Should NFL Players "Strike" Over Pay??

[HaroldSeattle]

Interesting take. What I find more interesting is how so many people side with the owners. I remember people being furious with the "greedy players" when they were locked out. It would be like going to work and the owner putting chains and locks on all the doors and people calling you greedy for not going to work. Our country has this weird infatuation with the super wealthy. As I said previously Jerry Jones made over 4 billion in value alone and people think he should get even more and the players are greedy.
I also find it funny that only athletes get criticized for making a lot while other big money people don't.

I'm not taking sides, just giving a opinion on how a strike would go. Obviously the NFL has a more company friendly contract with the players then some sports, think this is why.

 

[chf]

That's why the deal was made with an expiration date on it. And, as I said before, the players agreed to that time limit. They have a chance to try to get more in a few years. They might also get less. It depends on where they finally end up meeting. But there's no arbitrary number that's "fair." There's only what the 2 sides can both agree to.

Lay down the wisdom of collective bargaining oh sage of generalizations.

 

[Rock Strongo]

It's amazing how often you people use the word "should."

what word would "you people" prefer?

 

[YankeeRebel]

what word would "you people" prefer?

Maybe we "Should" be more consider of his request?

 

[redseat]

Any other sport? They have a right to be "pissed" to compare their paychecks to that of the average hockey player? And you just arbitrarily decided that sports who make vastly different amounts of money & have more or fewer players... should all pay people the exact same amount?

I'm seriously baffled at the kind of things people say sometimes.

Get off your high horse... Seriously

 

[redseat]

They only play one game per week.

Where did I say they played more than one? Yes, it's one game... But the risk of injury is far greater than a lot of other sports.

why the fuck am I being jumped on here.. There is no reason for it... I said compared to other sports.. That's all I fucking said...

 

[wazzu31]

I don't think the players can win a stirke. What is it, 53 players on a roster? Many who are on the bubble to make a roster and even if they do maybe not for long. Are practice squad players part of the union? I would think they are. To many players can't afford to lose the opportunity they got at the moment, they don't want to lose that to working bagging groceries. Mostly any increase of the slice of the pie for the players would go to the elite anyway. In the meantime the owners got gobs of money and they'll have a plan in place in case of a strike. It's really a lop sided battle.

I think they'd easily "win a strike" just as the NFL caved to the refs eventually. I for one believe they should but I don't think guys like Sherman have the balls to do it.

 

[Oldschool739]

Service people do provide a more important commodity but it doesn't generate any money. The NFL players generate billions. Jerry Jones paid 190 million for the Cowboys and has made 4 billion in value alone. That doesn't include his yearly revenue. I'm one of those guys that believe in paying the people who do the work. Tell me an athlete who has made a shit ton more than 4 billion dollars like Jerry and then explain why you think Jerry deserves even more?

You are clearly personalizing it to the owners and specifically Jerry Jones....He is a brilliant business mind as compared to athletes that many can't half speak a complete sentence and don't have enough sense to hire a driver when they want to get looped....Not to mention carrying guns in public places, shooting themselves, killing dogs, beating up women etc etc....When is the last time you heard of Jerry doing any of those stupid things ????
Other than Irsay, they are the brains behind the fortune and without them and their money coming in, there is no league or opportunity for these players to be millionaires over night.....
And as far as our soldiers, they are the foundation of the fortunes this country has because of their service to protect our freedom and investments from other countries...In short, without them, this is not the land of opportunity but could be a third world country....They generate it all my friend, don't sell them short !!!

 

[ATL96Steeler]

I think they'd easily "win a strike" just as the NFL caved to the refs eventually. I for one believe they should but I don't think guys like Sherman have the balls to do it.

I think any labor would win negotiation if their their requests were reasonable and they SUSTAINED a strike.

But, the rich NFL players are not going to subsidize those that are not rich long enough for a strike to work.

That said, I think the players have a reasonable split of the revenue. How they divide that up among the 1696 is another topic I guess.

But if the top NFL players are looking at the salaries paid in other leagues, how can they solve the real problems the players have.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

You are clearly personalizing it to the owners and specifically Jerry Jones....He is a brilliant business mind as compared to athletes that many can't half speak a complete sentence and don't have enough sense to hire a driver when they want to get looped....Not to mention carrying guns in public places, shooting themselves, killing dogs, beating up women etc etc....When is the last time you heard of Jerry doing any of those stupid things ????
Other than Irsay, they are the brains behind the fortune and without them and their money coming in, there is no league or opportunity for these players to be millionaires over night.....
And as far as our soldiers, they are the foundation of the fortunes this country has because of their service to protect our freedom and investments from other countries...In short, without them, this is not the land of opportunity but could be a third world country....They generate it all my friend, don't sell them short !!!

Owners do dumb shit as well OS...just not as dumb and not as often in the public.

At the end of the day for the owners, they need the best talent on the field. (We've seen it w/o the best and people are not in large numbers going to plop down $250 a seat to watch that). IMO the players are compensated fairly now. They need to work on other issues in negotiation.

 

[wazzu31]

I think any labor would win negotiation if their their requests were reasonable and they SUSTAINED a strike.

But, the rich NFL players are not going to subsidize those that are not rich long enough for a strike to work.

That said, I think the players have a reasonable split of the revenue. How they divide that up among the 1696 is another topic I guess.

But if the top NFL players are looking at the salaries paid in other leagues, how can they solve the real problems the players have.

That's the problem they'll have and why I say Sherman doesn't have the balls to strike. The rich players could easily start a strike fund to subsidize all the players who would normally cross the line.

I think players have some legitimate complaints besides just revenue sharing.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

That's the problem they'll have and why I say Sherman doesn't have the balls to strike. The rich players could easily start a strike fund to subsidize all the players who would normally cross the line.

I think players have some legitimate complaints besides just revenue sharing.

Agreed....there is clearly wider divide in the have and have nots in the NFL.


Curious...where do you think the players need to be angling this next CBA? We know minimizing Goodell's power already is one.

 

[Fish]

I'm not sure of the last time the nfl had a strike, but the last one I remember the Cardinals football team was still in St. Louis.
I also remember the nfl players being assisted in picketing Busch stadium by the teamsters. I thought that was hilarious. then a teamster pushed a woman who was going into the stadium to watch a game. I didn't pay attention to the nfl for a long time after that it pissed me off so bad.

 

[NinerSickness]

Lay down the wisdom of collective bargaining oh sage of generalizations.

That doesn't even make sense.

 

[NinerSickness]

Get off your high horse... Seriously

Get off your grievance-mongering rickshaw.

 

[wazzu31]

Agreed....there is clearly wider divide in the have and have nots in the NFL.


Curious...where do you think the players need to be angling this next CBA? We know minimizing Goodell's power already is one.

Minimizing his or the league offices power to just make rules up as they go is a big one, another to me that is just silly is that players can do advertise for certain companies or items. Lifetime health insurance is another for current and former players. The bigger salaries is a good talking point but they'll delusional if they ever think players as a whole will make baseball or basketball money.

My main issue, is the NFLPA isn't even a real union IMO and their CBA showed that. They took a less of a cut of the profits and the only thing they really got what less and softer practices and a rookie wage scale that has backfired in a way on them.

 

[ArlingtonCowboys100]

Richard Sherman fired a salvo across the bow of the NFL owners yesterday stating that Players in the NFL should strike for a better pay system. A pay system equal to what the better players in the NBA and MLB get in comparison to what the NFL players get.

It's sort of like comparing apples to bananas and apples to cucumbers.

The critical item is that NBA and MLB contracts are guaranteed. The reasons are that most players will play out their contracts. That's not always possible in the NFL.

NBA and NFL contracts are generally much longer and the money is generally evenly spread over that contract.

Generally the stars in all sports are the guys who get the money. The problem in the NFL is that every position has a different value. In basketball, you have 5 position and point guard might be more valuable to one team than a power forward or a center. On a different team, the center may be more critical. Overall, every position is a position of value. In baseball, every position is pretty much equal. A power hitting 1B who can steal bases and hit home runs is pretty much equal to a closer or a starter.

Then you have the number of games played. Regular season in the NFL is 16 games including the Bye. Basketball and baseball have 80-82 game seasons. Football is much more violent. Injuries often cut short a player's career in the NFL and more often than not, end a career. Basketball and baseball have their injuries also, but most players can return during the season, if not the following season.

As with any professional sport, you have the stars and the rest. If your not a star and are at the bottom of the payscale, do you strike for those stars to get a bigger payday, while yours might get a bit bigger, but most likely won't be significantly changed.

Sherman like others in the NFL are seeing the incredible contracts for the NBA free agents and are thinking that they'd like to get a 5 year $210M contract.

The NFL CBA is up in 2020. Think the NFL owners are going to change things drastically?? Think any of them will be willing to hand out a Curry contract to an offensive tackle or a defensive end? The only way I can see anything getting done is if the union and owners agree to pay substantial bonuses to every player who plays all 16 games, with no shenanigans like leaving a guy off the 46 man roster in week 16 who's played 15 previous games. Then....what's the bonus? Half a player's contract? What about a guy who comes off the practice squad in week 2 and plays the rest of the season??

I think the owners are just going to say......"You don't like the pay system in the NFL, then play basketball."

Any ideas??

The top stars of the NFL get paid enough

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Minimizing his or the league offices power to just make rules up as they go is a big one, another to me that is just silly is that players can do advertise for certain companies or items. Lifetime health insurance is another for current and former players. The bigger salaries is a good talking point but they'll delusional if they ever think players as a whole will make baseball or basketball money.

My main issue, is the NFLPA isn't even a real union IMO and their CBA showed that. They took a less of a cut of the profits and the only thing they really got what less and softer practices and a rookie wage scale that has backfired in a way on them.

Commissioner powers...I think the players need a disciplinary system that's uniform across the board with little to no gray area. You do this, that happens to you...Not some arbitrary decision based on how the commissioner feels on that given day. If you go that route you don't need a committee with representatives from the players side, the owners side, etc....hammer it out now. If there is situation that somehow falls through the cracks, you have one person from the NFLPA, one from the league, and one independent person that is arbitrary and gets paid 50% by the league and 50% by the NFLPA.

53 eligible & dump the PS...Overall rosters do not have enough depth. Sure, not every player drafted is ready to play, but with no real developmental league, the practice squad is all they have and other teams have access to those players...do away with practice squad and make all 53 players eligible every week.

Max reg season game at 16...the owners have said for sometime they would like to see 18 games. The players need to hold the line at 16. It's already a war of attrition with 16 games, that will only get worse with 18 games. Player career average is less than 3 yrs now, it's not worth the physical wear and tear.

Guaranteed contracts...all players making under $1 mil per season. If you get hurt in yr 1 and it's career ending, at least 50% of your total contract should be guaranteed. Yr 2, 75%, Yr 3+, 100%. Once guys are on their 2nd contract, the same should apply if they are under a million per season. Most of the players making a million+ per season all have signing bonuses but I still think there should be a minimum gauranteed there. On the flip if a team is carrying the salary of a player with a career ending injury it should not count against the cap.

I had a conversation once with a former NFL player for the Falcons and he said, yeah there are some high profile players that blow through their money, but the biggest reason 70% of all NFL player end up broke are rank and file players...they don't make near enough money for the lifestyle that pro athletes want to live. He said it's extremely difficult to tell a young man that's worked all his life to reach the NFL and now makes $700k a yr that he really should be living the lifestyle of a person that makes about $55-60k a yr. After agent, after taxes, $700k gets whittled down a lot faster than one might think....then 3 yrs later you're no longer making NFL money even if he didn't squander it, if you have a $2,000-$3,000 mortgage, 2 or 3 car payments, insurance etc...within 7 yrs, they're broke.

Granted that's a tangent and it's still on the player to manage what they make, but there's such a disparity that it's not even funny.

Kelvin Beachum was like a 7th rd pick for the Steelers...the guy wound up beating out a 2nd rd pick for the starting LT job in his 2nd yr...he's making like $400k a season ($25k a gm) lining up next to players like Pouncey who was making like $8-9 mil per ($500k a gm!!!)...kept his mouth shut, played out his rookie did and blows out his knee in this 4th season....fortunately Kelvin got his leg right and got another deal with the Jags as a FA, but a lot of guys don't get yr 2, much less that 2nd contract.

Anyway...sorry about my rant, but Richard Sherman is doing quite fine.

 

[YankeeRebel]

If Roger say's you are guilty that is it, end of story, the league has the money to pay off judges so what ever Roger wants, Roger gets.

 

[chf]

That doesn't even make sense.

I'm glad you put a lot of thought into figuring it out.