McNair Fallout

[Elliotte Friedman]

This deserves its own thread.

After that terrific ESPN piece on the recent owner/player meeting, where Bob McNair is quoted as saying, "We can't have inmates running the prison," the NFL and the Texans have another gong show.

Coach Bill O'Brien informed the players of the quote during a special team meeting, so they wouldn't be blindsided by it. Star WR DeAndre Hopkins walks out, doesn't participate in practice. Other players admit they considered it, too, and Richard Sherman claims the Texans wouldn't play if they had guaranteed contracts.

McNair apologizes, but it won't be good enough. He's under siege. You have to assume more protests this weekend.

I understand what McNair was trying to say -- inmates running the asylum -- but he picked a worse metaphor, and during charged times, it blew up in his face. It's ugly.

I'd love to know who leaked that detail. I wouldn't want to be the guy McNair and the NFL suspects.

 

[LongTimeListener]

Why wouldn't you want to be that guy? What if it was Boldin or Jenkins? Seems like they'd be fine with it. They know what the owners are about and are probably glad it's in front of the world.

The idea that in this culture of ownership there is no blackballing of Kaepernick, and instead this commitment to working together on these issues the players support, is a farce. I'd bet most of the players in that room are fine with the world seeing that.

 

[QYFW]

Ultimately, though, what is the endgame for the players? What do they want? They're not going to strike and the union won't win in negotiations of the CBA. Even if the players win in the court of public opinion and ratings and revenues suffer, that won't help their cause. The owners won't give up more if they're taking in less.

 

[LongTimeListener]

Ultimately, though, what is the endgame for the players? What do they want? They're not going to strike and the union won't win in negotiations of the CBA. Even if the players win in the court of public opinion and ratings and revenues suffer, that won't help their cause. The owners won't give up more if they're taking in less.

The CBA goes through 2020. All of the losses are on the owners until then. Players don't have to do **** on that front.

 

[Alma]

It's a horrible analogy. You can't say that. The level of sensitivity and sorrow over black men in prison - one of the very things the NFL wants to address! - is at an all-time high.

The revelation of the analogy, presuming it was a player who told ESPN - which I don't necessarily think is a slam dunk - could hurt future meetings. Now owners know - any slip-up, any inarticulate moment, is going to be leaked. What level of trust is there now? It's the job of ESPN - which did a great job on this story - to get those details, but, if you're an owner, and you're looking at this, you're thinking an offhand comment could turn this into a powder keg.

 

[QYFW]

The CBA goes through 2020. All of the losses are on the owners until then. Players don't have to do **** on that front.

OK, so what is the players', uh, play, until the owners recoup any losses in the 2020 deal?

What do they want? In the long run, they don't have the power to get whatever it is.

 

[amraeder]

It couldn't have been a player, because the quote came when players weren't there...

By late morning, Goodell finally moved the discussion to the protests. It was a "special privileged session," with only owners plus one adviser allowed. Snyder spoke first. He said that there were real business issues at stake, and he mentioned that in his market, the defense industry and other sponsors were angry about the protests. He didn't put any dollars on it. To many in the room, Snyder's speech felt like an opening act for the headlining band.

....
As Jones spoke, Snyder mumbled out loud, "See, Jones gets it -- 96 percent of Americans are for guys standing," a claim some dismissed as a grand overstatement. McNair, a multimillion-dollar Trump campaign contributor, spoke next, echoing many of the same business concerns. "We can't have the inmates running the prison," McNair said.

 

[LongTimeListener]

I put this on the Clay Travis thread since that's where we were talking about it, but I'm repeating it here. This is already and will continue to be a major part of the fallout.

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[LongTimeListener]

It couldn't have been a player, because the quote came when players weren't there...

I'd love to know who the 49ers' special adviser was. If it was Paraag Marathe, I'd bet a thousand dollars he's the leak. He and Jed York are the Chattiest Cathys in the league.

 

[bigpern23]

I missed the original reporting on this story and I'm too lazy to look it up: Did McNair say this during the meeting in front of everyone (players, Smith, Vincent and everyone)? Seems like the kind of thing you say offhandedly to another owner, not to the "inmates," as it were.

 

[QYFW]

The CBA goes through 2020. All of the losses are on the owners until then. Players don't have to do **** on that front.

They have to get paid.

 

[LongTimeListener]

OK, so what is the players', uh, play, until the owners recoup any losses in the 2020 deal?

What do they want? In the long run, they don't have the power to get whatever it is.

They want to raise awareness to the plight of black people in America, specifically in the way they are treated by police.

I don't know what your threshold for success is on that. But there does seem to be awareness on the issue.

I never understand the idea that things will get better if people just shut up about it already.

 

[QYFW]

I'd love to know who the 49ers' special adviser was. If it was Paraag Marathe, I'd bet a thousand dollars he's the leak. He and Jed York are the Chattiest Cathys in the league.

As if the 49ers weren't doing enough to damage the NFL.

 

[QYFW]

They want to raise awareness to the plight of black people in America, specifically in the way they are treated by police.

I don't know what your threshold for success is on that. But there does seem to be awareness on the issue.

I never understand the idea that things will get better if people just shut up about it already.

More power to 'em. But, again, is "awareness" the endgame? Seems like the goal should be a little more ambitious.

 

[bigpern23]

The NFL is in a very precarious position right now. The NFLPA has long been a weak union because players get an average of 3.5 years in the league and many fall short of that. None of them want to strike and lose out on a paycheck for other guys down the road. But Goodell and the owners are starting to push a lot of buttons that may just get players to decide it's time to work for the guys who come after them - CTE, excessive disciplinary actions (from the players' perspective), the anthem, "inmates," etc.

There are some deep fractures forming here and, given the flagging ratings, it's not going to be long before the players start to realize they may have more power in these negotiations than they've had in a long, long time.

 

[LongTimeListener]

What was the goal of Tommie Smith and John Carlos? They see themselves as part of the bigger fight in society.

The next time police pull a Philando Castile, where will the nation's eyes go? To the NFL. What if it's in Dallas and Dez and Dak take a knee? Now there's no avoiding it.

 

[bigpern23]

More power to 'em. But, again, is "awareness" the endgame? Seems like the goal should be a little more ambitious.

Every movement starts with a first step - or in this case, taking a knee.

 

[Alma]

They want to raise awareness to the plight of black people in America, specifically in the way they are treated by police.

I don't know what your threshold for success is on that. But there does seem to be awareness on the issue.

I never understand the idea that things will get better if people just shut up about it already.

Prison reform is possible and worthy and necessary.

The police thing...the police will just stop policing parts of the city with any effort. They'll sit back and let the crime rate rise and say their hands are tied. Abuse incidents may go down but the problem just shifts to something else

 

[SpeedTchr]

Again, kneeling doesn't do ****. Walk out, wave to the fans, then walk back into the locker room and refuse to play. THAT would be an effective protest.

 

[QYFW]

This nation's attention span won't suatain anything lasting.

Also, the latest actions are protesting Trump's existence. If all these players really wanted to bring about change, they wouldn't have waited until Week 2 this season to start caring. In that context, I can appreciate Kaepernick a lot more. At least he is sincere.