Ever since the idea of flexing Thursday Night Football games came to the forefront, it’s seemingly only generated controversy.
San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle had a brutal description of playing in a football game after TNF expansion talks initially heated up. Meanwhile, the Kansas City Chiefs Patrick Mahomes made it clear he isn’t a supporter of flexible Thursday games. And after the plans were officially finalized, our Charles Curtis wrote about how flexing Thursday matchups (along with more Thursday games overall) will be flat-out bad for everyone.
To my knowledge, Jason Kelce and Travis Kelce — the duel All-Pro brothers for the Philadelphia Eagles and Chiefs, respectively — are two of the first NFL players to actually stump for more Thursday Night Football.
I’m not just talking about flexibility. No, no. The Kelces literally like the idea of Thursday NFL games themselves.
On the latest episode of the Kelce brothers’ New Heights podcast on YouTube, the pair discussed the ramifications of Thursday games being flexible now.
In short, both had a passionate defense, agreed Thursday games are good for the league and that anyone saying otherwise isn’t thinking the issue through.
Hmm. I can’t say I’ve seen or heard this perspective before, especially from two of pro football’s bigger names. For posterity, here are the exact points the Kelces brought up to defend Thursday games and their flexing:
- They’re both “huge fans” of TNF games, especially and ironically, later in the season.
- They like playing in Thursday games because practice will be lighter during the week with walkthroughs, and they get an additional three days off afterward. (Note: Jason is entering his 13th NFL season in 2023. Travis will be on season No. 10.)
- Because of the second point, they think any players who are publicly against TNF games in any capacity only want to “make headlines.”
- Finally, they’re football fans, and they want more “good football” being played on primetime television. As professional players, Thursday games are apparently the only real football they get to watch.
I can’t say I agree with the Kelce brothers, but then again, I don’t play in the NFL and can’t speak from their position entirely. I’d be curious to see other superstar/big-name players come up with their own defense of Thursday-night affairs in the coming months.
Because from my vantage point, this TNF opinion from two stars is pretty unique.