Aug 16, 2006 5 min read

ASHBURN, Va. (AP) – Before Clinton Portis resumes his campaign to shorten the NFL preseason, he might want to talk to Washington Redskins teammate James Thrash. Thrash owes his 10-year pro career to the garbage time he once had as a no-hoper in a pair of 1997 exhibition games. The undrafted rookie from Missouri Southern was No. 12 of 13 receivers in training camp and had zero chance of making the team – until he returned kickoffs for touchdowns in back-to-back weeks.

“I just remember being last on the depth chart, even on special teams,” Thrash said. “To run that kickoff for a touchdown, it just opened the coaches’ eyes. If we don’t have any preseason games, I wouldn’t be here right now.”

Eight-year veteran Benji Olson, Tennessee’s right guard, also wants all the snaps he can get this August for the Titans’ revamped offensive line.

“That’s what’s great about the preseason,” Olson said. “Four practice games to work out the kinks.”

Portis fired up the debate over the nature of the NFL preseason after the star running back partially dislocated his shoulder in the Redskins’ Sunday night loss at Cincinnati. The debate’s revived every time a key player is injured in an exhibition. Jason Sehorn (knee, 1998), Trent Green (knee, 1999), Michael Vick (broken leg, 2003) and now Portis are only the most memorable of recent preseason casualties.

Portis said he hopes to return for opening day. But the Minnesota Vikings lost Chad Greenway for the season after the rookie linebacker injured his left knee Monday in the team’s first exhibition game.

“Four games is ridiculous, man,” Portis said. “How much wear and tear can you get? Maybe they need to let us start smoking cigarettes or something in the locker room again, like they did back in the day. And play with no mouthpiece, play with the pads and the helmets that they did back then, then maybe you’ll need to go through all this training.”

NFL teams have played four preseason games – not counting special events like the overseas American Bowls and the Hall of Fame game – since 1978, when two exhibitions were dropped and the regular season expanded from 14 to 16. The long preseason was a necessary routine for decades, because players would spend their offseasons working other jobs to supplement their football incomes.

“There was no limit on when you came to training camp in those days,” said Buffalo general manager Marv Levy, who was an assistant to Redskins coach George Allen in the 1970s. “When you worked for George Allen, you came June 1. George wanted to win every game, including the exhibitions. I remember standing on the sidelines next to Jack Pardee during the sixth game one year. He said, ‘You know I’m 35 years old, and I’ve played every minute on defense in all six games.”‘

Now, football is a year-round occupation that pays handsomely. Players arrive for conditioning workouts as early as February.

“Training camp was designed back in the day for players who weren’t in shape, to get in shape,” New York Giants tight end Jeremy Shockey said. “Now they have the offseason program and you’re in shape already, and it’s kind of like it’s dangerous. … They always try and tell people to stay off the ground, but they also always tell people to ‘Up the pace, up the pace,’ and when you up the pace someone’s going to get hurt.”

As far as Browns running back Reuben Droughns is concerned, the NFL can cut down the exhibition season and training camp.

“Let’s get to the season already. I think one week would be acceptable,” he said with a laugh. “Let’s get back to a hell week again, and that would be it.”

Droughns would like to see the league reduce the preseason from four weeks to two.

“I don’t think coaches or owners would like it,” he said, adding that some young players need the longer preseason to win a job. “I think the majority of the older cats would like to see it reduced.”

For years, coaches have balanced the anxiety over possible injuries with the need to prepare their teams. Although approaches vary, there is a general league-wide pattern over how to handle the four August games:

_Game 1: Starters play a series or two, a token readjustment to the rigors of contact. The rest is a messy but meaningful first evaluation of backups competing for roster spots.

_Game 2: Starters play much, perhaps all, of the first half, their first chance to experience the ebb and flow of a game.

_Game 3: The dress rehearsal, with starters usually playing the entire first half and often part of the second.

_Game 4: An often meaningless exercise. First cuts already have been made, and by this time coaches generally know which players will make the 53-man roster. Starters play maybe a quarter, and, more so than in any other game, are focused on getting off the field healthy.

“There’s just not too much going on in preseason,” said Vick, his injury of three years ago well behind him. “It’s pretty much boring for everybody.”

Happening or not, the games bring in a lot of money.

If two preseason games were cut, the owners, who sell the exhibition tickets at regular-season prices, would lose a key source of income.

If two exhibition games were cut and replaced with two regular-season games, players would demand significant salary increases to compensate for a regular season of 18 games instead of 16. Now, players’ salaries are divided into 17 weekly checks (including the bye week) that are distributed during the regular season.

Perhaps Portis had better get used to the status quo.

“I don’t really see much of a change ever happening,” said Redskins tackle Jon Jansen, who was missed a season after rupturing his Achilles’ tendon in an exhibition two years ago. “This is kind of where we are, and this is the way it’s going to be for quite some time. I don’t know if it’s worth arguing.”