Max Kellerman has a Solution to Thursday Night Football? By Upstate Sports Zone Writers
Richard Sherman has said that TNF is a so called “Poop fest”. Max Kellerman from ESPN’s morning show First Take has proposed a solution. It involves a 3 point plan for making TNF better. First off it would only be for teams coming off a bye week. Second, setting it up so that the whole entire division has a bye which would then lead to Thursday Night Divisional Rivalry Doubleheaders. Everyone would play the first week of the season and the last week of the season. Bye weeks start week two and run through the second to last week of the season that means that rivalry night would begin week three, runs for sixteen straight weeks. But wait, wouldn’t that mean an eighteen week season? Yes it would. But the main idea is so that nobody plays on short rest and makes the games more fun to watch. Do you agree with Max’s point? If you don’t, explain why and provide another solution.
Jake Martino: Max Kellerman is simply a genius. First Take has to be the greatest daytime show on ESPN. Only if the NFL actually cared about what a little sports reporter had to say. On the other hand I think the is the NFL’s long awaited solution to TNF. For example, take a look at last week's TNF game between the Seahawks and the Rams. It was a huge waste of time on television. The ratings had to have been through the roof? Right? No wrong. This solution is a great idea because it incorporates a doubleheader, which would then lead to more ratings. Moving away from the fan aspect of things, it makes it easier for teams to be well rested, coaches being more prepared and the players being ready mentally. Max Kellerman had to have been thinking of this one for a long time, because the NFL sure hasn’t.
Jake Martino
Jared McCabe: I totally agree with Max Kellerman idea about Thursday Night Football. Thursday Night Football has become a joke and trying something like this would improve the ratings and make TNF more watchable. Having a double header every thursday would be like having Thanksgiving every thursday night. Its perfect for the fans and the players. Giving the players extra time off to prepare for the game, having the coaches being prepared, and having the players mentally ready for the game. You could take this even a step further where instead of only having it on CBS, NBC or NFL Network, the NFL and the the television networks work something out where one week CBS and FOX has one, and the other week NBC and CBS has one. If you do that the ratings would be through the roof because the NFL is a popular as it is and the NFL would make lots of money off of it. Like everyone has been saying this probably won’t happen next year because the TV contracts aren't up, but when they are Roger Goodell and his staff has to look into this because it will improve football for the players and the fans.
Camdyn Ames: I like this idea. I've always liked Max Kellerman on Sportsnation and I love him on First Take, and this is a great idea. I love divisional rivalries. Although they already play division rivalries on Thursday night having two games would be great in my opinion. I think if the NFL did this they would get more ratings for Thursday Night games. This will also increase ratings because there are four teams playing on one night so the more teams the more fans of those teams to watch. I think this is a great idea, but if the league were to do this it wouldn't be in 2017 possibly in 2018.
Austin Walsh: I believe Max Kellerman has a good idea on his hands. He is one of the top analysts for the sport, and he has a lot of viewers. It would be smart for the NFL to look into such ideas. Playing divisional rivalries on Thursday nights would not only increase the amount of viewers by millions, it would also increase the importance of Thursday night football. As of right now Thursday night football is not very popular to many at all. The night’s viewer rating is very low. I believe the reason for the rating to be low is they are unimportant games, most of the time, that aren't very competitive. The NFL will most likely be running this idea through its executives in the next few months. Moving away from what the fans thinks of this idea, the clubhouses and players would appreciate this change because it gives them better rest for the game ahead. This change would most likely provide players with enough time to mentally and physically prepare themselves for the game. If this were to happen the NFL wouldn't be implementing it into their schedule anytime soon. It is a big change for the teams, players, and fans. The NFL, if planning to implement the idea in their schedule, won't make any changes until 2-3 years from this season.
Mike Fritz: I most certainly support Max Kellerman on this case. The NFL simply needs to improve the quality of their TNF games. The quality of the games would improve a lot if the players had a bye week leading up to Thursday night. The players would be fully rested, thus making the games more entertaining, thus leading to more views for the NFL. Rivalry games are always fun to watch, no matter what day of the week. This would give the fans a set date of when their team would play their rivalry game, much like the NHL has. I do applaud the NFL for one thing: adding color rush uniforms for the teams that play on Thursday night. I am more interested in watching the games because of this. But, it will be a long time until the NFL even considers a new system.
Andrew Martin: I am really liking Max Kellerman’s idea about this. If he puts this into action, this could get a lot of popularity from the fans and could start a new era for Thursday Night Football. Divisional Rivalries are something that all fans really enjoy and it will be a success if the NFL does this. This is simply genius.
Caden Balint: I totally agree with Max Kellerman’s idea. If the NFL does this then it could increase the fan base for the NFL in a whole new way. If you have two games every Thursday, with one at least being a rivalry game, the ratings would go through the roof. Plus, with a rivalry game at hand, every game would be more physical, fast-paced, and exciting. So, I do agree with Max Kellerman’s idea with Thursday Night Football.
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