Peter King calls NFL argument for 18-game season ‘most disingenuous pile of crap I’ve ever heard

Nov 3, 2023; Frankfurt, Germany; American sportswriter Peter King at Kansas City Chiefs press conference at DFB Campus. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The NFL adding an 18th game to the schedule seems inevitable, but longtime NFL reporter Peter King isn’t buying the league’s argument for it whatsoever.

In an appearance on  The MMQB NFL Podcast this week, King laid out why he believes the plan runs in direct contrast to the NFL’s efforts to make the game safer and more sustainable for players’ long-term health.

“The NFL is hell-bent on playing an 18th game, and then they say, ‘Well we’re taking away one of the preseason games,'” King said. “That’s the most disingenuous pile of crap I’ve ever heard in my life. And everybody knows it. Everybody knows it. The fans, the commissioner, the owners, they all know it.”

It turns out King has done the math. The longtime  Sports Illustrated reporter explained that today’s NFL starters are on the field for “hundreds” more snaps per season than they were during the career of Mike Webster, the first prominent case study for CTE in the sport. The level of stress put on players’ bodies and brains is, as a result, significantly more intense.

“One of the reasons I hate the concept of the 18th game is that … you’ve gotta read what I (have written) about (Kansas City offensive lineman) Creed Humphrey versus Mike Webster,” King said.

“Creed Humphrey is playing, I’m just going to say he’s playing, not double the amount of snaps that Mike Webster played, but hundreds, hundreds more snaps in a season than Mike Webster played. So don’t go telling me that the helmets are better, which they are, the helmets are significantly better. Don’t go telling me that you’ve taken a lot of the contact out, and they have, which is great. But don’t go telling me that you care all that much about the players when you’re adding games, adding snaps.”

King went on to explain that moving from 16 to 18 adds 125 snaps per season by itself. Yet the league keeps pushing for more.

While the retired reporter emphasized that the NFL is doing plenty of promising things to reduce the number of hits and collisions players experience, the chase for more inventory and international expansion is exacerbating the top issue that has loomed over the league for nearly two decades.

“I think the NFL is doing some good things in taking away two-a-days, taking away the contact in practices, and all that,” King said. “I think the NFL is doing a lot of good things, but you’re fooling yourself if you don’t think it isn’t just adding to the danger and the potential mayhem down the road.”

Some workarounds have been posited for the health risks associated with the additional game, including limiting some players to 17 games per season .

The NFL’s current collective bargaining agreement expires in 2031, though an 18th game could be negotiated sooner. Front Office Sports recently reported that the expanded schedule will not take place before the 2028 season , and that commissioner Roger Goodell has stated the 18-game slate is not “ a given .”

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