Last year, the NFL implemented a new schedule for the 2021-2022 season. This new schedule brought an extra week of games for teams in hopes of providing fan bases with more NFL action. This news excited fans, but it is a different story for the players. Recently, on January 2nd, Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin took a strong hit that put him into cardiac arrest on the field. Since this incident, there have been many opinions about whether or not the league should go back to a 16-week season to avoid overworking athletes.

Football is a very taxing game on players’ bodies, and that must to be taken into account when creating a schedule for the season. Football has also proven to have long-term effects on former players’ health, including traumatic conditions like CTE. While the extra game in the season may bring more joy to fanbases and more revenue for the league, the players’ health needs to be the priority. There is a lot of controversy behind this idea because the fans are eager to watch more football. However, in my opinion, there is no need to risk players’ health to have an extra game. The NFL schedule should be changed back in the near future to protect the athletes that we love and enjoy watching.