Howell aims to preserve the health of the players

by Bo Marchionte
Published September 2024, 04:37 PM

Pittsburgh, PA – Media were invited to talk with Lloyd Howell, who became the NFLPA Executive Director in 2023. The session was essential to getting more insight from are currently top priorities among NFL players. 

Among the many topics, his pursuit in actively shaping the union’s priorities, that includes advocating for extended summer breaks for NFL players. One key focus of Howell’s leadership is improving player welfare, which aligns with the idea of giving players more time off during the summer to reduce the physical toll of the season and maintain their long-term health.

“So last year, when I was visiting the teams,” Howell said. A lot of the commentary from the guys was, hey, look, a long season. I need more time to recover.” 

The current format that has been the blueprint for the National Football League has consistent of teams immediately getting to work following the conclusion of the NFL Draft. The period between NFL organized team activities (OTAs) and the start of training camp typically spans about five to six weeks. 

OTAs usually conclude in mid-June, and mandatory minicamps follow shortly afterward. Training camp typically begins in late July. This gap provides players with a brief offseason break for recovery before the intense preparation of training camp begins. This downtime is critical for players to rest physically and mentally, though they often continue individual workouts and conditioning during this period to stay in shape.

This is where the emphasis is to extend the off-season and build up to the season where Howell pointed out is more beneficial to the players, which leads to NFL teams protecting their investments. 

“So, starting with like the science to proven fact, that to have a steady build up into the season without any interruption reduces the injury rate,” Howell said. “We’re talking about lower extremity and soft tissue going into the season. So, if you look at the current injury rate, it actually spikes in the first three weeks for a variety of reasons, but one of them being you’re not having a consistent build up to camp in the preseason.”

In recent appearances on the Pat McAfee Show, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell stated he wasn’t a big fan of the preseason which leads to the interpretation of the leagues desire for an inevitable 18-game schedule.

“I think we’re good at 17 (games) now, but … I’m not a fan of the preseason,” Goodell said on the show. “I don’t think we need preseason, and I don’t think these guys like it, either.”

Clearly the direction of the NFL is to extend the regular season while the players want to extend the offseason to allow for a more fluid period of time off and hopefully help int he science of building their bodies up, injury free, towards Week 1 of the season. 

While some talks have centered on moving to an 18-game regular season, Howell has emphasized the need to balance revenue growth with player safety, and part of that involves offering more recovery time, such as longer summer breaks.

Howell’s broader vision for the NFLPA includes ensuring players have more control over their schedules, especially given the increasing demands of the extended season. Ultimately, if this is a huge demand from the players, we likely will see in happening.

We’ve grown accustomed the intensity and duration of practices diminish as players aim to protect their biggest investment – Themselves.

I’m all for protecting the NFL’s biggest assets.

Photo Credit Frank Hyatt/College2Pro.com