I think my math is correct. As I sit here on June 24, 2024, the Pittsburgh Steelers are Mean Joe Greene’s No. 75 days away from the kickoff of their Week 1 game vs. the Atlanta Falcons on September 8!

Perhaps I’m off by a day or two. Plus, Mean Joe’s No. 75 was officially retired by the Steelers some time ago, so I’m not even sure I’m allowed to issue it for this article.

Having said that, 75 days is still a long time, isn’t it? But it’s not as long as being Aaron Donald’s No. 99 days away from the start of 2024 regular season. I went with Donald’s No. 99 because, for one thing, he’s a First-Ballot Hall of Famer. Secondly, Mark Gastineau used steroids. He also danced too much after sacks, and I miss the days when guys just handed the football to the refs after taking the quarterback to the turf. And, third, Brett Keisel just isn’t a big enough brand-name, nation-wide.

Anyway, I hate telling people what to do, but can we stop going on Twitter and counting down the days until the start of the NFL’s new season? I mean, we do this every year, starting with the Donalds, Jason Taylors and Zach Allens (current) of the world.

It’s bad enough the NFL never goes away in the offseason. Do we have to start yearning for its return Kendrell Bell’s No. 99 (when he was with the Chiefs) days before Week 1? June 1 is almost literally the halfway point between the last play of the Super Bowl and the first snap of the yearly kickoff thingy between the defending champion and that other team.

OK, maybe it’s not. Perhaps that’s only Calvin Sweeney’s No. 85 days after the Super Bowl, but like I said, there’s still a long way to go if you begin your countdown at Jerome Brown’s No. 99.

You know how long the NHL’s offseason is? It’s like Wayne Gretzky’s No. 99 plus a week or two.

That’s not a long time, and yet, the NFL starts anticipating its new season over three months before it starts? That’s crazy.

Ninety-nine days might be a cool thing to celebrate if it involves sobriety or when you’ll finally get to hug your future wife who you met on Bumble and have been subsidizing until she can pay for her mother’s operation and come visit you.

The NFL season will be here before we know it, so let’s forget about it for a bit until it’s perhaps Rod Woodson’s No. 26 days away (the one he wore as a member of the Raiders).