This is one time to side with the NFL players

There are two fundamental realities when it comes to understanding the NFL. The first is the league itself – that is, the owners and league headquarters – are driven by money. The second is the players are quite aware of how tenuous their time in the NFL can be.

Those two points are critical to remember when it comes to assessing an 18-game season, which commissioner Roger Goodell advocated Wednesday. That could happen as early as the 2012 season.

There are four preseason games and 16 games now, which is a ridiculous balance. Fans are forced to pay full price for two home preseason games, which mean so little that starters barely play. Coaches don’t need eight weeks of preseason to figure out who their ninth offensive lineman will be. Two preseason games, maximum, is enough.

NCAA probe of UNC also involves South Carolina

The (Columbia) State newspaper is reporting today that Durham native Weslye Saunders, a senior tight end at South Carolina, was also interviewed by NCAA officials about his possible involvement with agents.

Joseph Person of The State reports that Saunders was interviewed by the NCAA last week in Columbia. UNC football players Marvin Austin and Greg Little are the center of an NCAA investigation about their possible involvement with agents.

Saunders, the son of News and Observer metro columnist Barry Saunders, is friends with Austin. Saunders considered entering the NFL Draft following last season and received information from the league's underclassman advisory committee. But he changed his mind in January and stayed in school at South Carolina.