Steely McBeam
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- Mar 20, 2019
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The NFL will hold league meetings next week that are expected to include a vote on expanding the regular season schedule to 17 games.
PFT reported last week that the measure is expected to pass and comments from Steelers president Art Rooney II on Thursday show that’s the way things are heading. During a call with Steelers fans, Rooney talked about the expansion of the regular season and shrinking the preseason as if they are done deals.
“The 17-game schedule I think will work out well,” Rooney said, via the team’s website. “Obviously, this year will be the first year for it, so we’ll get a chance to see how it goes. I think we will reduce the preseason by one game. It will be a similar kind of schedule in terms of the calendar, but we will just turn one of the preseason games into a regular season a game, which I think all of us would appreciate. I feel good about it, I hope it works, and I look forward to seeing how it does in 2021.”
There was a report late last year that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell favored cutting the preseason down to two games and Rooney was part of an ownership group pushing to keep a third game on the schedule. Rooney’s answer suggests that group won out, but next week should bring more complete answers.