Cba

[chuck]

Originally Posted by NBT

I was hearing the other day on one of the networks that DeMorris Smith, the NFLPA pres. is more interested in getting his political career jump started than he is about the CBA. The more attention he can draw to himself, the better he will like it, and the longer he will prolong the conflict.

Nonsense. This is all on the owners and don't let anyone tell you different. You should know better than to spout pro-owner garbage like that.

[nunusguy]

How much pressure to get this thing worked out is gonna come from certain players who are early or at the midrange of their careers ? You know the ones who aren't making the really big bucks like the super stars, the Mannings & Bradys & Ray Lewis are probably more likely to stand firm ? They're wealthy with SB rings but the younger guys have got to know that their years are numbered as far as their chances to get theirs go and they might be far more impatient ?

[NBT]

Originally Posted by chuck

Nonsense. This is all on the owners and don't let anyone tell you different. You should know better than to spout pro-owner garbage like that.

You should campaign for the NFLPA Pres after Smith makes his dramatic exit.

[Nconroe]

the owners cancelled the cba, not the players. owners creating the issue...

according to Forbes, while there are big market and small market teams, average team had a net profit of 33 million last year and value over 1 billion.

here is a forbes article on some of this
http://www.forbes.com/2010/08/25/mos...-10-intro.html

new stadiums help profit, tv deals continue to go up, 18 games increases revenue further, contracts aren't guaranteed but players are to honor them, likely rookie salaries will be slotted and capped, wouldn't feel to sorry for owners. owners don't open their books except Green bay who is a public entity, GB has a higher salary number than most teams.

the percent of a bigger pie means all will gain if hold steady on percentages which are rather fudge numbers anyways.

players union seems to be seeking mostly insurance/health gurantees for past and future players, more fair on contract terms guarantees.

does seem perhaps both sides finally starting to sit down and talk with a little clarity and urgency, atleast this week

[nunusguy]

I have 0 sympathy for the players. Many, many of these guys would have the proverbial occupation of "pumping gas" if it wern't for the NFL, and then moonlighting as semi-pros when it comes to their first love of football.
Isn't the minimum annual salary something like 3/4 million ? Make it every year you can without interruption until you are too old. Period.

[chuck]

Originally Posted by nunusguy

I have 0 sympathy for the players. Many, many of these guys would have the proverbial occupation of "pumping gas" if it wern't for the NFL, and then moonlighting as semi-pros when it comes to their first love of football.
Isn't the minimum annual salary something like 3/4 million ? Make it every year you can without interruption until you are too old. Period.

This is so preposterously wrong-headed (and wrong) that it is surprising to read even if it is coming from you.

The owners are billionaires. Even the shittiest franchise makes TONS of money. (See: Houston Texans) Some of the players are indeed very wealthy by ordinary standards but for every Peyton Manning there are dozens of Vonta Leaches. These guys are going to play a few years in the league, suffer several concussions, f%ck up their back, blow out their knees and at the age of 40 will be hobbling around like a 90 year old. For what? For $400k a year? And you want to side with airheaded blowhard billionaires like Bob McNair in saying that these guys make too much money? Are you insane?

[nunusguy]

Originally Posted by chuck

This is so preposterously wrong-headed (and wrong) that it is surprising to read even if it is coming from you.

The owners are billionaires. Even the shittiest franchise makes TONS of money. (See: Houston Texans) Some of the players are indeed very wealthy by ordinary standards but for every Peyton Manning there are dozens of Vonta Leaches. These guys are going to play a few years in the league, suffer several concussions, f%ck up their back, blow out their knees and at the age of 40 will be hobbling around like a 90 year old. For what? For $400k a year? And you want to side with airheaded blowhard billionaires like Bob McNair in saying that these guys make too much money? Are you insane?

Like I said, the Vonta Leaches are making atleast the base annual comp
of 'bout 750 K. In other words players like Leach can make more in a few years than many of us can make in a lifetime. And NFL owners/entrepreneurs are the ones who made these tremendous financial opportunities available to the players with capital they put up and risked. I'm sure there's owners who basically inherited their teams, but the Bob Mcnairs bought them with their own money they made during their business careers. To me there's no difference between a computer programmer or accountant or janitor working for a Fortune 500 company and an NFL player playing for an NFL team, except the football players make a helluva lot more money.

[chuck]

I'm not going to waste too much time with you on this but your analogy is poor. Many owners made lots of money in business, sure, but many use taxpayer funded stadiums. To try to hold them up as paragons of the free market is laughable. They are taxpayer funded monopolists.

An accountant working at a Fortune 500 company may hope for a career spanning many decades. An NFL player cannot. If that accountant feels under-compensated or under-appreciated in his work he may seek work elsewhere. An NFL player cannot.

NFL teams net tens of millions of dollars in profits annually, even the terrible ones. On top of that the franchises themselves appreciate in value faster than most any other asset class, at least the decent ones do. NFL franchises are spectacular investments. If I had a billion dollars or two I would try to buy one, I promise you. But I would not be callous enough to say from the comfort of my taxpayer built suite that the concussed, hobbled players on the field beneath me, the very ones that give my franchise its value, should give me back 20% of their earnings. That's just immoral and insulting.

[painekiller]

Originally Posted by nunusguy

Like I said, the Vonta Leaches are making atleast the base annual comp
of 'bout 750 K. In other words players like Leach can make more in a few years than many of us can make in a lifetime. And NFL owners/entrepreneurs are the ones who made these tremendous financial opportunities available to the players with capital they put up and risked. I'm sure there's owners who basically inherited their teams, but the Bob Mcnairs bought them with their own money they made during their business careers. To me there's no difference between a computer programmer or accountant or janitor working for a Fortune 500 company and an NFL player playing for an NFL team, except the football players make a helluva lot more money.

Get your numbers correct and then talk. Kieth can explain this better, but the base salary for a rookie is 310k, it goes up every year to the ten year mark where it is in the 800K+ range.

An undrafted free agent player does not make the big bucks unless he hangs around for a while.

And the average playing life of a player is still only 3 years, most NFL players never make near the money you are asserting. Now a few on every team make huge money.

But the average life of a man who played in the NFL is still shorter than the man who did not play in the NFL. The injuries to the joints, backs and head lead to very low quality of lives for these guys.