Richard Sherman, along with many NFL fans, believes Thursday nights are better suited to pretty much anything other than football.
He made his feelings on the subject clear when speaking to reporters about this Thursday’s home game against the LA Rams. “[Thursday Night Football] is a poopfest. It’s terrible,” Sherman said on Tuesday. “We got home like 1 o’clock in the morning, something like that on Monday and then you’ve got to play again. Congratulations, NFL, you did it again. But they’ve been doing it all season, so I guess we’re the last ones to get the middle finger.”
He added that players are only “50, 60%” recovered by the time games come round if they are playing on a Thursday night, adding strain to tired bodies in a league that is notoriously punishing.
Sherman has been critical of the effects of Thursday Night Football in the past. Last year he said it was hypocritical for the NFL to send out players on short rest and yet still claim it cares about safety. “I mean, it’s rough,” Sherman said in 2015. “It’s rough on the body. Any time you play a football game and play another one a few days later, it’s going to be tough on the body. But it’s just another one of those things. Another one of those simple contradictions of the league, because they care about us.”
Thursday Night Football has been criticized by others too, from uninspiring match-ups to problems with the color run uniforms. This Thursday’s game could have an impact on the playoffs – they are huge favorites to win the NFC West but are still chasing home advantage in the post-season.
