If the NFL owners and Players Union end up agreeing to increase the season to 18 games, the Pro Football Hall of Fame is concerned abut what will happen to all the records that have been set over the years. The first thing most people will say is that they dealt with it when the schedule increased from 12 to 14 and finally 16 games, but many of the records set in the lesser games per season remain despite the additional games. However, with an 18 game season, that will mean an additional 50% increase in games from the original 12 game season.
While the baseline for rushing yards per season has quietly moved from 1000 to 1200, will it move to 1500 and will the 2000 yard plateau continue to be a mark of greatness anymore? The same goes for passing yards, as the two additional games will have the better QB's each season routinely hitting the unprecedented 5,000 yard plateau. Records that have stood for decades (interceptions/season) should fall on a regular basis due to the extra playing time that could add up to 60 carries for a running back and 70-80 more pass attempts for quarterbacks.
The number of asterisks that will denote the different games per season will fill the record books and start debates for almost every record on which number of games per season was the more impressive statistic. While this might end up being a minor reason in the fight between the players and owners, it appears that both sides remain far apart on this and other issues in the NFL Labor negotiations.
See more on this from the National Football Post.