Mike Ditka and the NFLPA
Over the course of the last week, I've caught ESPN News a few times while working out. One of the stories playing out is old NFL players who are physically, for lack of a better word, handicapped, and the NFL Players Association's willingness, or lack thereof, to help them.
Mike Ditka did a few interviews with some guys from ESPN and his basic story is...these guys played in the NFL, helped grow the game, didn't make a ton of money and now, they're 60 and they can't move and they're broke. Meanwhile, the NFL Players Association has a bazillion dollars. They are responsible for these guys. He's criticizing the Players Association because they aren't doing enough to help the situation.
In simpler terms, the argument is, these guys need money. You have money. You need to help them.
No, Mike, they don't. Bill Gates has money too. So does Al Gore. He's spending a ton of it air conditioning the inside of his house with the windows open. Why aren't you knocking on their doors? I'll give you a hint. Pissing people off and demanding that they help you, simply because they have the means, isn't your best strategic option.
Let me separate what they should do and what they have to do. Sure, it would be a wonderful gesture, and a PR coup, to help these guys. They played in the NFL. They helped make the game what it is. The NLFPA should help them. It's the right thing to do, not to mention the smart thing to do. They aren't on the hook for it though. These men were men when they did what they did. They signed contracts and made their own decisions. They're living with the results of their decisions. Granted, the guys who played in the 50's didn't make much cash. Neither did my dad. The guys today make a lot more. I make more than my dad did too. That doesn't mean he's banging on my door asking for rent money.
They're trotting out Brian DiMarco, ex-Jaguar as their poster kid, because he asked the NFLPA for money to pay his rent or he was getting thrown out of his house. I'm sorry, but I saw Brian DiMarco on TV when he played here. He was riding a Harley that was worth about the same amount of money as a small house. If he'd have bought the house instead, he wouldn't be cryin' for rent money. He made 1.3 million dollars in one year. I don't make that in a decade. You don't squander a million dollars and then get on TV, crying about how you can't provide for your family. There's more than one issue with DiMarco, but one of them is a financial planning/personal responsibility thing.
I realize some of it...a lot of it, is a medical issue, and the NFLPA should take that burden on. It's not an entitlement though. They owe nobody anything. Still, financing that issue is the right thing to do.
The young players are getting in the act too, saying "We should help these guys." Well, who's stopping you? Put your money where your mouth is. You get a million dollar signing bonus. Who's stopping you from taking 10% of that and putting it in a retired players medical fund to help the men who need it? Stop talking about what should happen and make it happen.
"If you want to change the world, shut your mouth and get on with it."
You don't need the NFLPA to do that. You can do that all by yourselves.
Mike Ditka did a few interviews with some guys from ESPN and his basic story is...these guys played in the NFL, helped grow the game, didn't make a ton of money and now, they're 60 and they can't move and they're broke. Meanwhile, the NFL Players Association has a bazillion dollars. They are responsible for these guys. He's criticizing the Players Association because they aren't doing enough to help the situation.
In simpler terms, the argument is, these guys need money. You have money. You need to help them.
No, Mike, they don't. Bill Gates has money too. So does Al Gore. He's spending a ton of it air conditioning the inside of his house with the windows open. Why aren't you knocking on their doors? I'll give you a hint. Pissing people off and demanding that they help you, simply because they have the means, isn't your best strategic option.
Let me separate what they should do and what they have to do. Sure, it would be a wonderful gesture, and a PR coup, to help these guys. They played in the NFL. They helped make the game what it is. The NLFPA should help them. It's the right thing to do, not to mention the smart thing to do. They aren't on the hook for it though. These men were men when they did what they did. They signed contracts and made their own decisions. They're living with the results of their decisions. Granted, the guys who played in the 50's didn't make much cash. Neither did my dad. The guys today make a lot more. I make more than my dad did too. That doesn't mean he's banging on my door asking for rent money.
They're trotting out Brian DiMarco, ex-Jaguar as their poster kid, because he asked the NFLPA for money to pay his rent or he was getting thrown out of his house. I'm sorry, but I saw Brian DiMarco on TV when he played here. He was riding a Harley that was worth about the same amount of money as a small house. If he'd have bought the house instead, he wouldn't be cryin' for rent money. He made 1.3 million dollars in one year. I don't make that in a decade. You don't squander a million dollars and then get on TV, crying about how you can't provide for your family. There's more than one issue with DiMarco, but one of them is a financial planning/personal responsibility thing.
I realize some of it...a lot of it, is a medical issue, and the NFLPA should take that burden on. It's not an entitlement though. They owe nobody anything. Still, financing that issue is the right thing to do.
The young players are getting in the act too, saying "We should help these guys." Well, who's stopping you? Put your money where your mouth is. You get a million dollar signing bonus. Who's stopping you from taking 10% of that and putting it in a retired players medical fund to help the men who need it? Stop talking about what should happen and make it happen.
"If you want to change the world, shut your mouth and get on with it."
You don't need the NFLPA to do that. You can do that all by yourselves.
Labels: Philosophy, Sports
John put this out here at 7:06 AM
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