Preseason Matters… But Not Like You May Think

Preseason Matters… But Not Like You May Think

Randy Murawski

Fifty three years ago…

a young rookie from Grambling University took the field for his first preseason game for the Kansas City Chiefs.

A converted Olympic sprinter, Stone had high hopes for his new found future in professional football.

Converting runners seemed like a good idea back then.

Bullet Bob Hayes, and a few more.

Until the league finally realized that staying healthy is one of the most important aspects of playing football,

not just good hands and speed.

These guys simply did not know how to properly protect themselves. 

And some paid dearly for that mistake.

Stone suffered a fractured neck on a kick return, and died in the hospital with his parents 10 days later.

So in that respect, the risks these young men take in preseason matter a whole lot,

as I wrote in my last post.

But they matter in other ways.

I have not researched it, but it seems to me that the Patriots lose one heck of a lot of preseason games.

Arguably one of the best teams in the last decade, they use preseason games as they were meant to be used.

Not to win, but to assess talent.

So preseason losses to them do not matter.

Assessing talent does.

And they do a very good job of that.

But less astute teams focus on the preseason wins

to feel better about less than stellar previous seasons,

and play the players

they had planned on keeping all along,

cutting players with potential in the process.

And the losing cycle continues.

So, I do not get particularly excited about a preseason win for the Chiefs,

nor do I get particularly down when they lose.

I do however focus intently on what my crew here at Arrowhead One takes away from the level of play.

And what I see as well.

How about you?