded rosters. They didn't get anything," Quinn replied. "I mean, what? Virtual offseasons? Great. That's a big win."
"That's the problem, is there is not enough of a priority on things like lifetime healthcare for vested veterans," he continued. "That'd be something that would be great. We have a bunch of older generations of players who could use the free healthcare. And yes, there's resources, but I'll just tell you from being a vested veteran going through it now, it's not always the easiest thing to be able to tap into."
"And so if they could focus on one particular thing like that, it would help a lot of former players and current players eventually down the road. But it's just not a priority," Quinn said. "They'd rather reduce the penalties on guys who get popped for weed or other things like that, and it's just, it's sad, because the owners always dominate them every CBA that comes up."