THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: The real reasons for preseason football

Let’s hope that Mike Macdonald was kidding. 

Or spoofing. 

Something like that. 

Unless somebody split open my marble bag and those precious cat’s-eyes went spilling on the street, I’m pretty sure I heard Macdonald say that, unlike a lot of NFL coaches, he intended to play his starters for long stretches in exhibition games. 

“I know other coaches might disagree,” coach Mac said last week prior to the Seahawks’ preseason dance with the Los Angeles Chargers, “but I think the reward of having your starters get plenty of repetitions as regular units is more important than the risk of injuries.” 

Note: I’m pretty sure Macdonald went a tad out of his way in referring to “other coaches” because every Hawks fan recalls Pete Carroll sending his starters to a beach somewhere — while plenty of the exhibition game-timers were preparing for careers at Walmart. 

If we took Macdonald at face value, he and Pete couldn’t possibly be more different in their theories about whether or not to expose starters to live fire in preseason. 

Of course, what you ALWAYS need to remember is that it’s silly to take coaches at face value. 

Even in casual chatting, these gentlemen will tell you the honest-to-goodness truth about as often as the CIA. 

NOW, I’M sure Macdonald and his staff consider a sprinkling of starters — and players battling for back-up jobs — as using the No. 1 unit in an exhibition game. 

Fair enough. 

They’re entitled to play anyone they choose in the run-up to real football, which begins Sept. 8 against Denver. 

I’m just making the point that ticket-holders in L.A., and Hawks junkies back hone who set aside television tine, were never going to see a proper NFL game. 

Coaches just can’t get the possibility of disaster out of their heads — you know, losing those three starters to fluke injuries. 

They probably lose serious sleep over it. 

Mike Macdonald wasn’t even born when Joe Namath blew out his knee in an exhibition game — making a tackle after an interception. 

But I’m guessing there’s a fair chance that Mac has watched some sort of old video, and seen Broadway Joe being carted off the field after that meaningless pick. 

Or at the very least, he’s heard coaches tell horror stories about it. 

Any coach with a whistle around the neck would tell you that interception was NOT meaningless — since the Jets’ season was ruined in a couple of seconds on that play. 

Hell, most coaches couldn’t justify Namath’s tackle — which came at the Jets 1-yard line — if it happened in a regular season game. 

Why risk your Hall of Fame quarterback? 

In a preseason game? 

Insanity. 

Let me do some math here … Macdonald is 37 … Namath’s tackle was in 1971 … so Mac was 16 years from being born during the play that EVERY coach remembers. 

Sure, the Namath play is taking things to the extreme. 

It’s like Patrick Mahomes breaking his arm during the coin toss. 

Still. 

Why was Namath, who won the most stunning Super Bowl of all just two years earlier, even in uniform? 

EVEN IF you ignore the bizarre, the near-impossible and so forth, there really isn’t an argument for putting superstars in position to get torn apart. 

Let’s take it a step further. 

Why in the world — except to further line the pockets of billionaires — is there any need for THREE preseason games? 

I’m willing to bet that most coaching staffs know their full 53-man rosters, within two or three close calls, before there are any exhibition games. 

That’s especially true when you add in 17 more players on the practice squad. 

Let me quote my favorite reporter on Seahawks matters, Kenneth Arthur (aka Seaside Joe). 

“I know how good it feels that Seahawks football games are back, but these aren’t even dress rehearsals.  

“A dress rehearsal would mean that all the actors are there, not their understudies. 

“These games are not rehearsals for the starters, they’re organized tryouts for (a few) players and practice runs for the broadcast teams, the referees, the people we rarely talk about.” 

Seaside Joe has it nailed.

Yes, exhibitions (and further practices) might decide whether the Hawks keep nine offensive linemen or 10 — but it’s really important that referees and people involved in getting games played properly are up to speed for the real thing. 

Everyone needs to know where on Earth to line up for these new kickoffs. 

More or less. 

Email: scameron@cdapress.com 

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press four times each week, normally Tuesday through Friday unless, you know, stuff happens. 

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”