Three-time Super Bowl champion rips NFL's 'greed' after worrisome CTE study

While it's certainly no secret that current and former NFL players are dealing with/have suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, commonly known as "CTE," it was jarring to learn that a recent study found that at least 25% of former players who died from 2016-21 had CTE. 

Nevertheless, Baltimore Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton is among those who understand that it's a matter of when, not if, the league will go to a schedule format that features teams playing 18 regular-season games and two preseason contests per campaign. For a piece published on Friday, Matt Verderame of Sports Illustrated spoke with former San Francisco 49ers offensive lineman and three-time Super Bowl champion Randy Cross about concerns related to CTE and about the expansion of the regular season that seems inevitable. 

Randy Cross: NFL cares more about money than about player safety

"You can cite all the individual things, whether it’s the so-called help of the Guardian helmets, or the hits and everything else," Cross explained. "But I don’t know. I think it’s unrealistic to have any other opinion other than it’s pure greed that you would increase the number of games. So it’s going to be greed when they go to 18 games, and it’s going to be greed when they go to 20. And if anybody mentions player safety, they’re a hypocrite. Because it ain’t about that. It’s all about the money." 

As Cross mentioned, national reporters have said for years that NFL team owners ultimately want to scrap the preseason entirely and get to a 20-game regular-season format. While the current collective bargaining agreement between the NFL Players Association and the NFL prevents the league from expanding the regular season without the union's consent, that deal expires in 2031. 

A big change to the league's schedule format reportedly won't happen before 2028 at the earliest, but one almost certainly is coming. 

Former NFL wide receiver speaks honestly about his post-football health

Wide receiver Mark Jackson played in the NFL from 1986 through the 1994 season. He seems to have accepted how the punishment he absorbed during his playing days has impacted his long-term health. 

"Yeah, I have CTE," Jackson told Verderame. "It’s almost 100% positive that I do because I have the documented cases in Minnesota. Got knocked out in Seattle. And back then, being knocked out meant you couldn’t go back in and perform because you couldn’t remember where you were. I believe football is a business. I didn’t understand that. Your whole life as an athlete, you’re taught that we’re a family. We take care of each other. We look out for each other. We sacrifice for each other. And you think that the NFL is excluded in that, but it’s not until the end of your career that you realize this is a business. It’s not based on even my talent level. It’s based on so many other factors, just like any other business. And just like any other business that, you know, the whole goal is to expand. … And they’ve done a lot of things to help with player safety. To be honest with you, I’m more concerned about former players’ longevity than I am about current players’ safety."

As much as the NFLPA currently opposes adding another week of meaningful games to the schedule, history shows that team owners almost always eventually get what they want. At this point, it's fair to wonder if the NFLPA should just rip the Band-Aid off and accept a 20-game regular-season format for the next CBA.