NFL Records Could Fall Fast With 17-Week Season

Adding another week to the NFL schedule has it's perks, but there are flaws and here's a big one: Records will be broken...all of them.

Part of what makes sports enjoyable is that we remember the past by holding records. Eric Dickerson's 2,105 rushing yards back in 1984, Peyton Manning's 5,477 yards through the air during his 2013 season in Denver, or Michael Strahan piling up 22.5 sacks back in 2001.

All of it likely wiped away now that players have an extra game.

According to Bleacher Report's Grid Iron, "Week 18" is expected to reel in an extra $500 million in revenue. There's your answer for those wondering why the NFL couldn't give a rip about the past. Holding onto the past, even if we find it important, isn't going to make ownership happy. Money, however, will.

Commissioner Roger Goodell has a job to do and that's to be an advocate for the NFL's owners. He decided to be the bad guy so the owners could cash in more than ever before. Now it's costing us memories that we were going to tell our children about. After all, that's the point of records, isn't it?

A player like Michael Strahan managed 22.5 sacks in 16 games, and for now, his legacy is cemented. No player in 20 years has been able top it, which means that younger generations hear his name every time an Aaron Donald or Fletcher Cox brings down a quarterback. By 2023, every record, including Strahan's, will be held by someone else and that's bad for the league.

It's too late now

Like society, sometimes sports are better when we know less. Baseball was better before we knew about the shift. We'll soon learn the hard way that football was better before we gave athletes more games to accomplish various feats. Hopefully the NFL locks in the old records before they get wiped away for good. It's the only way.