Roary
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- Mar 18, 2019
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USA TODAY Sports
Steelers tight end Eric Ebron strenuously objects to playing three games in 12 days. Steelers tight end Eric Ebron doesn’t seem to realize that he and plenty of other players have played three games in 12 days, once per year every year.
For any team that plays on a Sunday, a Sunday, and then a Thursday, that’s no different than playing (as the Steelers will) on a Wednesday, a Monday, and a Sunday. Every year, most teams play three games in the 12-day window from a Sunday to the following Thursday.
Indeed, as originally scheduled, the Steelers would have played three games in 12 days, with the third game being the Thanksgiving night game against the Ravens.
During Ebron’s first four NFL seasons in Detroit, the Lions annually played on a Sunday, a Sunday, and a Thursday. Three games in 12 days. In the usual 12-day window, with a 1:00 p.m. ET kickoff on the first Sunday capped by a 12:30 p.m. ET kickoff on Thanksgiving, the Lions have 263.5 hours between the start of the first game and the start of the third game. The Steelers will have a total of 268.5 hours between the start of the Week 12 game against the Ravens and the Week 14 game against the Bills.
That didn’t stop Ebron from complaining about playing
“Nobody thought you would play three games in 12 days,” Ebron said on Uninterrupted’s 17 Weeks podcast on SiriusXM and Pandora “Think about that. That’s us. We play [Wednesday], we play Monday [against Washington], and we play Sunday [at Buffalo]. Oh my God. . . . They’re trying to see us fail, bro. Welcome to the National Football League. . . .
“I don’t care about a game check. I’m sorry, I know there are people who don’t make the amount of money I do. I know that. So what? I’m sure they don’t want to play three games in 12 days either. They’d much rather, you know, lose a game check than risk them not making a check the next year because they’re hurt.”
The Steelers understandably are frustrated about the manner in which their schedule has been adjusted due to the pandemic. However, every player had a chance to opt out of the season, and every player should have realized that playing in 2020 could or would mean not just potential COVID-19 exposure but various potentially screwy situations and outcomes that in any other year would seem unfair.
Notwithstanding their complaints, the Steelers remain the NFL’s only unbeaten team. It hasn’t been easy and it hasn’t been perfect (despite their perfect record), but it won’t be easy or perfect for anyone connected to the NFL in 2020.