Onto the NFL

[norb]

I side with the players. Because of a simple reason, there are no guaranteed contracts. Every calls a player greedy when they ask for more money. They say you signed a contract, live up to it. But teams can cut players any time they want. So really only the player is required to honor the contract, not the team. Teams also ask players to reduce their contracts when they need salary cap room. Usually this doesn't cause the uproar the same as a player asking for more money.

An NFL player has 2-3 years usually, 5-6 if he's lucky, more if he's really lucky. We only hear about the ones that make it. There are over 17k college football players, of that only 200-300 get a shot at the pros and even fewer make it. The ones that do are almost always injured. They give their bodies for the few years of play for our enjoyment. The owners have no risk, they just keep raking in the cash, the NFL makes billions. The majority of the money should go to the ones getting their bodies destroyed on the field.

Now I'm not saying their aren't very greedy players out there, there are many. Guys that want a new contract after a year of play. Also, with guaranteed money up front, they are reducing the risk of getting cut. But that's just the super stars. There are a lot of guys that just play a few years and get beat up. Get cut with no guaranteed money. Don't make it through a camp one year.

I look at Desean Jackson, from the Eagles He's been playing on his rookie contract. He got injured. One bad injury and he's out. No contract, gone. He's risking his future every time he stepped on the field. Without some guaranteed money, a new contract, I was surprised he didn't hold out this past year. But the Eagles promised to make him a rich man after this past season. Great promise, but what if he had gotten injured and didn't make any team?

It's just my opinion, and there are certainly situations where players are fools and greedy. But in the whole I have to side with the guys risking their bodies and their livelihood every week. The 18 game season proposal is just crazy, to me it just shows that the NFL just thinks of the player's as tools.

[JC Edwards]

Of course the owner's look at the player's as just tools. They're like cattle. The only risk the owner's take are their waste-lines out growing their Armani Suits!

......and let's not forget the multi-million dollar homes of the owners with the lush green lawns, the blond bimbo laying by the pool ....oh....AND.....the big, fat Cuban Stogies! :cheer:

[NY Cavalry]

The other guy is the one that is always greedy, never us. That fact is, we are all greedy.





If anyone (a NFL team owner or any guy down the street) earns his money legally he should be able to enjoy the fruits of his labors. He worked for it let him alone and let him do as he pleases. This class warfare ideology has got to stop. Who is rich compared to who? Maybe some guy in SE Asia who makes 3 cents a day thinks I am a "fat cat" because I own a car, a house, and a computer.

Wealth is not a pie where we all try to get our slice. Wealth is created by work. The more work you do the more wealth you can accumulate. This is true for nations and individuals. China is accumulating wealth by work. Americans are losing their jobs and losing the opportunities to create wealth. By working more, is that robbing someone else? Work and opportunities build on themselves. It is usually the case that governments meddle with free market principles and therefore put hindrances on their economy. This makes things more expensive and constricts opportunities. The people suffer.

[2nd Kentucky]

Many thanks for that post NY Cavalry.

[norb]

Well now they are locked out, as most thought they would be. So how delayed will the start of the season be? Football's got crazy ratings in the US the past few years and they keep growing, probably why there is so much money on the table to argue about. The new class of draftees has got to be nervous, they've got a small window to play and this is not a good start. I wish that everyone would take a pay cut so that tickets were more affordable, but I guess that since people are willing to pay, there's no reason for them to drop the price.

[NY Cavalry]

You would think that it was in everyone's best interests to work things out. Do they know what the baseball strike did to the fan base?

[norb]

From what I've read, the teams want another billion off the top to pay for costs. They currently get 1B off the top, so they want 2B. The players have said, ok, but you have to show us all the books, each team's. The teams are not willing to do that. They'll show some, but not all. So they are stuck. I think the player's get 60%, after the costs are taken off the top. (Revenue - Costs)*.6 = player's cut.

They are stuck here and it doesn't look like there is a resolution in site. The player's will end up with the worse of it, as most of them do not plan for the future and just spend all their money as they get it. I don't really consider those guys, they have more money than they know what to do with. But there are a lot of guys working for the minimum and those guys are going to have it very tough. The scab season was a joke, so I don't think that they'll do that again.

I'm sure that you can get some fair priced NFL player appearances now if you want

[Flanyboy]

On the plus side if there is no NFL next year my Green Bay Packers will remain Super Bowl Champs...

Also interesting is that my team happens to be the one team in the NFL that makes its books public every year because it's owned by the people. my neighbor has stocks int he Packers and goes to the shareholder meeting every year. It's really weird to imagine a football stadium shareholder meeting where an entire football stadium is full of 80k people who all own a part of the team and no one is allowed to own a commanding share.

Interestingly there was a rule put in place in the 70s or something like that which forbids any teams from becoming non for profit, the Packers are the one exception, its known as the Green Bay Packers rule.

[norb]

I really like that. I would love to own a piece of the Eagles.

If all the books were open, there wouldn't be any issues right now. But the teams want to keep certain things from the Union, but get another 1 billion because they are crying poor. Even after reading what's available, including quotes from both sides, I still gotta side with the players. If the owners want more money, they have to show that they need it.

[privatewilley]

I agree that the owners should open up the books. But... When a running back who makes 10 million bucks a year likens the NFL to modern slavery, it's hard for me to sympathize. His comments can't be helpful to their cause.