Schlereth Shreds the NFL for Fining Hard Hits

Thank you, OOP, for saying this. I would have thought it was pretty self evident.

 

The NFL negotiates this with its players association. If the medical care post-career is not what it should be, not what it needs to be, the NFLPA deserves at least equal blame.
Throwing it ALL on the NFL as hypocrisy is ridiculous.
Does anyone even consider that the NFL would like to limit its post-career medical costs by not having so many guys roll limp away from the game with canes?

 

Equal? You forget that the PA is the party in the negotiation that asks for better coverage and the NFL is the party in the negotiation that says, "No, you can't have better coverage."

 

Worst part about the NFLPA is that it's going to get steamrolled in the upcoming negotiations. Gene Upshaw sold the players down the river, public opinion is going to fall, inexplicably, on the side of the owners, and the players will bow down under pressure from the public and the owners.

It's one thing no one can argue baseball has gotten right. Labor disputes or not, at least the players stand up for themselves.

 

Because it's going to be painted, by everyone from ESPN to the Podunk Press, as "spoiled rich millionaire players want more money." And that's how the public is going to look at it.

Fans, and most of the media, will view this as players versus fans, not as workers versus owners. Like it or not, NFL players deserve what they make and more. They deserve better benefits while they're playing, more guaranteed money, and a league that helps them after they're done playing. NFL players, through some fault of their own (and Gene Upshaw), have the worst deal of any of the three major sports (maybe of the four, but I don't know anything about hockey). They have shorter shelf-lives than NBA or MLB players, their bodies take more abuse, and they do it for less guaranteed money and a smaller pension.

They deserve better than that. Without the players, there is no NFL. There are no 60,000 seat mega-stadiums (taxpayer-financed, in many instances). There are no deals with three major networks to televise every game the league plays. There aren't millions of dollars in revenue from jersey and merchandise sales, millions in income from the NFL Draft, NFL Films, NFL this and NFL that. The players are responsible for that, and they damn well better not forget it when it comes time to negotiate.

I'm not saying all of the players are victims, and I'm not saying all the owners are greedy bastards. But the players need to take a cue from the MLBPA and fight for what they deserve.

 

What they are going to do is decertify the union. I'm not sure if they have tried that tactic before, but the players on half of the teams in the league have already voted for decertification.

 

That was the impetus for one of the last CBAs, the threat of decertification because that negates the owner's ability to declare an impasse and unilaterally impose new working conditions.

 

I agree with a lot of that, but I do think it is fair to call the NFL owners greedy bastards. They are already making tremendous amounts of money and now they are grabbing for a larger percentage of league revenues because they can. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

 

The charge of hypocrisy is lazy and wrong, and can be leveled against any person or organization that tries to improve. Growth happens gradually, and if you insist on solving all problems before you solve any you miss out on all meaningful chances for improvement. He should be thankful for the baby steps, and encouraging more of them.

 

I don't totally follow you on this, Junkie, and here's why:

In the TV world, some stations still have union protections as a baseline standard, yet the on-air talent can, and usually does, negotiate individual deals. And some people get better deals then others, depending on talent, marketing value, etc. And the value of a person like, lets say Patrick Willis, is going to be higher than 95% of his peers and 99.9% of the public at large at what he does as a middle linebacker. And the fans pay to see him play, and to see if Chris Johnson can evade him en route to a 99 yard TD, or if Tom Brady can hang in the pocket, take a hit from him, and still hit Wes Welker for a TD pass.

Fans love the teams, no doubt. But take the elite talent away--really take it away, not like the '87 scab situation--and the fans will dry up.

I'd say it's fair to say that, especially since the NFL was built up by the owners who provided the infastructure and the players who have performed over the decades, that the two are business partners in a collective barganing sense. (Not even business partners, mind you, but partners all the same.)

Besides, it's not like the owners won't still charge out the wazoo for tickets, concessions, luxury boxes, Direct TV NFL Ticket packages, etc. no matter how these negotiations go.

 

If they are still glorifying the big hits for the sake of making money, then it is hypocritical. If they are still going to let teams get away with shit like what the Eagles did allowing players to return to games with concussions, then it is hypocritical. Want to be a less brutal game? Great. Do it, already. Don't fuck around. Stop trying to put it all on the players and look at what the league and the teams have to do differently as well.