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NFL players know they need to give 100% each day they step on the gridiron, knowing it’s a matter of keeping their job or seeing it taken by the next man up.
As a result, the average NFL career is around just three seasons, both from the elite talent pool and the injury risk that comes with a high-octane contact sport.
The NFL, though, couldn’t be doing better from a business perspective, as football fans crave more action on any given night throughout the season. The 2026 season will be kicking off on a Wednesday night this year in large part due to the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers playing in Melbourne, Australia, at 10:35 a.m. local time on Friday morning, which will be Thursday night at 8:35 p.m. ET in the States.
No matter where or when, the games will be watched, which is why the 18th regular-season game conversation remains pertinent as the league continues to expand its reach.
Buffalo Bills left tackle Dion Dawkins knows how grueling a 17-game season can be already as someone who’s in the trenches when the ball is snapped.
“I think the world that we live in is just a different type of world, right? Production, entertainment, sports. We’re a part of that world where people want to see football more — they want to see it. So, the 18th game is a beautiful business choice as the league,” he told Fox News Digital in a recent interview, where he also touched on his partnership with Oral-B and Crest to impact families in need of dental cleaning.
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But, while he understands the business aspect of why the NFL would want to introduce an 18th game to the regular-season schedule, he thinks a player’s perspective needs to be listened to as well.
“The only counter that I see to it is guys’ careers are only getting shorter,” Dawkins explained. “Not to say that one game is going to make it drastically shorter, but one game can change somebody’s entire trajectory of life. Like, if you make it through a 17-game season healthy, and you get to 18 and your body is ready to break down, something happens. Then, the course of your life is totally different.”
Of course, Dawkins understands better than others that being a part of successful Bills teams in recent seasons means playoff football, which comes right after Week 18 in the wild-card round. However, teams will rest key starters like Dawkins if they have their playoff seed clinched, though not all are so lucky during the year.
No matter the case, Dawkins believes “it’s going to happen either way.” He just wants to make sure players like himself are taken care of properly if that is the case, especially from a financial lense.
“Our contracts aren’t fully guaranteed. There’s good players, there’s average players, there’s players that are just making it by. As long as guys are taken care of the way they’re supposed to, this is our life. We’re athletes, and not that I’m here for it, it’s going to happen either way – [an] 18th game. And then 20 years later, guess what? We’re talking about a 19th, then we’ll be talking about a 20th.… Then it’s like, ‘Yeah, we are combat athletes all year long.’ But who knows.”
Dawkins added that perhaps NFL teams will utilize workload games like NBA players do, but it’s likely not the case considering basketball players have 82 games during the regular season. They can spare a loss or two if that’s what transpires on the court.
The NFL is different, as every game becomes more crucial than the next, even if the league thinks of adding another to the regular season.
David White, who served as the NFL Players’ Association’s interim executive director before the election of JC Tretter, said during Super Bowl LX week that players “have no appetite for a regular-season 18th game” despite the league’s push for it.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell noted then that an 18th game was “not a given,” but owners, like New England Patriots Robert Kraft, say “every team will go 18.”
“Every team will go 18 [regular-season games] and two [preseason games] and eliminate one of the preseason games, and every team every year will play one game overseas,” he said on 98.5 The Sports Hub in January.
CLOSING AMERICA’S SMILE GAP
While rest and relaxation is key for NFL players during the offseason, Dawkins is also making sure he’s impacting the community.
He teamed up with Crest and Oral-B on their “Closing America’s Smile Gap” initiative, which aims to donate a free dental cleaning to families in need through “America’s ToothFairy.”
As someone who is always finding ways to impact underserved youth through his Dion’s Dreamers foundation, Dawkins discussed how improving oral health access for kids and families matters, especially considering 50% of low-income parents will skip or delay their own dental care to get their kids care they need.
“It’s a no-brainer, a layup,” he said of the partnership with Crest and Oral-B. “For people that are doing the right things to help, it all aligns.
“When it comes down to it, one of the first things people see is the mouth, the teeth, the visual of your smile.… Sometimes, some people are in the one bracket of, ‘All right, I just need to brush my teeth, then I’m good.’ Sometimes, you need to go to the dentist, get a cleaning, and the dentist needs to be prepped and they need to prep you for the course of life to be able to have a smile. For Crest and Oral-B, this is what the world is: teeth.”
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