Jon Gruden misses being a head coach in the NFL, but one thing he doesn’t miss is coaching games on Thursday Night Football.
On the heels of what was an absolute dud of a Thursday Night Football game last week, Gruden believes it’s time for the NFL to stop making teams play on short rest. The Denver Broncos beat the Las Vegas Raiders 10-7 in a game that had more penalties than first downs last Thursday. The awful offensive performances from both teams refreshed bad memories from when Denver lost to the Indianapolis Colts 12-9 on Thursday Night Football in 2022.
Monday morning, during his Shred Line segment on Wake Up Barstool, Gruden took aim at the NFL for continuing to make teams play Thursday Night Football.
“Thursday Night Football… what a treat it is,” Gruden said sarcastically. “No preparation, no time to recover, no chance. Get rid of these Thursday night games! Dump them! It’s not fair to the players, it’s not fair to the coaches. Who goes out and tries to perform at a high level with no preparation? Dump these games!”
In recent years, the Thursday Night Football schedule has improved enough to make Al Michaels feel like he’s not trying to sell used cars to NFL fans anymore. But even while improved matchups can lead to some exciting games like the one we saw from the Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers last month, Thursday Night Football is still very much a mixed bag.
Gruden is probably right, it’s not fair to send players and coaches out there on a short week with little preparation for a prime time NFL game. But Amazon is paying the NFL around $1 billion a year for exclusive rights to Thursday Night Football through the 2033 season, and a Gruden rant isn’t about to cancel that partnership.
As much as Thursday Night Football might go against the NFL preaching it prioritizes player health and safety, the toothpaste is already out of the tube in terms of playing games on Thursday nights. Thursday Night Football has been a thing for nearly two decades, expanding over the years to become a fundamental part of the NFL calendar. There’s no going back.
About Brandon Contes
Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com