Duds and studs, official Fins

[HardRightEdge]

It's absolutely ridiculous for a team like the Packers to have to play an afternoon game on Sunday and then travel to the other side of the country to play a game just a few days later.

Rodgers utilized all of the restraint he had to keep from blasting the NFL in his Tuesday presser.

To your point, all the league cares about is making a few extra bucks and promoting the game on a different day of the week.

Nobody likes Thursday games after a Sunday game. It is what it is. For the players it's more money into the salary cap pot. Seattle operates under the same liability. Had they been coming off a bye there would be reason to complain.

As far as flying to the other side of the country, it's not like you or me negotiatiing parking, baggage, TSA, rental car and getting to the hotel while flying miserably in coach. It's a 5 hour flight, 3 hours with the time change, first class charter, with a bus waiting to whisk them to the hotel with everything else handled. You're talking 4 low stress hours off the clock.

 

[PackAttack12]

Nobody likes Thursday games after a Sunday game. It is what it is. For the players it's more money into the salary cap pot. Seattle operates under the same liability. Had they been coming off a bye there would be reason to complain.

As far as flying to the other side of the country, it's not like you or me negotiatiing parking, baggage, TSA, rental car and getting to the hotel while flying miserably in coach. It's a 5 hour flight, 3 hours with the time change, first class charter, with a bus waiting to whisk them to the hotel with everything else handled. You're talking 4 low stress hours off the clock.

I've heard more than a couple of players complain about it in the past, namely Richard Sherman. Now I know he's a loud mouth by nature, but he was very vocal about it just a couple of years ago.

I think it's more of an inconvenience than you're illustrating.

 

[Mondio]

Thursday games should be kept in the division. a 4 hour flight will create swelling in issues where people are still dealing with injury and it cuts down 3 days of healing. When you're 17 that's significant. When your 25, 27,30+ even more so. I still hurt on Mondays quite a bit after Saturday games and I was 19 years old. I bet a lot of these guys that are the "healthy" ones are just getting over all the aches and pains from Sunday maybe and now they're on to another one.

I don't like them, but if you're going to have them, be sensible about them. a 45 minute flight to any division rival and another day in your own bed and training facility is significant.

 

[PackAttack12]

Thursday games should be kept in the division. a 4 hour flight will create swelling in issues where people are still dealing with injury and it cuts down 3 days of healing. When you're 17 that's significant. When your 25, 27,30+ even more so. I still hurt on Mondays quite a bit after Saturday games and I was 19 years old. I bet a lot of these guys that are the "healthy" ones are just getting over all the aches and pains from Sunday maybe and now they're on to another one.

I don't like them, but if you're going to have them, be sensible about them. a 45 minute flight to any division rival and another day in your own bed and training facility is significant.

Good thoughts.

I've also thought in the past about doing Thursday games only when you're coming off of a bye. I'm not sure how feasible that is with scheduling restraints and such, but if it's that big of a deal, reduce the preseason by a game and add another bye week. Of course that would reduce some revenue.

Again this is just me spit balling. I really haven't thought about how it would all come to fruition or if it's even realistic. Regardless, something has to be done in situations like what the Packers are facing.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

Good thoughts on keeping the Thursday night games between Division Rivals or 45 Minute flights, to save travel time, but that would eliminate teams like The Dolphins, Cowboys, Panthers, Cardinals, Colts....just to name a few

The "good news" for the Packer players, its actually only a 4 hr flight and with the time change, if they get on the Plane at 1 PM Green Bay Time, they step off the Plane at 3 PM Seattle Time. Personally, I don't have an issue with flight times and travel schedules, you have that with all road games, but as most have pointed out, its the rebound time between playing Sunday afternoon and suiting up again 4 days later. Fine in Baseball and Basketball, but the NFL has a 16 game season for a reason, each game takes a lot out of a player.

The silver lining for the Packers, they can use the mini bye of 10 days to prep for the Sunday Night Vikings game, meanwhile the Vikings play the Bears this Sunday night.

 

[HardRightEdge]

I've heard more than a couple of players complain about it in the past, namely Richard Sherman. Now I know he's a loud mouth by nature, but he was very vocal about it just a couple of years ago.

I think it's more of an inconvenience than you're illustrating.

Here's Richard Sherman on why he hates Thursday games. Travel is not mentioned.

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/richard-sherman-seahawks-thursday-night-football

 

[PackAttack12]

Here's Richard Sherman on why he hates Thursday games. Travel is not mentioned.

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/richard-sherman-seahawks-thursday-night-football

When I said complain about it, I wasn't speaking solely to the factor of travel. It sounded as if, as a whole, you were diminishing the effect that playing on Thursdays has as a whole (all factors considered).

You make a fair point in that Sherman didn't cite travel as a part of the issue with Thursday night games. But players and coaches speak to the effect travel has all of the time. You've had Rodgers mention how the schedule hasn't been kind to the Packers this season because of all the travel that's been involved going coast to coast multiple times. And then he's said that some years, the schedule works in their favor by there being some years that you don't go West of Minneapolis.

Why would he allude to that if travel didn't have any effect whatsoever on the players?

If it's challenging enough on a regular week, I would imagine it's even more challenging on a short week. Even though the flight isn't as long, you still have to meet to get on the plane, fly over, get there and check into the hotel, tote your luggage, get settled in, etc. I don't think it's quite as simple as just saying "it's a 4 hour flight" or 5 hour flight. Whatever the case may be.

It's several hours in an already condensed week that, if you were at home, wouldn't have to be allocated to travel.

Maybe I'm overstating how big of a deal this is and if that's the case then so be it. Perhaps I am, but I refuse to believe that it has no factor whatsoever.

 

[Mondio]

Good thoughts on keeping the Thursday night games between Division Rivals or 45 Minute flights, to save travel time, but that would eliminate teams like The Dolphins, Cowboys, Panthers, Cardinals, Colts....just to name a few

The "good news" for the Packer players, its actually only a 4 hr flight and with the time change, if they get on the Plane at 1 PM Green Bay Time, they step off the Plane at 3 PM Seattle Time. Personally, I don't have an issue with flight times and travel schedules, you have that with all road games, but as most have pointed out, its the rebound time between playing Sunday afternoon and suiting up again 4 days later. Fine in Baseball and Basketball, but the NFL has a 16 game season for a reason, each game takes a lot out of a player.

The silver lining for the Packers, they can use the mini bye of 10 days to prep for the Sunday Night Vikings game, meanwhile the Vikings play the Bears this Sunday night.

it's not that the travel times are anymore than any other time we'd play in seattle, but as a whole it's more impactful on a short week. if there are X hours to prepare your body and mind for the next game, most weeks it takes the full 6 days in between. this time we get 3 fewer days, so does seattle. so a 4-5 hour commitment to nothing but travel when there are only 72 hours between game days its more significant. more so than 4-5 hours in 144 between game days. Like I mentioned earlier, most normal aches and bruises aren't even gone yet and they're traveling to play another game.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

it's not that the travel times are anymore than any other time we'd play in seattle, but as a whole it's more impactful on a short week. if there are X hours to prepare your body and mind for the next game, most weeks it takes the full 6 days in between. this time we get 3 fewer days, so does seattle. so a 4-5 hour commitment to nothing but travel when there are only 72 hours between game days its more significant. more so than 4-5 hours in 144 between game days. Like I mentioned earlier, most normal aches and bruises aren't even gone yet and they're traveling to play another game.

I'm not really disagreeing too much with what you are saying, I hate Thursday night games. Hell, I have a Budget Meeting tonight at 7, so I won't be starting the game til 10. But I think whether the players are traveling an hour to Chicago, Detroit or Minnesota in an airplane, the extra 3 hrs on the plane to get to Seattle isn't the problem, its the lack of hours to reboot the body and rest from injuries no matter where you are spending that time.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

It's several hours in an already condensed week that, if you were at home, wouldn't have to be allocated to travel.

Well the Seattle players still individually have to travel to the stadium, I doubt any of them live there. At least the Packer players get a team bus, drink beer and do shots on the way to the game! Can't do that if you are driving yourself.

 

[HardRightEdge]

When I said complain about it, I wasn't speaking solely to the factor of travel. It sounded as if, as a whole, you were diminishing the effect that playing on Thursdays has as a whole (all factors considered).

You must have imagined that.

 

[PackAttack12]

You must have imagined that.

Of all the content in my post you come back with a five word response. Hilarious.

 

[Poppa San]

TSA

On morning radio this week a player mentioned that Green Bay airport requires players to go through the screening -- shoes off, no belts, tablets and phones in trays, the whole 9 yards. At most airports for the return flights they don't.