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As NFL players, fans and media downplay practice, minicamp, OTAs, and everything that goes into preparing for the season, ESPN’s Louis Riddick has heard enough of the complaints. Earlier this week, Tom Brady went off on NFL players for skipping preseason games, saying, “your job is to play football” while talking about how much he always valued practice. “Too many people looking for easy ways out these days,” Brady added, a sentiment Riddick appears to share. Because Riddick similarly went off on social media this week, flippantly suggesting the NFL should just get rid of everything, including the regular season to appease all the complaints. Abolish joint practices, abolish preseason games, abolish minicamp and OTA’s, abolish hitting too hard, hell.…maybe abolish the regular season too and just pick the playoff teams based on what they did the year before … Would that make everyone happy ? Never heard so much…— Louis Riddick (@LRiddickESPN) August 18, 2026 “Abolish joint practices, abolish preseason games, abolish minicamp and OTA’s, abolish hitting too hard, hell.…maybe abolish the regular season too and just pick the playoff teams based on what they did the year before … “Would that make everyone happy ? Never heard so much complaining about EVERYTHING in my life…” Wednesday morning on Get Up and First Take, Riddick addressed his social media post, explaining he’s tired of seeing the mentality of wanting more while wanting to do less. And while Riddick noted he understands the NFL has reduced its offseason schedule and limited hitting to emphasize player health and safety, he still posed the question of, “What can we do in the game of football now?” “What do people want?” Riddick continued. “Because we complain about everything, we cut down so many things in the game of football. People expect that this game can be played at the level it’s played at if players just show up on Sunday and that’s it. That’s not how it works. That’s not how football is played, that’s not how teams are built. And I think we just need to pump the brakes on all this, ‘We need to stop that, we need to cut out this…’ because if you start doing that too much, the game is gonna suffer eventually. It’s not going to look the same as what you’re accustomed to and what has drawn in the fanbase it has worldwide.” The game already has suffered, which is why the early portion of the regular season often plays like a preseason game as players and teams are still shaking off the rust that used to be shaken off in exhibitions. You can appreciate Brady and Riddick sharing the importance of practice and preparation to keep the game operating at the level fans demand. And of course the NFL is softer than it was decades ago, but it’s softer because teams want to protect their investment, even more than they truly care about player health and safety. The more money teams are paying players, the more those teams are going to prioritize protecting their investment. And there’s nothing worse than losing a star player to injury during a practice or preseason game that doesn’t count in the standings.