Thursday Night Football Is Back

Are you ready for some football? It’s … Thursday night.

Yes, the NFL is at it again. Week 1 of the season began a week ago on this very day and ended with a doubleheader on Monday night. Having barely digested that endless buffet, we’re invited back to the table.

Are you ready? I, sadly, am not. And I love football.

I’m just not ready for the Denver Broncos and the Kansas City Chiefs. I can only hope the Chiefs are ready, seeing as they had 14 players on their injury list earlier in this very short week.

There can be too much of a good thing and this is it. Thursday night football isn’t good for the players. Late in the season, teams playing a Thursday night game on the road might not even be able to practice during the week, such as it is. They try to recover from Sunday’s effort on Monday and on Wednesday they must fly to their next destination.

That hardly leads to sharpness and crisp execution.

But what about me (and, by extension, you)? Did you have time to put together your fantasy lineup? There is no shortage of help available, if you haven’t seen the million ads dotting the broadcasts. Is there nothing else to fill your time with? Is everything else at home in order so that you can comfortably plop down on the couch and invest three hours in football?

It is too much, and too soon. And I’m a fan. I covered the league as a reporter for 32 years, week in and week out. I faithfully watched the Monday night games. And then the Sunday night games. And then the Thursday night games.

I love it, but I can’t stand it.

And there are also about a dozen college games Saturday I wouldn’t mind seeing. Forget the beer and the chicken wings. Bring me eye drops.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman .