No, single-season records don't require a 17-game asterisk

Browns defensive end Myles Garrett is the NFL's new single-season sack king, with 23.0 quarterback takedowns.

And, yes, he did it in 17 games. So what?

It's the NFL that sets the length of a season. Before 1961, it was 12. In 1978, it moved from 14 to 16. In 2021, it expanded to 17.

Inevitably, it will go to 18. And then, quite possibly, to 19. Maybe, in time, 20.

Whatever the duration of the season, that's the number of games in a single season. And so every single-season record will be based on the - wait for it - length of the season.

On Sunday, Michael Strahan joked (without appreciation of the irony) that he holds the record for a 16-game season. And he does. But Garrett now holds the single-season record.

Why blame the players for the length of a season? Why apply an asterisk? The longer the season, the more susceptible the existing single-season records will be to be broken.

Obviously, the NFL isn't thinking about that. More inventory means more money. And, in turn, more physical stress on the men who play the game.

So if a player can make it through 14 or 16 or 17 or 18 or 19 or 20 games and accumulate more yards or touchdowns or catches or sacks or whatever, so be it. Again, the league determines the number of games. And the players determine what happens within the number of games that are played.