For as long as I can remember, Christmas Day has belonged to the NBA. They would usually schedule the first tip-off for 12ish pm E.T. and there would be games on the rest of the day, and into the evening thanks to a west coast game or two.
However, the NFL is a behemoth that seems intent on conquering anything and everything that they set their eyes on. Really it was only a matter of time until they decided the holiday would need to be theirs, too.
And while neither of the games were exactly thrilling, the NFL still got the numbers they wanted (and then some).
Safe to say, (and much to the dismay of the NBA), the NFL on Christmas Day is very likely here to stay.
That brings us to today’s Question of the Day:
Absolutely not, and for several reasons. First off, playing a game on a Wednesday after just having played on Saturday is crazy. And while the day won’t always fall on a Wednesday, giving teams an additional short week to work around this late in the season is a tough draw. In general, I am in favor of eliminating Thursday Night Football altogether in the name of keeping players healthy over the course of an already grueling 17-game season.
This isn’t basketball, baseball, etc — this is football, one of the more violent games on the planet. If the NFL is really about that player-safety life, these short-rest weeks and generally sloppy football should set off so many alarms in their heads, but I get it. Money will always matter the most.
Secondly, I don’t want my friends/bosses to have to work on the holiday [Editor’s note: Thank you. Your bonus is in the mail]. And as much as I enjoy being with 65,000+ of my closest friends at Ford Field cheering on our Detroit Lions in person, we already spend Thanksgiving together—so I can safely pass on adding Christmas to that list, too.
How about you? Would you want the Lions to play on Christmas day in the near-future? Let us know in the comments below.
Jenna Laine, ESPN Staff WriterDec 27, 2024, 10:32 PM ETCloseJenna Laine covers the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for ESPN. She started covering the Bucs for ESPN in 2016
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