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I still have a vivid recollection of an August night in the mid-70s Dalton Schultz Jersey , seeing a closeup Sonny Jurgensen in his burgundy helmet and single-bar facemask during one of what then was six preseason games per team and asking myself, “Why am I watching this?”

The answer matched the one that George Costanza gave to Russell Dalrymple when pitching a show about nothing. (Not to mention there were only three channels at the time, and summertime meant reruns only on the other two.) Today, there are too many other options to justify watching football that doesn’t count, especially when more and more coaches are using their best players less and less.

Not long ago, it was a given that starters would play at least half of the third preseason game. Now, that’s hardly a sure thing. Making Week Three of the preseason necessarily less interesting than it previously was.

Even with starters playing, how interesting is it? When starters are on the field, part of the reason to watch is to fight through the temptation to not watch as key players subject themselves to potential injury in meaningless games.

With players in shape 12 months of the year and with plenty of ways to prepare players without putting them in harm’s way, more and more coaches aren’t. Which keeps making Commissioner Roger Goodell’s argument for a shorter preseason stronger and stronger.

Last year, Goodell said publicly on at least three occasions that the preseason could be shortened. This year Marquis Haynes Jersey , Goodell hasn’t said it once — possibly because he’s been nowhere to be seen since Hall of Fame weekend. Goodell surely believes even more strongly that the preseason should shrink, if it’s no longer being used by many teams to get starters ready and has become a tool for separating the bottom-of-NFL-roster slappies from the headed-for-the-AAF-or-XFL slappies.

But the NFL still won’t reduce the preseason until it can expand the regular season. And even though the NFL no longer talks about expanding the regular season, the desire to do so remains. If you watched/listened to Friday’s PFT Live, you saw/heard a discussion with Peter King regarding what could happen, eventually.

Regardless, it’s starting to feel like the preseason will shrink, inevitably. Maybe as soon as the next labor deal is done.
Zach Strief’s eyes watered up and the normally loquacious Saints right tackle struggled to speak at times as he discussed his decision to end of a 12-year NFL career that exceeded his ”wildest imagination.”

He did not, however, lose his sense of humor.

Strief, who announced his retirement Monday, said he considered walking away after the 2016 season Micah Hyde Jersey , but was driven by a sense of obligation to his team – particularly quarterback Drew Brees – to play at least one more year.

”There was no clear replacement on the roster and I knew if I was at home watching TV and Drew was getting hit and I felt like I could have helped, I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself,” Strief said. ”It’s much easier knowing that there’s someone there that’s going to play at a high level for him. So this is all Ryan Ramczyk’s fault.”

Ramczyk, a late first round draft choice last year, blossomed his rookie season, much of which he spent at right tackle after Strief’s Week 4 knee injury, which wound up ending the veteran lineman’s season.

Strief’s health wouldn’t have stopped him from coming back, but the 34-year-old’s priorities are changing. He became a father about two months ago and is part owner of a New Orleans microbrewery, where he said with a grin that he hopes to meet every last member of the Saints’ fan base.

”I am not above shameless self-promotion,” the often self-effacing Strief added, drawing laughs from a crowd of family and well-wishers that included coach Sean Payton and long-time teammates including Brees Brandon Marshall Jersey , running back Mark Ingram, All-Pro defensive end Cameron Jordan and punter Thomas Morstead.

Some retired Saints that Strief played with early in his career – including Steve Gleason and Deuce McAllister – also attended.

To Payton, Strief said, ”You took a chance on me when no one else would. Your faith in me has changed my life.”

To general manager Mickey Loomis: ”You kept me around for a long time, admittedly to your own surprise. If I was honest, I’d say it surprised me as well.”

He told Brees: ”My greatest drive as a player was not to let you down. You’re the greatest leader I’ve ever been around and I admire you so much.”

The 6-foot-7, 340-pound Strief, a Cincinnati native, was a seventh-round draft choice out of Northwestern in 2006. That was Payton’s first season and the Saints’ first year back in New Orleans after being displaced to San Antonio by Hurricane Katrina.

Strief recalled struggling in his first training camp and all but making up his mind to quit, but his father urged him to stick it out and some timely encouragement from then-assistant coach Terry Malone persuaded him to persevere.

Strief wound up being part of the most successful era in franchise history, which included a Super Bowl triumph in the 2009 season.

He was a regular reserve during much of his first five seasons Jalen Ramsey Jersey , routinely rotating onto the field for tackle-eligible formations. He became a starter in 2011 on an offense that set an NFL single-season record with 7,474 yards.

While quickness and agility weren’t necessarily Strief’s greatest assets, Payton said Strief’s size, strength, intelligence and character made him an elite lineman.

Payton called Strief ”an expert at his craft,” adding, ”We never insert someone just because they’re a good guy and they’re smart.”

Strief counted among his career highlights a game in which was on the field, but not in uniform. He was a healthy scratch for the Saints’ emotional and triumphant first home game in the rebuilt Superdome in September 2006.

”I got to see this city at its worst and for 12 years it’s gotten better,” Strief said. ”I’ve gotten to be a part of not only this organization kind of growing to where it is today, but also this city. So it’s very hard not to become attached to that.”

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