It is Labor Day weekend, but there will be no laboring in the NFL on Saturday, Sunday and Monday — not until next Thursday night, in fact.

No regular-season games — at least on the pro football level — will be played. The colleges are taking the lead.

For years, the NFL regular season opened on Labor Day weekend. Teams such as the Browns finished up their four-game preseason the previous weekend, made their “final” roster cuts shortly thereafter and then raced into their preparation for the opener. There aren’t many times when there’s too much NFL, but this was one of them. Teams had way too many things to do in a too short period of time.

So, several years ago, the NFL decided to throw teams a bone and take the Labor Day weekend off. The sighs of relief throughout the various franchises were loud enough to be heard from one coast to the other, and from one border with another country to the other.

The colleges now keep football on everyone’s mind over Labor Day while at the same time giving pro fans time to barbecue, travel and relax.

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So, ladies and gentlemen, enjoy the traditional end to summer this weekend and get ready to enjoy the traditional beginning of fall next weekend with the arrival of the NFL.

Steve King

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