OT: Titus Young

**Brien Jackson** · 05-09-2013, 09:38 PM

Originally Posted by GOTA

Then don't take the money. Bo Jackson didn't like what the Bucs did to him. The Bucs drafted Bo and Bo refused to sign with them. He ended up back in the draft the next year and went to the Raiders. No one forced McClain to sign the deal. Once he agreed to the contract he had an obligation to act like a professional no matter what his complaints. That he didn't do.

This is a very weird standard of conduct: professional football players have a drastically lower amount of freedom when it comes to choosing their employer than the average person does (basically they have none, as "don't sign the sheet from the team that drafts you" isn't actually a viable option for most players, as the fact that you illustrated the point with Bo frickin' Jackson amply demonstrates), but they're then held to a FAR higher obligation to their employer than the average person is (as approximately no one will give a damn if I quit my job and go to work for a competitor tomorrow). This is, quite obviously, incredibly fucked up.

**Raveninwoodlawn** · 05-09-2013, 09:52 PM

Originally Posted by Brien Jackson

This is a very weird standard of conduct: professional football players have a drastically lower amount of freedom when it comes to choosing their employer than the average person does (basically they have none, as "don't sign the sheet from the team that drafts you" isn't actually a viable option for most players, as the fact that you illustrated the point with Bo frickin' Jackson amply demonstrates), but they're then held to a FAR higher obligation to their employer than the average person is (as approximately no one will give a damn if I quit my job and go to work for a competitor tomorrow). This is, quite obviously, incredibly fucked up.

Of course they are.

They aren't normal people...the percentage of people in this country that can
do what they can do is what, .001% ? Maybe lower.

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**HoustonRaven** · 05-09-2013, 10:01 PM

Originally Posted by Brien Jackson

This is a very weird standard of conduct: professional football players have a drastically lower amount of freedom when it comes to choosing their employer than the average person does (basically they have none, as "don't sign the sheet from the team that drafts you" isn't actually a viable option for most players, as the fact that you illustrated the point with Bo frickin' Jackson amply demonstrates), but they're then held to a FAR higher obligation to their employer than the average person is (as approximately no one will give a damn if I quit my job and go to work for a competitor tomorrow). This is, quite obviously, incredibly fucked up.

It's hardly a job. It's an incredible privilege to play any sport at the professional level.

And like any high privilege, it comes with a greater expectations of responsibility.

These guys are not owed a place on a team. There's thousands of players just dying to get in the league.

To compare these players to the employment expectations of the average Joe is, IMO, the height of oversimplification and wholly inaccurate.

**Brien Jackson** · 05-09-2013, 10:05 PM

Originally Posted by HoustonRaven

It's hardly a job. It's an incredible privilege to play any sport at the professional level.

And like any high privilege, it comes with a greater expectations of responsibility.

These guys are not owed a place on a team. There's thousands of players just dying to get in the league.

To compare these players to the employment expectations of the average Joe is, IMO, the height of oversimplification and wholly inaccurate.

Erm, no. Being granted something special for no particular reason or having an exception made for you is a privilege. Being paid a lot of money to play football because you're one of the absolute best football players on the planet might be a pretty fantastic way to make money, but it is not a "privilege."

**The Excellector** · 05-09-2013, 10:17 PM

Originally Posted by Brien Jackson

Erm, no. Being granted something special for no particular reason or having an exception made for you is a privilege. Being paid a lot of money to play football because you're one of the absolute best football players on the planet might be a pretty fantastic way to make money, but it is not a "privilege."

I get what HoustonRaven is trying to say. However, his way of saying it seems to omit the ridiculously strenuous work and discipline involved with even coming close to being such a great player. While the player gets held to a higher standard, because he has higher quality privileges (In the eyes of many), the average Joe, as Houston put it, is the average Joe, because he didn't bust his ass in the gym 2-3 times a day, 5 days a week, on top of studying film and surviving a decade and a half (Likely if one started with pee wee ball) of such a violent sport.

**GOTA** · 05-09-2013, 10:28 PM

Originally Posted by Brien Jackson

This is a very weird standard of conduct: professional football players have a drastically lower amount of freedom when it comes to choosing their employer than the average person does (basically they have none, as "don't sign the sheet from the team that drafts you" isn't actually a viable option for most players, as the fact that you illustrated the point with Bo frickin' Jackson amply demonstrates), but they're then held to a FAR higher obligation to their employer than the average person is (as approximately no one will give a damn if I quit my job and go to work for a competitor tomorrow). This is, quite obviously, incredibly fucked up.

Many regular jobs have non-compete clauses. Not only do you not get paid but if you quit you can't work in the same industry in the same are for several years. And those guys don't get millions of dollars in compensation.

**Brien Jackson** · 05-09-2013, 10:32 PM

Originally Posted by GOTA

Many regular jobs have non-compete clauses. Not only do you not get paid but if you quit you can't work in the same industry in the same are for several years. And those guys don't get millions of dollars in compensation.

I'm going to go out on a limb and venture that the kind of people who are signing non-compete clauses are, in fact, making quite a bit of scratch when compared to the average worker. But then, you can't actually "quit" on an NFL team and go play for someone else, either, so I don't really understand what the point of that is supposed to be...

**alien bird** · 05-09-2013, 10:43 PM

Originally Posted by Raveninwoodlawn

Of course they are.

They aren't normal people...the percentage of people in this country that can
do what they can do is what, .001% ? Maybe lower.

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2

About 21 million young men between the ages of 22-32.
Less than 2100 are on NFL rosters (IR, Active, Practice Squad, etc.)

So that's 1 out of 10,000. (.01%)

The total male labor force in the US is about 84 million, so the percentage of the male labor force in the NFL is about .0025% (1 out of 40,000 workers).

I think my calculations are correct. I got my numbers from a couple of government websites, so they should be good.

**alien bird** · 05-09-2013, 10:48 PM

Originally Posted by Brien Jackson

you can't actually "quit" on an NFL team and go play for someone else, either...

I would bet that if someone like Joe Flacco quit the Ravens today, he would have job offers from both the CFL and Arena football in ten minutes.

Just saying . . .

**Brien Jackson** · 05-09-2013, 11:00 PM

Originally Posted by alien bird

I would bet that if someone like Joe Flacco quit the Ravens today, he would have job offers from both the CFL and Arena football in ten minutes.

Just saying . . .

And the NFL would probably sue to prevent it on the grounds that he's contractually bound to the Ravens.

**ActualSpamBot** · 05-10-2013, 12:44 AM

Originally Posted by Brien Jackson

And the NFL would probably sue to prevent it on the grounds that he's contractually bound to the Ravens.

Players can play for whichever league they choose. If for some reason, Joe decided to leave the NFL, he could play for any non NFL team who wanted him.

Or any other sports team (like when Elway threatened to go to the Yankees to avoid playing for the Colts.)

**GOTA** · 05-10-2013, 05:48 AM

Originally Posted by Brien Jackson

And the NFL would probably sue to prevent it on the grounds that he's contractually bound to the Ravens.

Players have left and gone to CFL. They also used to leave for the USFL, AFL and other competing leagues. The only thing the team could sue for, and would win, is a return on money that was prepaid for a contract like a signing bonus. Teams sometimes do that when a player retires and doesn't go anywhere. The bottom line is a player can leave for a different league and it has happened in the past.