Greed of NFL Owners AND Players Hurts Former Players
The NFL lockout has been dubbed “billionaires vs. millionaires.” Let’s be clear about one thing: There are very few players that are millionaires in the NFL. The vast majority of NFL players are far from millionaires. They also have short careers, a high risk of injury, and shorter lifespans than the average male. Most have to find other jobs when their playing days end. Some become disabled due to NFL-based health problems and can’t work. So, the “billionaires vs. millionaires” label simply isn’t accurate.
But in the sense that the label conveys a battle of greed in the NFL lockout mess, it is accurate.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in the owners and players almost total disregard for the health benefits of former NFL players. Both sides want more money now. There’s no long-term thinking or empathy for former players who are struggling with the effects of injuries suffered as NFL players. Today, former players lose health benefits five years after their playing careers are done — and that’s only if a player has three years of service in the league.
Evan Weiner does a nice job describing the “money-now-at-all-costs” mindset of both owners and players in the current labor dispute.
“NFL owners and players go to court on June 3 to argue over whatever they are fighting for,” says Weiner. “Collective bargaining agreement negotiations pick up on June 8. The players want status quo and to keep 59 percent of football revenues, the owners want the players to give back revenues, cut their salaries (contracts are not guaranteed) and help build stadiums in Minnesota and Santa Clara, California by kicking in part of their revenues. Meanwhile, former players are still out in the cold with meager pensions and no health benefits and for many football players, getting health insurance is almost impossible because of pre-existing conditions.”
The owners should be filled with shame regarding the minimal health benefits and tiny pensions of former players. But the players are culpable too. In the NFL labor disputes dating to 1982, the players have done a poor job fighting for better treatment of former players.
“The ‘Money Now’ mantra of the players should have been replaced by ‘what will your life at the age of 45, 50, 55 and 60 be like?'” says Weiner.
When the owners and players get back to the bargaining table, you can be sure the arguments from both sides will be all about getting more money now. Old NFL stars struggling with chronic disabilities from concussions and other injuries suffered while playing in the NFL will be but a distant afterthought.
That’s a shame.
— Ken Reed, Director & Senior Analyst, League of Fans
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"How We Can Save Sports" author Ken Reed appears on Fox & Friends to explain how there's "too much adult in youth sports."
Ken Reed appears on Mornings with Gail from KFKA Radio in Colorado to discuss bad parenting in youth athletics.
“Should College Athletes Be Paid?” Ken Reed on The Morning Show from Wisconsin Public Radio
Ken Reed appears on KGNU Community Radio in Colorado (at 02:30) to discuss equality in sports and Title IX.
Ken Reed appears on the Ralph Nader Radio Hour (at 38:35) to discuss his book The Sports Reformers: Working to Make the World of Sports a Better Place, and to talk about some current sports issues.
- League of Fans Sports Policy Director Ken Reed quoted in Washington Post column titled "What happened to P.E.? It’s losing ground in our push for academic improvement," by Jay Mathews
League of Fans is a sports reform project founded by Ralph Nader to fight for the higher principles of justice, fair play, equal opportunity and civil rights in sports; and to encourage safety and civic responsibility in sports industry and culture.
Sports & Torts – Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans – at the American Museum of Tort Law
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