Throwback Thursday: The NFL Schedule

The NFL will again reveal the 2013 schedule on TV. This will, of course, be done on the league's very own network. "The Perfect Schedule '13." Riveting. The only thing that's a mystery about the schedule is the "when" of the matchups.  The "who" and the "where" has been known since the end of the season.  Much of each year's schedule is actually known for years.  I love football but I seriously question the need to have a program devoted solely to the release of each year's schedule. The NFL makes everything a big show.

It seems like NFL teams have been playing a 16-game schedule forever. It seems that way because the league has played a 16-game schedule for the past 36 years. That's including the two seasons, 1982 and '87, that were shortened by labor issues. This is by far the longest stretch that the NFL has maintained the same number of games each season.

Here's how the number of games per season has broken down through NFL history:

1935-36                       12 games
1937-42, 1946             11 games
1943-45                       10 games
1947-60                       12 games
1961-77                       14 games
1978-present               16 games

Prior to 1935, the NFL did not have a set schedule as teams scheduled their own games. Teams played as few as eight and as many as sixteen games, some against independent professional, amateur, and even college teams. By 1926 the league tried to make the schedule a little more uniform but teams still played from eleven to fifteen games per season, depending on the number of teams in the league.

I was initially disappointed when the league went to the 16-game schedule after the 1977 season. I just liked the football symmetry of 14 games and 28 teams. 16 games destroyed that. I eventually got used to the new schedule. The numbers even work nicely now. 32 teams. 4 teams in 4 divisions in each conference. 16 games. It works.

Going to 18 games, Goodell's dream, would be a mistake. It's too much football. Who would have thought that would be possible? 18 games, with the potential for four more in the playoffs, is just too brutal. Greed shouldn't be the motive. 16 games is fine.