This is whats wrong with the NFL

[jocstrap 8]

Through eight games Heyward-Bey has five catches for 74 yards. At this rate he'll finish the fifth and final season of his contract with 50 career catches, 11 fewer than the Giants' Steve Smith has so far this season. Smith is making $460,000 this year and slated to make $550,000 next year. Heyward-Bey is guaranteed $23.5M from the Raiders.

 

 

 

We won't even talk about the quarterbacks

 

 

How is this league going to work out long term at this pace/rate?

[Cruzer 1,992]

As long as fans keep forking out $100 plus for tickets, merchandise, $8 beers, and the networks keep paying gazillion of dollars for television rights - it will never end.

[KSB2424 3,083]

This is not just the NFL. It's all major sports.

 

They do need a rookie salary structure sorta like the NBA if you ask me though.

[deefree93 0]

Actually the current collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is set to expire next year. The rookie pay scale will likely be a huge discussion point as the new one is hopefully agreed upon.

 

Bigger issues like an uncapped year, abandoning of revenue sharing, and even a potential lockout even lurk...

[FeelingMN 273]

I don't understand why the NFL doesn't adopt an NBA approach to rookie salaries. This sh!t is ridiculous. And even though it works against the majority of players, I don't think the NFLPA is all that much opposed to the current system...if they were, this would have been changed long ago. There's no way in hell the owners want to keep this up.

 

Dumb.

[Patriotsfatboy1 1,432]

I think that the issue is not just the spending on unproven rookies. That will most assuredly be addressed by a rookie salary slotting system. The owners have already put that out to the NFLPA.

 

The issue is that you have a nutjob running the Raiders who has no clue what he is doing anymore. He over-reached on Heyward-Bey and then on Mitchell. He overpays veterans too (Javon Walker, Tommy Kelly, DeAngelo Hall, etc.). You can't compare inequities between teams that have a brain and those who don't.

[nflocd 0]

The funny thing is that if a player outperforms his original contract, he'll sit out, demand a trade, or just make a big stink until his contract is re-worked. If he underperforms like Heyward-Bey, you don't see the GMs threatening to not pay them, not come in, etc. It's a good setup for the players.

[Joey Gladstone 33]

Certain teams need their owners replaced. It's as simple as that

[RoadLizard 73]

This is not just the NFL. It's all major sports.

 

They do need a rookie salary structure sorta like the NBA if you ask me though.

 

I do like the NBA rookie deals and the fact that there are NO holdouts or any of that. However, the contracts are gauranteed which means teams are on the hook for every nickel of every deal no matter what. Grant Hill is a good example of why thats bad.... he was paid gazillions of dollars and played only like 350 out of a possible 800 games or some crazy crap like that. Terrible....and it KILLS the teams finances.

 

Whoever said it is right though - as long as the idiots keep paying up they'll keep putting the product out. Honestly, the product itself needs a lot of work too. There are too many teams and the talent pool is horribly thin. The games have WAY too many breaks and reviews and stoppages. Its getting as bad as baseball which I didnt think was possible. Its the focking HUGE TV deals...we all pay for it by sitting through 500 viagra and Ford Truck ads every damn game. Id rather pay a fee and just have the games keep rolling with limited breaks. Ugh!

[nobody 2,045]

The funny thing is that if a player outperforms his original contract, he'll sit out, demand a trade, or just make a big stink until his contract is re-worked. If he underperforms like Heyward-Bey, you don't see the GMs threatening to not pay them, not come in, etc. It's a good setup for the players.

 

 

They can just cut them.

[darwin 0]

The funny thing is that if a player outperforms his original contract, he'll sit out, demand a trade, or just make a big stink until his contract is re-worked. If he underperforms like Heyward-Bey, you don't see the GMs threatening to not pay them, not come in, etc. It's a good setup for the players.

 

The flipside of that coin is that the team can cut you at any time, they own your rights.

[McPhreak 0]

Through eight games Heyward-Bey has five catches for 74 yards. At this rate he'll finish the fifth and final season of his contract with 50 career catches, 11 fewer than the Giants' Steve Smith has so far this season. Smith is making $460,000 this year and slated to make $550,000 next year. Heyward-Bey is guaranteed $23.5M from the Raiders.

 

 

This is a pretty worthless and stupid stat. So we're supposed to just project a rookie WR's stats from his first 8 games through 5 years and value him based on that? If that's the case, then Reggie Wayne should have finished his fifth season with 110 career catches instead of 304.

 

I'm not trying to argue for the current rookie payscale, I just think there are more effective ways to argue against it.

[RamslovaMartzhata 3]

Ya... but a lot of that is stupidity on the part of the Raiders.

 

This will sounds funny because it is funny, but anyone remember how contracts were done in the XFL? I thought that had a great concept going. A lot of it was incentive based. I wish that's how all sports worked to be honest.

[nobody 2,045]

If they wanted to see the best sports possible, every player would start out with the same base salary and you would get incentive bonuses for wins and yards and sacks and tackles.

 

I heard a story about Eric Dampier the other day that one year in the last game of the season he needed 8 blocks to reach some incentve clause in his contract and he never had more than 3 blocks in any game all season. Then he goes out and gets 8 blocks in the first quarter.

[PsychoBelichickFan 0]

pay guys based on performance. no big rookie contracts and if a guy does poorly he makes less.

[Patriotsfatboy1 1,432]

pay guys based on performance. no big rookie contracts and if a guy does poorly he makes less.

I am sure that the NFLPA is going to jump at that one. Incentive-laden contracts won't work, especially in football. Too many injuries.

 

It only takes a little tweak by putting in a rookie slotting scenario. Free up some dough for the veterans. You will still have, however, dummy owners who overpay on the vets. Caveat emptor.

[PsychoBelichickFan 0]

I am sure that the NFLPA is going to jump at that one. Incentive-laden contracts won't work, especially in football. Too many injuries.

 

It only takes a little tweak by putting in a rookie slotting scenario. Free up some dough for the veterans. You will still have, however, dummy owners who overpay on the vets. Caveat emptor.

well a rookie slotting thing wont happen either since most around 60% of nfl players only get one contract before they are out of the league. the NFLPA isnt gonna go against the majority of it's players and limit them to less money for what is gonna be a one shot deal for most of them. People get paid for performance in life, the NFL should follow suite. Rookie scrubs are getting paid for what they did for their college instead of what they can and are doing for their NFL team.

[Patriotsfatboy1 1,432]

well a rookie slotting thing wont happen either since most around 60% of nfl players only get one contract before they are out of the league. the NFLPA isnt gonna go against the majority of it's players and limit them to less money for what is gonna be a one shot deal for most of them. People get paid for performance in life, the NFL should follow suite. Rookie scrubs are getting paid for what they did for their college instead of what they can and are doing for their NFL team.

Want to bet?

 

The players want a slotting system too. The players who vote on the CBA are already in the league and they won't be negatively impacted by it. The NFLPA has said that they don't want a rookie cap, purely as posturing. The players will give on the rookie cap in return for something that they really want. It is all part of negotiation. If you honestly think that the current players give a flying fock about what the rookies coming up are going to get paid, then you are sadly mistaken. Just look at how they have abandoned the retired players for Exhibit A.

 

Most people in real life don't get paid for performance. Does the guy at McDonald's get paid by the burger? Does the accountant get paid by the piece of paper? There are incentives and there are guaranteed amounts in most people's compensation. Contracts in the NFL are pretty similar.

[darwin 0]

pay guys based on performance. no big rookie contracts and if a guy does poorly he makes less.

 

 

It's a team sport, though. What incentive would the fullback or WR have to block for their teamate and risk injury (and hence no more pay)? Good teams win as a team. Bad teams lose as individuals.

[Foghorn Leghorn 0]

I think that the issue is not just the spending on unproven rookies. That will most assuredly be addressed by a rookie salary slotting system. The owners have already put that out to the NFLPA.

 

The issue is that you have a nutjob running the Raiders who has no clue what he is doing anymore. He over-reached on Heyward-Bey and then on Mitchell. He overpays veterans too (Javon Walker, Tommy Kelly, DeAngelo Hall, etc.). You can't compare inequities between teams that have a brain and those who don't.

 

Welcome to the wonderful world of J.P. Ricciardi - home of Vernon Wells.

[PsychoBelichickFan 0]

It's a team sport, though. What incentive would the fullback or WR have to block for their teamate and risk injury (and hence no more pay)? Good teams win as a team. Bad teams lose as individuals.

 

if you dont want to block, go work in the real world for 30 k a year. i think making 300k blocking for a rb is plenty incentive.

[JT 137]

Most people in real life don't get paid for performance. Does the guy at McDonald's get paid by the burger? Does the accountant get paid by the piece of paper? There are incentives and there are guaranteed amounts in most people's compensation. Contracts in the NFL are pretty similar.

 

Beautiful.

 

I'm always amazed at the people, most of whom have lived their adult lives with salaries or guaranteed wages (even an hourly wage), that gripe about the money paid to NFL players. Their situation is the worst in professional sports (I admit I don't know anything about hockey's system).

 

Are you among the 500 best in the world at what you do? That's a start.

 

Is what you do engaging and entertaining enough to make people buy tickets to watch it? OK, getting closer.

 

Is your job/field of endeavor compelling enough that folks will shell out money for merchandise and satellite tv packages? How about time and effort to play fantasy games and support message boreds? Almost there.

 

Can your employer terminate you, at any time, for any reason (Too old, not performing at the record breaking pace you once did, You got drunk and mouthed off to a friend on Twitter, hit on some chick in a bar, made an ill advised statement in public, making more money due to seniority, etc)?

 

If you can say "Yes" to all the above...AND are in a field where the average career expectancy is 4-5 years...then you're in a position to legitmately gripe about the system employed in the NFL.

[RamslovaMartzhata 3]

Beautiful.

 

I'm always amazed at the people, most of whom have lived their adult lives with salaries or guaranteed wages (even an hourly wage), that gripe about the money paid to NFL players. Their situation is the worst in professional sports (I admit I don't know anything about hockey's system).

 

Are you among the 500 best in the world at what you do? That's a start.

 

Is what you do engaging and entertaining enough to make people buy tickets to watch it? OK, getting closer.

 

Is your job/field of endeavor compelling enough that folks will shell out money for merchandise and satellite tv packages? How about time and effort to play fantasy games and support message boreds? Almost there.

 

Can your employer terminate you, at any time, for any reason (Too old, not performing at the record breaking pace you once did, You got drunk and mouthed off to a friend on Twitter, hit on some chick in a bar, made an ill advised statement in public, making more money due to seniority, etc)?

 

If you can say "Yes" to all the above...AND are in a field where the average career expectancy is 4-5 years...then you're in a position to legitmately gripe about the system employed in the NFL.

 

First, ever heard of a commission based sales job? And how is my salary guaranteed? If I don't do my job, I get fired. Heyward Bay is NOT doing his job and taking home 23 million. Steve Smith is exceeding his job demands and doesn't get anything for it.

 

Anyhow... I am not saying that players shouldn't be guaranteed money. They most certainly should. I am saying that the differences that players make in salary should be more incentive driven on a year to year basis.

 

Something like:

 

All starting NFL QB's start off with a guaranteed base of 200K. If you are deemed #2 on the team depth chart, you get another 200K. You get 50K per game you start. If you start all 16, you get a 1 mil. Throw for 1000 yards you get, 50K. Throw for 2000, you get 100K. Throw for 3000, you get 500K. Throw for 4000, you get an extra 1 million. Bonuses for TD's, Wins, Pro-bowl selections... everything. Make it so the Qb who had the best NFL season that year gets paid the most money. Still played a lot of games and contributed... you will still get a lot of money through carious incentives. But if you didn't play and you ended up being a total bust, you don't get paid anything but the base. PLay for a few years and that base gets bumped up. Few more and you get another big bump.

 

I think you get the picture... I am not saying these should be exact numbers, but more of a general principle of what I am talking about.

 

And are you really talking about the NFL career expectancy? So what you are saying is that you want to make sure that the scrubs who work for 5 years should be set for life by normal people's standards? You think that the guys like Heyward Bay desrve that luxury? I am willing to bet that a good majority of money spent on NFL draft picks ends up being wasted money. I personally would rather see roookie signing bonuses and guaranteed money go down... and take that money from the pot and give it to the players who are getting it done.

 

Or are you talking about ensuring NFL veterans are taken care of? Because last time I checked... there is quite a sizable pension for NFL veterans that play in the league so many years. They deserve it.

[pronghorn3 0]

This is what I’ve always though, best at what they do and should get paid for it.

 

If you graduated top of your class at Harvard business, don't you think you would be highly sought after and paid accordingly.

 

That's not saying you would be the best at what you, but the potential is there. Same thing with highly drafted players.

 

Just like Harvard grads, about 50% are really worth what they're paid.

 

 

Beautiful.

 

I'm always amazed at the people, most of whom have lived their adult lives with salaries or guaranteed wages (even an hourly wage), that gripe about the money paid to NFL players. Their situation is the worst in professional sports (I admit I don't know anything about hockey's system).

 

Are you among the 500 best in the world at what you do? That's a start.

 

Is what you do engaging and entertaining enough to make people buy tickets to watch it? OK, getting closer.

 

Is your job/field of endeavor compelling enough that folks will shell out money for merchandise and satellite tv packages? How about time and effort to play fantasy games and support message boreds? Almost there.

 

Can your employer terminate you, at any time, for any reason (Too old, not performing at the record breaking pace you once did, You got drunk and mouthed off to a friend on Twitter, hit on some chick in a bar, made an ill advised statement in public, making more money due to seniority, etc)?

 

If you can say "Yes" to all the above...AND are in a field where the average career expectancy is 4-5 years...then you're in a position to legitmately gripe about the system employed in the NFL.

[jocstrap 8]

If they wanted to see the best sports possible, every player would start out with the same base salary and you would get incentive bonuses for wins and yards and sacks and tackles.

 

I heard a story about Eric Dampier the other day that one year in the last game of the season he needed 8 blocks to reach some incentve clause in his contract and he never had more than 3 blocks in any game all season. Then he goes out and gets 8 blocks in the first quarter.

 

 

Ha, amazing his name is brought up. In college, he told/asked my wife(girlfriend then) to stop going out with me and start going out with him. More than once. I was ranked higher in my sport in the ncaa than he was in his basketball in '94 - so I thought he was a smuck anyway at that time for asking her. Flash forward 15 years...I told her I don't want to ever hear you complain again. He was the half time show at one of the Mississippi State Football games a few weeks ago - - He just donated $500k to the university. I said honey, you gave up a 12" d!ck and tens of millions to be with me! Boy did she choke

 

ok, back to the topic at hand....

[9-Route 0]

Beautiful.

 

I'm always amazed at the people, most of whom have lived their adult lives with salaries or guaranteed wages (even an hourly wage), that gripe about the money paid to NFL players. Their situation is the worst in professional sports (I admit I don't know anything about hockey's system).

 

Are you among the 500 best in the world at what you do? That's a start.

 

Is what you do engaging and entertaining enough to make people buy tickets to watch it? OK, getting closer.

 

Is your job/field of endeavor compelling enough that folks will shell out money for merchandise and satellite tv packages? How about time and effort to play fantasy games and support message boreds? Almost there.

 

Can your employer terminate you, at any time, for any reason (Too old, not performing at the record breaking pace you once did, You got drunk and mouthed off to a friend on Twitter, hit on some chick in a bar, made an ill advised statement in public, making more money due to seniority, etc)?

 

If you can say "Yes" to all the above...AND are in a field where the average career expectancy is 4-5 years...then you're in a position to legitmately gripe about the system employed in the NFL.

 

for the counterpoint that it is,

[9-Route 0]

the other topic relating to this is:

 

with impending CBA issues and rookie slotting/salary changes, there is incentive for college players to jump to the draft now before such things hamper their paydays. will such a mass effect produce any lowering of the quality of players/talent available in the draft???

 

ie top tier guys probably are making the leap regardless; however, if u r a likely 3rd-5th rd quality player, getting taken there this yr still pays better than being selected there next yr[?]

 

[technically, it should not change the fact that more talented players will get drafted ahead of less talented players, probably just add some less talented players to the mix].

[nobody 2,045]

It's a team sport, though. What incentive would the fullback or WR have to block for their teamate and risk injury (and hence no more pay)? Good teams win as a team. Bad teams lose as individuals.

 

 

Tie it to rushing yards and overall offensive performance.

[jgcrawfish 232]

They can just cut them.

 

No, they can't. The current setup of most contracts makes them guaranteed money. If you cut the player, I believe it accelerates the cap hit to the current year and the next. For arguments sake, let's say Heyward-Bey has a 5 yr deal with $30 million guaranteed, and they cut him. The entire amount would be due this year and next year, or $15 million a year, instead of spread out over the length of the contract at $6 million per year. There aren't any teams that can handle that cap hit.

[nobody 2,045]

Yeah in the case of a very high draft pick, the financial devestation won't allow you to cut a guy, but those guys also never outperform their contracts since they are so good to begin with. How could they? I thought you were just talking about players in general.

[itsbigmoni 1]

well a rookie slotting thing wont happen either since most around 60% of nfl players only get one contract before they are out of the league. the NFLPA isnt gonna go against the majority of it's players and limit them to less money for what is gonna be a one shot deal for most of them. People get paid for performance in life, the NFL should follow suite. Rookie scrubs are getting paid for what they did for their college instead of what they can and are doing for their NFL team.

 

I'll take your word for it when you say 60% of players only get one contract before they are out of the league. It doesn't matter what that number is, becasue its irrelevant.

 

The issue is with the first 15 or so picks. Those are the ones that are out of control. A slotting system won't hurt a 4th rounder because they are already have a de facto slotting system. The amount they get is unlikely to change. Have you ever heard of a 4th round hold out? Those guys sign quick. The last late round hold out i can remember is Eric Crouch and that was because he wanted to be guaranteed a chance at QB or somethin like that. It wasn't over money.

 

Also, performance based bay wouldn't work. Well, its good to have some sort of performance pay included in a deal, but it can't be based on that. Players would want to run up the score. How do you satisfy a team with a RBBC. Take the cowboys for example. 3 excellent RB's. Imagine if they were based solely on performance. Tashard choice would have every reason to be pissed. Out of the 3, he's made the most out of his opportunities, yet he gets the fewest. Or lets say a player is hurt, why would they tell the coach? Every game missed is money gone.

 

LT in any given sunday anyone?

 

If they start with 10 mil guaranteed for the first pick, i'm sure they can slot it so there is a sufficient enough difference between the 1st pick and 30th pick.

[Chiefs04 0]

Id rather pay a fee and just have the games keep rolling with limited breaks. Ugh!

 

Direct TV. You can watch the games without timeouts, etc. They take about 20 minutes. Wait till the end of the day and you can watch about 9 games in the time it takes for one regular broadcast.

[Phurfur 70]

Through eight games Heyward-Bey has five catches for 74 yards. At this rate he'll finish the fifth and final season of his contract with 50 career catches, 11 fewer than the Giants' Steve Smith has so far this season. Smith is making $460,000 this year and slated to make $550,000 next year. Heyward-Bey is guaranteed $23.5M from the Raiders.

We won't even talk about the quarterbacks

How is this league going to work out long term at this pace/rate?

 

 

Steve Smith had 8 catches his first year????????????????

[JT 137]

First, ever heard of a commission based sales job? And how is my salary guaranteed? If I don't do my job, I get fired. Heyward Bay is NOT doing his job and taking home 23 million. Steve Smith is exceeding his job demands and doesn't get anything for it.

 

Anyhow... I am not saying that players shouldn't be guaranteed money. They most certainly should. I am saying that the differences that players make in salary should be more incentive driven on a year to year basis.

 

Something like:

 

All starting NFL QB's start off with a guaranteed base of 200K. If you are deemed #2 on the team depth chart, you get another 200K. You get 50K per game you start. If you start all 16, you get a 1 mil. Throw for 1000 yards you get, 50K. Throw for 2000, you get 100K. Throw for 3000, you get 500K. Throw for 4000, you get an extra 1 million. Bonuses for TD's, Wins, Pro-bowl selections... everything. Make it so the Qb who had the best NFL season that year gets paid the most money. Still played a lot of games and contributed... you will still get a lot of money through carious incentives. But if you didn't play and you ended up being a total bust, you don't get paid anything but the base. PLay for a few years and that base gets bumped up. Few more and you get another big bump.

 

I think you get the picture... I am not saying these should be exact numbers, but more of a general principle of what I am talking about.

 

And are you really talking about the NFL career expectancy? So what you are saying is that you want to make sure that the scrubs who work for 5 years should be set for life by normal people's standards? You think that the guys like Heyward Bay desrve that luxury? I am willing to bet that a good majority of money spent on NFL draft picks ends up being wasted money. I personally would rather see roookie signing bonuses and guaranteed money go down... and take that money from the pot and give it to the players who are getting it done.

 

Or are you talking about ensuring NFL veterans are taken care of? Because last time I checked... there is quite a sizable pension for NFL veterans that play in the league so many years. They deserve it.

 

 

I live on commission based sales, and have for decades. Like you, it's my choice. Yes, my employer can terminate me at any time. I also dictate my income, based on my performance and effort, as does anyone working on commission. I can also always opt to move to another field that offers more consistent wages, provided I have the skill level the employer is seeking.

 

I never said "all" people have guarantees. Perhaps attention to detail would broaden employment opportunities.

 

As for your "scrubs" reference. Those "scrubs" are still among the 500 best in the world at what they do. Whether you want to acknowledge facts or not, that "scrub" would be the strongest guy at your gym, or the fastest guy you've ever seen. He has a skill set the level of which you likely can't approach in your job.

 

 

Career expectancy? Let's say you train all your life to become a lawyer, with the caveat that you can only be a lawyer for 5 years. Plus, after thoise 5 years, your physical health will be compromised to the point where your life span is shortened by 10-15 years of the norm. Should there be a cap on your earnings during those 5 years?

 

It's funny how people that spend their entire life and NEVER reach a skill/performance level where they command top dollars think an athlete should be capable of doing it not once,, but twice.

 

It's as simple as supply and demand. They are the supply. You are the demand.

[Evil Genius 0]

Whoever said it is right though - as long as the idiots keep paying up they'll keep putting the product out. Honestly, the product itself needs a lot of work too. There are too many teams and the talent pool is horribly thin. The games have WAY too many breaks and reviews and stoppages. Its getting as bad as baseball which I didnt think was possible. Its the focking HUGE TV deals...we all pay for it by sitting through 500 viagra and Ford Truck ads every damn game. Id rather pay a fee and just have the games keep rolling with limited breaks. Ugh!

 

This is excellent analysis of what's wrong with the state of the game. So much hype and window dressing over a product that is truly waning in quality. The CBA expiring makes me cringe...it doesn't appear to me that it stands to improve, only falter further. Meaningful gains might come at the expense of a lock-out or strike. And that would suck.

 

As a remedy to the massive commercialism, I got the Sunday Ticket, and surf away from commercials CONSTANTLY. I never seem to get too interested in a single game, unless it's winding to a dramatic conclusion.

 

Is there a way a PVR can edit out commercials? Or just fast forward them? All things considered, I too would pay additional money to a TV provider to have limited commercials.

[Evil Genius 0]

It's as simple as supply and demand. They are the supply. You are the demand.

 

No offense, sir, as your post is rational, but this is typical right-wing, exploitive marketing bull$hit. You're making capitalistic excuses for something that should be run better, just because it should.

 

Market forces are not the only forces shaping the football world - it's just percieved/embraced that way by an American business model that quite frankly, is poisoning the earth.

 

Not so much counting the NFL swag that goes to landfill, but rather, the psycho-social-cultural toxin of a profits-first-and-only mentality that has reduced professional football into something that, in 10 years, may not even be recognizable as a game or sport. Until every ounce of pure competitivism and physical opposition is replaced by a swamp of rules and smoke designed only to protect the profiteers.

 

Commercial forces are similarly ruining Christmas, coincidently.

 

Of course there are market forces that are shaping football - but it is out of balance with our human lusts for sport, competitiveness, seeing the human body in motion and our tribalism that seeks out physical conflict and the representation of war. If we can acknowledge and respect those desires as equal to materialism, some tiny shred of 'pure sport' could remain.

 

Just a heavy idea for a Thursday afternoon.

[JT 137]

No offense, sir, as your post is rational, but this is typical right-wing, exploitive marketing bull$hit. You're making capitalistic excuses for something that should be run better, just because it should.

 

Market forces are not the only forces shaping the football world - it's just percieved/embraced that way by an American business model that quite frankly, is poisoning the earth.

 

Not so much counting the NFL swag that goes to landfill, but rather, the psycho-social-cultural toxin of a profits-first-and-only mentality that has reduced professional football into something that, in 10 years, may not even be recognizable as a game or sport. Until every ounce of pure competitivism and physical opposition is replaced by a swamp of rules and smoke designed only to protect the profiteers.

 

Commercial forces are similarly ruining Christmas, coincidently.

 

Of course there are market forces that are shaping football - but it is out of balance with our human lusts for sport, competitiveness, seeing the human body in motion and our tribalism that seeks out physical conflict and the representation of war. If we can acknowledge and respect those desires as equal to materialism, some tiny shred of 'pure sport' could remain.

 

Just a heavy idea for a Thursday afternoon.

 

Just dealing in facts, not theory.

[WhiteWonder 2,172]

Through eight games Heyward-Bey has five catches for 74 yards. At this rate he'll finish the fifth and final season of his contract with 50 career catches, 11 fewer than the Giants' Steve Smith has so far this season. Smith is making $460,000 this year and slated to make $550,000 next year. Heyward-Bey is guaranteed $23.5M from the Raiders.

We won't even talk about the quarterbacks

How is this league going to work out long term at this pace/rate?

 

yeah, Heyward-Bey sucks but this "stat" sucks even more.

 

How did the Giant's Steve Smith do in his rookie year? 8 catches for 63 yards.

 

I know the huge salary difference was also part of your point, Im just trying to illustrate that what a guy does in his rookie year does not make or break his career.

 

I don't personally think Heyward Bey is going to amount to anything and I would love to see a rookie pay scale but lets not go automatically saying the rest of his career will be ######.

[Patriotsfatboy1 1,432]

I find it very interesting that people have such a poor view of the NFL today. The sport is growing and is the healthiest of all sports in a time where most industries (particularly discretionary income-based industries) are faltering.

 

The payment structure in the NFL needs minor tweaking (rookie cap, for example). It does not need a huge overhaul towards an incentive-based structure.

 

There are commercial breaks that are too long, but welcome to the world today. The networks need to pay for those huge contracts that they pay to the owners, who have to pay 60% of their revenue to the players. If you don't like it, don't watch. If you don't like the quality of the game, don't pay for tickets.

 

There are some corrections that are occurring today with increased blackouts, but the system is not radically broken.

[RamslovaMartzhata 3]

I live on commission based sales, and have for decades. Like you, it's my choice. Yes, my employer can terminate me at any time. I also dictate my income, based on my performance and effort, as does anyone working on commission. I can also always opt to move to another field that offers more consistent wages, provided I have the skill level the employer is seeking.

 

I never said "all" people have guarantees. Perhaps attention to detail would broaden employment opportunities.

 

As for your "scrubs" reference. Those "scrubs" are still among the 500 best in the world at what they do. Whether you want to acknowledge facts or not, that "scrub" would be the strongest guy at your gym, or the fastest guy you've ever seen. He has a skill set the level of which you likely can't approach in your job.

Career expectancy? Let's say you train all your life to become a lawyer, with the caveat that you can only be a lawyer for 5 years. Plus, after thoise 5 years, your physical health will be compromised to the point where your life span is shortened by 10-15 years of the norm. Should there be a cap on your earnings during those 5 years?

 

It's funny how people that spend their entire life and NEVER reach a skill/performance level where they command top dollars think an athlete should be capable of doing it not once,, but twice.

 

It's as simple as supply and demand. They are the supply. You are the demand.

 

I understand your point, but you seem to fail to recognize mine. Also, it seems like you are arguing a completely separate topic here? No one is here saying that athletes don't deserve top dollar. We are here to discuss how some athletes don't deserve the amounts of money they are getting.

 

Also, where did I say that all people have guaranteed salaries? Don't put words into my mouth and speak of details like a smart ass... I asked you how my salary was guaranteed. Let me ask you this... how is ANY salary or wage guaranteed outside of sports. I have the answer... they aren't. Like sports... the real world has signing bonuses, but unlike sports... there is no guarantee for salaries and/or wages. You don't do your job, you get fired and don't get paid.

 

Another thing... your analogy is a false one as it relates to real world professionals. The difference between the NFL is that they don't know beforehand if the player that they are spending so much money on is indeed the best at their trade. If the most prestigious law-student to come out of Harvard law school ever got a 23 million dollar, guaranteed work contract.... then you'd have a point. But the fact is... they don't. The guys at the top of their profession or their trade are there because they have ALREADY DONE IT, not because people think they may have the potential to do it as is the case in the NFL. That's the big difference here. No one is saying Tom Brady or Peyton Manning don't deserve top dollar... they are saying that guys like Heyward Bay are the problem.

 

I can see a high draft pick commanding a sizable signing bonus. A couple millions dollars is enough to set someone up VERY comfortably for life. They deserve that for the potential of being one fo the best of the world at what they do. Due to their hardwork and god given talents... they do deserve sizable amounts of money. I am saying there should be a way to ensure they don't get paid TOO MUCH. Reduced signing bonuses and guaranteed contracts, and contracts based more on incentives would alleviate that in my mind... especially from a rookie perspective. $2 million dollars is more than most people will ever see in their lifetime. Give a high draft pick a $2 couple million, and tell them to go out and earn the rest. That's more along the lines of what I am saying.