Let’s face it.  The NFL season is far too long for the players and far too short for the fans.  The NY Giants played 24 games last season including a trip to London.  The average human has absolutely no idea the physical toll of a schedule like that.  Training camp and the preseason should limit contact for veterans and emphasize:

1.  evaluation of talent
2.  teaching, timing and skills
3.  conditioning
4.  rest

Take a page from the champs.  Michael Strahan missed all of training camp and the preseason then went on to a stellar year.  Plaxico Burress rarely practiced during the week but certainly showed up on Sundays.  The G men went 1-3 in the preseason and started the regular season 0-2.  A very unusual path to the promised land I agree… but what can we learn?

The Lombardi Trophy is not won in training camp, the preseason or the first few games of the regular season, but it certainly can be lost with a key injury or worse yet a death.