I hope there is no football in 2011!!!

[jtoomuch]

In the first part of my post, I was just passing on information. In the second, I was addressing the owners unwillingness to open their books. I never said I was siding with the owners. I do hope that with all this acrimony they don't kill the golden goose.

So the owners are looking to rob the players AND the fans...

Can't believe ANYONE would side with the owners in this.

 

[tylerdolphin]

It's not like Chad Henne knows who Jake Long is anyway when he's always locked on to ONE receiver.

Maybe so, but he will quickly learn who Tully Banta-Cain is.

 

[Fl_Neil]

What a joke, according to wiki , "Slavery is a system under which people are treated as propertyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Property and are forced to work. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery#cite_note-0 Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to REFUSE to work, or to demand COMPENSATIONhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remuneration. In some historical situations it has been legal for owners to kill slaves."

See that little part about the slave being FORCED to work, being denied the right to REFUSE to work, and being denied the right for COMPENSATION i.e. payment for said work. Now is anyone FORCING these athletes to go out there and make millions every year playing a game which they should have a deep affection/love for? Look if these clowns don't want to play the game so be it. I remember the baseball strike during the 90s and they are only going to create a disillusioned fan base. At least they have a job doing what they "love". Most people only dream of such a thing. I'm not saying the owners are right on this. I just think it is appalling that they would equate the current situation to slavery in the historical sense.

 

[Bumpus]

I can't believe that so many of you are against the players in this.

The players absolutely have it right and they shouldn't budge.

And the best defense you guys have is that you "have to work a real job and they don't."

Sounds like career and financial envy to me.

This is ****ing America. Get as much as you can if you can get it.

I hope there isn't any football next year either. The NFL will take a HUGE hit in ratings with replacement players. These stubborn owners need to wake up and understand who the cash cow really is in all of this.

Not from me. I'm about the name on the front of the jersey, not the back.

I'll definately watch. Hell, minus all of the primadonnas, it might be more entertaining.

 

[Mr. Day]

People that were actually slaves in America must be turning over in their graves right now. Actual slaves worked from can't see to can't see, were whipped, had their families broken up, watched their mothers, daughters and wives get raped, hung from trees, castrated, etc. Football players play a little kids game and make millions of dollars for doing it. Any idiot that will say that they are like slaves and live that lifestyle needs a swift kick in the a@#

 

[NY8123]

Comparing the NFL to modern day slavery is one of the dumbest things that could ever come out of anyone's mouth. It shows a complete and utter ignorance to anyone who fought for the rights to be equal without bias.

As far as I am concerned any mother ****er who can make multi-millions playing a game is the farthest thing from a slave as humanly possible. If the working conditions of the NFL are so bad feel free to go and get a job that pays modest wages for long hours and try and keep the standard of life the NFL gives you, anyone in the NFL that backs that statement is a dumb-***.

 

[spydertl79]

People that were actually slaves in America must be turning over in their graves right now. Actual slaves worked from can't see to can't see, were whipped, had their families broken up, watched their mothers, daughters and wives get raped, hung from trees, castrated, etc. Football players play a little kids game and make millions of dollars for doing it. Any idiot that will say that they are like slaves and live that lifestyle needs a swift kick in the a@#

This board is full of haters.

Maybe you should try actually reading and interpreting what he said rather than taking it completely out of context.

 

[NY8123]

This board is full of haters.

Maybe you should try actually reading and interpreting what he said rather than taking it completely out of context.

It's a dumb analogy and should not even be used in context. There is no way to spin the statement and make it sound remotely intelligent.

"It's modern-day slavery, you know?" Peterson said. "People kind of laugh at that, but there are people working at regular jobs who get treated the same way, too. With all the money ... the owners are trying to get a different percentage, and bring in more money."

I work a regular job and I know what the corporate BS is and how it affects me but I don't think of myself as a "slave". I have a choice a slave does not. It was a pour choice of words.

 

[WeVie]

I guess I can see the players point of view too because without them there would be no money anyway. We pay to watch them play and a lot of us pay to wear there numbers or names around to show our support.

I can see where both sides are coming from but it just frustrates me when a bunch of already filthy rich people cannot agree on how to divide up 9 billion dollars.

I really want to see an 18 game season but I can understand how rough the game is on the players.

I really do wish they would do a rookie wage scale too. Let the players who have proved they can play earn all that extra money. I also think this could possibly make the league a little more competitive too. It stinks to have to pay a rookie tons of money and then they turn out to be no good. That's a big hit on a team that is trying to rebuild that can take a few years to recover from.

 

[Built2Win]

Bring in the scabs ! Pretty soon college kids will be getting paid to play just ask cam newton..

 

[jw0119]

There's a reason why the majority of players that are done playing in the NFL, amount to absolutely nothing. They were paid to play a child's game...not for their smarts.

 

[spydertl79]

It's a dumb analogy and should not even be used in context. There is no way to spin the statement and make it sound remotely intelligent.

I work a regular job and I know what the corporate BS is and how it affects me but I don't think of myself as a "slave". I have a choice a slave does not. It was a pour choice of words.

This thread is about what Cobbs said:

"I wouldn't say slave. But we are at the mercy of [owners]," Cobbs said. "This league is a great league or we wouldn't be playing in it. Obviously, we all love to play the game. But I think at times we are slaves. They tell us to jump and we jump. Most of the time we ask them how high. We bend over backwards, we give up our bodies every day to do what we love and also what they pay us to do. So we should do it whenever they tell us to do it. I mean, yeah, I can see where [Peterson] is coming from. So that's like slaves. But we're not slaves because we get paid pretty well to do it."
Cobbs made a distinction between himself, because he is seldom used to carry the ball, and Peterson, who is Minnesota's primary ballcarrier: "The way he runs the ball. he's getting paid to run into a wall every play. I can see where he's coming from."

He clearly makes a distinction between real slavery and the life of an NFL player. He did not say that NFL players are literally slaves, he just said that he understands where Peterson is coming from. He asserted that players are "at the mercy of the owners," which is true. He said that the players are sacrificing their bodies for their team, which is also true.

It wasn't an "intelligent" statement by any means, but it is being taken completely out of context.

 

[NBP81]

I dont even care about context, or using the word as a mere example. Using the word slave to any extention, is really a ***** slap to the face of any hard working middle class citizen...

 

[NY8123]

This thread is about what Cobbs said:
He clearly makes a distinction between real slavery and the life of an NFL player. He did not say that NFL players are literally slaves, he just said that he understands where Peterson is coming from. He asserted that players are "at the mercy of the owners," which is true. He said that the players are sacrificing their bodies for their team, which is also true.

It wasn't an "intelligent" statement by any means, but it is being taken completely out of context.

The word slave shouldn't be used any way you slice it in this instance. It is just a piss pour choice of words. At least Cobbs had some intelligence to explain why he used the word, AP just flat out wiffed.

If you want the spot light you better be polished enough to choose your words wisely, what Cobbs said is fine but by agreeing with AP he is now lumped into a blanket statement about the NFL being like modern slavery and supporting that sentiment as the headlines are now reading.

He would have been wise to make his own statement about the owners, maybe he should have used the word "Surf" at least they were allowed to farm for themselves!

 

[arsenal]

im surprised how much people are for the owners also...

they dont want the 52 guys playing the game to get the extra money, where due to health and injury and the physicality of the game, the average player lasts only a few seasons... they want to give it to the owner who will own that team for years and years until they decide to sell it for some ridiculous profit or pass it down to their children...

the players also are the ones GENERATING that money... and the money #s keep climbing yet you want the one guy in the owners box to continue to pile up more and more money instead of giving it to the guys sacrificing their bodies every week? insane to me