The new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) in the works by the NFL is looking to shake up the professional football landscape (as far as the NFL goes) in some pretty drastic ways, notably the agreement’s changed stance on marijuana and a new proposed playoff format.
The NFL is finally adapting to the evolving social norms of the modern day in regards to cannabis. Year after year, seemingly more states in the U.S. are beginning to either decriminalize or legalize cannabis in some capacity. NFL owners and other officials traditionally looked down upon their players smoking weed by handing out suspensions like candy. Several players over the course of the NFL’s existence have essentially lost their football careers due to this.
However, these days might be coming to an end.
According to Forbes, “The new policy being floated for approval by the NFL Players Association would also reduce the number of players subject to testing for cannabis and narrow the window when tests can be administered from the current four months to just two weeks at the start of training camp.”
Forbes also mentioned that the threshold of THC that players must abide by is also being significantly increased from 35 to 150 nanograms.
Without getting too political, it’s great to see the league relax their traditionally harsh stance on cannabis, a drug that doesn’t really affect the performance of players on the field (unless smoked too early before game time), in this writer’s opinion. On the contrary, cannabis is useful in helping professional athletes in general cope with pain and other injuries brought on by their respective sport. This can spark a change that will benefit athletes across the sports world.
Football, a highly physical game, should allow players to medicate themselves in a manner that doesn’t hinder nor artificially improve their ability to play while also remaining within the good graces of state law. We can finally see players like wide receiver Josh Gordon, who has been suspended indefinitely for multiple cannabis infractions during his time with the Browns, Patriots and Seahawks, play consistently and reach his full potential in the pros.
The MLB implemented a similar tactic earlier by removing cannabis from their list of banned substances, per Marijuana Moment.
As the clock keeps turning and the minds of Americans keep evolving, it’s safe to assume that more organizations, not just sports leagues, will relax their rules on the drug as well.
What is likely to cause a bit more controversy in the sports community is the proposed playoff structure change proposed by the CBA. If adopted, the CBA will increase the amount of NFL teams in the postseason from 12 to 14. as well as reduce the number of first-round byes per conference from two to one, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported.
The NFL, despite adding more teams in the 1990’s and in 2002, hasn’t changed the playoff format in decades. The traditional method of clinching a playoff berth, winning a division, is still intact. However, an extra playoff team will be added per conference in the form of a wild card berth
If this rule were in place this past season, the No. 7 seeds Steelers (AFC) and Rams (NFC) would’ve made the playoffs. Not that the addition of these two teams would’ve changed much, but it would’ve been interesting.
So, what are the good things about adding another wild card berth to each conference? Parity in the league would certainly improve, and more teams will have something to fight for in the final weeks of the season. This would also add a bit more variety to the postseason, which is natural when you add more teams.
But to me, the incentive to win for players is hurt with the subtraction of a first-round bye per conference. A first-round bye prevents a team from playing in Wild Card Weekend, which gives the team more time to rest and avoid a potential upset at the hands of a lower-seeded team early on.
Making the playoffs easier to get into also makes the regular season less relevant, which evens out with the fact that more teams have something to play for in the dying weeks.
I think this format should be implemented but be up for review in a certain number of years. It’s an interesting concept that we’ll have to see in action before fans can get a solid idea of how it works.
Besides, this is still miles better than the nonsense of the MLB’s wild card game system.
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