Jon Gruden’s impassioned plea to cancel Thursday Night Football

Many NFL fans regretted choosing to watch the AFC West battle between the Las Vegas Raiders and Denver Broncos last week. Despite a strong defensive effort on both sides, collective sloppiness it has been unbearable at times and is forcing some people to scrutinize the pros and cons of Thursday Night Football. Former head coach Jon Gruden he thinks he is it’s time to pull the plug on the concept, and he’s not conflicted about his feelings at all.

“What a treat,” the Super Bowl 37 champion sarcastically said on Barstool Sports’ “The Shred Line” podcast, via Awful Announcing. “No preparation, no recovery time, no chance. Get rid of these Thursday night games! Throw them away! It’s not fair to the players, it’s not fair to the coaches. Who goes out and tries to perform at a high level without preparation?”

Is TNF sustainable in its current format?

Soccer is a brutal sport that pushes athletes to their limits both physically and mentally. Injuries are essentially inevitable, and the pain lingers throughout the season. Players shouldn’t have to endure this kind of adversity on short rest. Unless the team is splitting up, going out in the middle of the week doesn’t make sense. But it makes a lot of money, and the NFL isn’t going to give up all the revenue generated from these Amazon Prime broadcasts.

The TNF games have actually been better this season, producing plenty of excitement and stunners throughout the nine matches. The Seattle Seahawks overcame a fierce comeback by the Arizona Cardinals, the San Francisco 49ers survived the Los Angeles Rams on the road, the New York Giants defeated the Philadelphia Eagles and Joe Flacco outlasted Aaron Rodgers in the conflict of the quadragenarians.

This action-packed four-week stretch has helped people forget about all the problems they’ve been through since the league started regular Thursday night football games, but the excitement is waning. Before the Broncos squeaked by the Raiders, 10-7, the Baltimore Ravens and Los Angeles Chargers each won in their own way. While quality of play is definitely a factor, it’s hard to overlook the negative impact a shortened rest can have on the gridiron.

Jon Gruden has had enough, that’s for sure. His words won’t sway the NFL, especially given theirs a tense legal disputebut perhaps the league office could make some changes to their schedule format in the future.