Charles Barkley: ‘The NFL can do no wrong’

Charles Barkley might not always have nice things to say about the NBA, but he can’t help himself from lauding the NFL.

On the latest episode of The Steam Room, Barkley and co-host Ernie Johnson were joined by colleague Adam Lefkoe, who is in the unique position of being friends with Travis Kelce, but a fan of the Philadelphia Eagles. And as Barkley teased the interview, he started by praising the NFL for having a two-week break before the Super Bowl.

“The NFL can do no wrong. They’re so good,” Barkley said. “Football is obviously King Kong in the sports world. This decision to make you wait two weeks, its genius. By the time the game is here, you’re gonna be pumped. If they played the Super Bowl this week, it’d be like, ‘Okay, good.’ But as much as America loves football, making people wait two weeks is just a stroke of genius.”

Barkley didn’t say anything too groundbreaking here, but at a time where some have called him out for being too critical of the sport he covers, the NBA, it’s interesting to hear him speak so glowingly about the NFL.

He may have, however, embellished a little bit. If the Super Bowl was played the Sunday after the conference championship games, the interest would certainly be more intense than just, “okay, good.” But Barkley is right in noting the NFL does a good job of building excitement leading up to the Super Bowl.

While it’s helpful for teams to have extra rest, and for media to have extra time to travel, there really isn’t a need for two weeks between the championship games and Super Bowl the way there may have been a half-century ago. But it was instituted in Super Bowl I to help with promoting the event and the tradition has continued, aside from several years where the bye week was eliminated due to unique circumstances.