Bouchette Dazzles with Football Knowledge

Yesterday on the Steelers Q&A with Ed Bouchette post, Bouchette explained the reasoning behind the 53-man roster (why 53?).

Bouchette explained that it's "arbitrary" and that 53 was just a compromise between the players union and management agreed on since the union wanted more and management wanted less.

He goes on to say that the limit used to be 45 or 47 in the 1980's and that players placed on injured reserve didn't count against the roster (and could return in 6 weeks), so you'd have teams making up injuries to keep players without the risk of another team claiming them.

The league finally put a stop to this by expanding the roster and limiting the number of players who could dress to 45 and gave all teams an even playing field, so to speak.

To read the actual post, visit the PPG.