Georgia football: It’s time to start playing preseason games
The 2018 Georgia football season begins in 37 days. But the NFL Preseason games begin in just one week. Is it time for college football to start a preseason?
I’m not a patient person. I do not want to wait another 37 days for the 2018 Georgia football season to begin. I wish the Austin Peay game was this Saturday. As soon as the last season ended, I was ready to go back to Sanford Stadium. The four-month wait between the last game at G-Day is too long, but not as bad as the four months between G-Day and the season opener.
But there’s an easy solution that I think it’s time for the NCAA and its teams to explore: Preseason games. Professional sports have preseason games. The NFL has a whole month of games in the preseason.
I know of all of the concerns. The health and safety of players, especially in the south during the month of August. These are college students who are banking their future livelihoods on college football, not pro-football players who are already making a lot of money.
But I, and many fans like me around the nation, just want to watch our teams play. Live, in person or on TV. We don’t need to see a full, in-pad, 60-minute football game every weekend until the season begins. I believe that, helmet-only, 7-on-7’s and 11-on-11’s would be sufficient.
Wouldn’t you love to go out to watch Georgia join three other teams for a 7-on-7 tournament against other teams from inside and outside the SEC every Saturday in August. Or if you couldn’t make it, wouldn’t you tune into the SEC Network to watch?
Georgia wouldn’t have to host their’s in Sanford Stadium either. The practice fields or even the Spec Towns Track would be great locations for these games. Local high school’s would also be a decent host.
Next. Georgia should make Atlanta their second home. dark
Whatever increases the amount of Georgia football I can watch in a year, I am in full support of. And I know I’m not alone in this. It’s time to begin preseason college football. There’s no way this won’t be profitable. People will watch. Thanks to helmet-only 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 tournaments, there’s a way to start a preseason free of all concerns that exists with playing a regular preseason.
So what is the NCAA and its conferences waiting on. There’s money to be made and football to be watched. It’s time for preseason college football.