Football has always been a very physical game. The body takes a beating with every snap; tackling is a key component, and the constant contact can leave players dealing with damage long after their careers end.
Among the most serious concerns, chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) remains a major issue tied to repeated head trauma. Because of that, former Oakland Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon believes the NFL needs to rethink its scheduling, particularly Thursday Night Games.
Rich Gannon Is Against Thursday Night Games
On Thursday Night Games, players get only a few days to recover after taking part in a physical Sunday matchup. By then, bruises, soreness, and inflammation can still affect how their bodies respond to another game.
Normally, players use the entire week for rest and medical treatment before preparing for the next contest. However, Thursday games cut that recovery period down to just four days. Gannon believes players can return before their muscles and joints properly heal, leaving them exhausted and more vulnerable to serious injuries.
“Thursday night games are ridiculous,” he said while speaking with Sports Illustrated’s Matt Verderame. “There’s no way, whether it’s the home team or the away team, can turn around from a Sunday game and be ready to play on Thursday with how violent and physically demanding our game is. Nobody’s at full speed.”
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The short turnaround also disrupts the entire week for coaches and teams, forcing them to abandon their usual routines and build a new game plan within a day or two.
As a result, players may struggle to bring their best mentally and physically. Limited rest can lead to slower reactions and mistakes that would not normally happen.
“At some point the money’s not worth it when you think about these studies,” he added. “I’m heading to an alumni reunion right now for the Raiders; I’m calling the game tomorrow night, and it seems like more and more you see what happens with some of these players. I played with Roger Craig; I played with some players that are struggling with significant health issues and some head trauma, and some effects of multiple concussions.”
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Gannon also has a personal connection to the issue, having watched CTE affect someone close to him.
“My father-in-law was Bill Brown. He’s in the [Vikings’] ring of honor. One of the greatest 50 Vikings to have ever played,” he revealed. “Three Super Bowls and four Pro Bowls. He died. He was in a memory care facility, and he’d lived in that facility for the better part of 10 years, you know, and he had dementia, Parkinson’s, and they sent his brain to Boston. It came back [and had] all types of CTE.”
That concern gained even more weight after a recent Mass General Brigham study examined 235 former players whose brains researchers studied after death between 2016 and ’21. Researchers found evidence of CTE in 215 cases.
Moreover, doctors can currently confirm CTE only after death, which makes Gannon’s warning about Thursday Night Games even harder to dismiss.
