The 2nd Worst Week in Football

The third preseason game is gone and I am now facing the 2nd worst week in football.

The third preseason game is almost always considered the dress rehearsal for the starters. With the third game behind us, there is only one preseason game left and it is usually the most meaningless. Many NFL coaches only play their starters for a series or two, if they play at all, so they can get one more good look at the lower players on the bubble of being cut. The fourth preseason game is one game I usually watch, but rarely care if I have to miss it.

Yet, as meaningless as it is, there is always a chance one of those starters could get hurt in their short time on the field. Because of this little fact, it is always best to wait until after the fourth game before you draft your fantasy teams. Many leagues start before this but it is never a wise decision. I once watched a guy get all excited that he got the first pick overall and drafted Michael Vick. The draft was several rounds old when we watched Vick go down with a season ending injury. Since then we have always waited until after the fourth game before having our draft.

So here we are. The football is meaningless, we still do not want to draft our teams, and we are getting close enough to the regular season to feel the anxiety setting in. To me this is like when I was a child and had to try to go to sleep the night before Christmas, knowing the presents would be waiting impatiently for me to open them. Only this lasts a whole week!

Only one week is worse than this to me. Yes, as horrible as this week is, there is one that is worse. But that is a story for another day.