New York Giants’ Owner is Furious Over This ‘Abusive’ NFL Rule Proposal

John Mara doesn't speak often, but when he does, he often has something poignant to say.

This time, the New York Giants' co-owner spoke publicly about the NFL's controversial Thursday Night Football rule proposal, which was rejected in a vote amongst NFL owners earlier this week.

If the rule had been ratified, the league would have been given the ability to "flex" games on their schedule from Sundays to Thursdays, which would've helped the league strengthen their relationship with Amazon, the distributor of the "Thursday Night Football" broadcast.

Mara not only came out against the rule, but used the word abusive when describing it to the media.

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NY Giants' Co-Owner Calls NFL Rule Proposal "Abusive" After Close Vote

A story from The New York Post, penned by friend of The Drive with Charlie & Dan, Paul Schwartz, shared comments from New York Giants' co-owner John Mara regarding the NFL's proposal of a "flex rule" for Thursday Night Football.

Mara's comments came on the heels of a vote that was held amongst NFL owners on Tuesday, March 28th. The rule would've allowed the NFL to move games from their Sunday slate, and place the games in their prime-time Thursday Night Football slot, instead.

The owners rejected the plan, but the vote was described as close by Mara. He added these pointed comments while speaking to the media on Tuesday:

“I am adamantly opposed to that. Flexible scheduling, as it is, is really inconsiderate to our season-ticket holders and the people who fill our stadiums every week. People have gotten used to going from Sunday afternoon to Sunday night [when a game is flexed]. That doesn’t mean that they like it. This year, we can be flexed to Monday night, which I think is really inconsiderate to our ticket holders. But to flex a game back to Thursday night, to me, is just abusive and I am adamantly opposed to it.” - John Mara via Paul Schwartz of The New York Post

Those comments weren't made by mistake. Mara meant every word of what he said, and as a fan of the New York Giants, I appreciate his honesty and candor about this situation.

Not only do I appreciate his candor, I believe he's correct. The National Football League has asked teams, and players, to bend over backwards to accommodate their ever-evolving game schedule in recent years.

The league has added games on Mondays, Thursdays, and even Saturdays in recent memory. Teams now play multiple games in Europe, a trend that won't be slowing down anytime soon given the popularity of these games overseas.

The league is making a lot of money from these scheduling decisions, and because of this, team ownership groups are also making money hand-over-fist. There's a fine line between profitability and greed, and if you believe John Mara, the league crossed that line with this proposal.