Viva Murillo!

The Hall of Fame Game should be the third week of the preseason and feature the best match-up of the week. At least that way we'd have a good shot of seeing some future Hall of Famers actually play. As it is, it seems ironic that the game features a lot of players who will never see the Hall of Fame without a ticket. If there are actual stars playing, you'll miss them if you blink or tune in a few minutes late.

Of course, the same could be said for most of the sham known as the preseason: Pretend games with pretend NFL players while fans pay authentic prices and imagine that they're watching authentic football. But we didn't see Hall-of-Fame-caliber action on Sunday night (I did watch a couple of minutes because I wanted to check out the Oiler throwbacks). It might have been entertaining to a degree, but it wasn't NFL football and it certainly won't help you on draft day.

And that's the problem. The majority of drafts and auctions take place during the preseason, and after several months without any kind of football, you might think something is better than nothing. But it isn't. It's much, much worse then nothing because those fake games might influence your rankings. And with the possible-- possible-- exception of the third preseason game, that's a huge mistake.

What do you think we learned in that last game? Tennessee's punter can run the football but Chris Johnson can't? If both teams keep switching out players (eight guys threw passes) you might have a close game? I say there’s more valuable information found on the practice field (where Donnie Avery, Antonio Bryant and Steve Smith have suffered injuries) than the football field. And you don’t have to watch anything to find out what happened. All you need is Internet access to get the updates you need. And if you get a Twitter account you can be among the very first to know.

You certainly don’t need to watch the fake football games to gain a real advantage on draft day. But until fans stop tuning in and start complaining about the cost of pretend games, the NFL has no reason to change its schedule. There’s been talk about adding games to the regular season, but what’s the rush? If fans will watch future insurance agents in football helmets, why should athletes make more than a cameo appearance?

Look, every year one owner in your league watches all the games and reaches for an August superstar. They watch the helmets, they see plays develop, they watch yards gained and touchdowns scored . . . and they think they know something. And that’s a normal reaction, especially for a football fan who hasn’t seen the game played in months. But they’re watching players who will be looking for work in a month. Maybe a few of them will be holding clipboards all year -- if they’re lucky. There’s a chance the really good ones could be a waiver wire selection for you in October. But they’re not names who are likely to impact your draft or auction, and I think paying too much attention to those game swill hurt you when the real ones start.

OK, I have an even better idea: I think the Hall of Fame game should be held at the end of the year: the Pro Bowl. At least those guys are the league’s best and a few of them will have their own bust in Canton eventually. That would be a more appropriate contest when you’re celebrating the league’s history and welcoming a new class of players. Plus, the fantasy season will be long finished, so nobody can ruin their season by watching it. That way everybody wins, even if the score doesn’t count.

You can reach Michael Murillo at vivamurillo@gmail.com.

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