Lockout 2011: Another Step Closer to Reality

[Fiz]

They can most likely PAY off a decent house within a year or two.

lol what world are you living in

Are NFL players not adults?

are 20-24 year olds adults? I don't really think so.

There are all these statistics, so it's not anyone's fault they don't get their college degree, or go back to finish.

what would that do? what is a college degree worth these days? people speak about "their college degree" as if those things are worth the paper they're printed on.

I don't know why NFL players can't fall into the same rules as every day citizens do?

what rules?

1.2 mill over 3 years is pretty good, you can get a house paid off, car paid off, and have some money to invest.

that's 1.2 before taxes and agent fees, and probably comes out to a little over 400k once all is said and done.

400k to a 21-24 year old who never had a real education, is most likely from crippling poverty, has serious familial obligations, and has no idea how to handle money.

[pepaw]

Watching Fiz take on people over misunderstandings over the CBA disputes is like watching that overgrown bully in fifth grade beat up kids from the slow class at joint recess.

[rayzor]

average career is 3 years and you earn 1.2 before taxes, agent fees, etc.

78% of nfl players are bankrupt 2 years after their career ends with no job skills to support them, and most of them coming from poor rural or urban environments.

nfl players are the lowest paid among the four professional north american sports leagues.

a really good argument can be made that the nfl prays on poverty but i dont want to go into the effort for it.

i would add in to this that the players of the NFL take a bigger beating on their body than any other professional team sport. the studies that are coming out about the long term effects of the hits they take means that they are likely going to have a long lifetime of health problems...and we're not just talking stiff back. we're talking parkinsons disease and early onset dementia. the NFL is acting like they are concerned, and i don't doubt that they are, but the owners are saying that even though they understand more the risks involved to the players, that they want them to play two more games.

the players don't like it, but they are willing to do it, if the owners will do more to help prepare the players for the health problems they are most certainly going to be dealing with and to help out those players who can't find work after their short careers are over.

these aren't a bunch of millionaires either. there are a few players that are able to make a substantial amount of money, but the majority of them don't. sure, it's more than the average american makes in a year, but what are these guys going to do afterwards? they won't be able to take on manual labor jobs for very long beacuse their bodies will probably be shot. when you have brain injuries that show up when you are in your early 40s....what exactly are you going to do? also, all of that comes with a huge medical expense attached. how in the world are you going to pay for the kind of care that you will be needing? they are already going to be having high insurance, and which company is willing to take on that kind of risk? you know how hard it is to find insurance if you have pre-existing conditions?

plus, these are kids, a lot of them dumb kids (like most people in their very early 20's are) who are given huge amounts of money....more money than they or anyone in their family has every seen. the temptation is there to blow it all, not jsut on themselves, but their families. they feel like all of a sudden their families won't have to worry about money anymore. before long, it's all gone. that's their fault, for sure, but the league needs to be doing more to prepare them for life after the NFL, and thats one of the thing that the players want. i don't think thats too much to ask.

[Zaximus]

Sorry, once you hit 18, your life is your life, you make the decisions, you went to college and had the opportunity to learn (more than a lot of people that are FINE the rest of their lives). I don't feel sorry at all for them. They get paid a lot, to play a game. Not to mention they can always go play arena, CFL, etc, and still make some money.

[Fiz]

what's that? you messed up when you were 18?

heh, sorry. shoulda known your life started then.

[The Saltman]

i would add in to this that the players of the nfl take a bigger beating on their body than any other professional team sport. The studies that are coming out about the long term effects of the hits they take means that they are likely going to have a long lifetime of health problems...and we're not just talking stiff back. We're talking parkinsons disease and early onset dementia. The nfl is acting like they are concerned, and i don't doubt that they are, but the owners are saying that even though they understand more the risks involved to the players, that they want them to play two more games.

The players don't like it, but they are willing to do it, if the owners will do more to help prepare the players for the health problems they are most certainly going to be dealing with and to help out those players who can't find work after their short careers are over.

These aren't a bunch of millionaires either. There are a few players that are able to make a substantial amount of money, but the majority of them don't. Sure, it's more than the average american makes in a year, but what are these guys going to do afterwards? They won't be able to take on manual labor jobs for very long beacuse their bodies will probably be shot. When you have brain injuries that show up when you are in your early 40s....what exactly are you going to do? Also, all of that comes with a huge medical expense attached. How in the world are you going to pay for the kind of care that you will be needing? They are already going to be having high insurance, and which company is willing to take on that kind of risk? You know how hard it is to find insurance if you have pre-existing conditions?

Plus, these are kids, a lot of them dumb kids (like most people in their very early 20's are) who are given huge amounts of money....more money than they or anyone in their family has every seen. The temptation is there to blow it all, not jsut on themselves, but their families. They feel like all of a sudden their families won't have to worry about money anymore. Before long, it's all gone. That's their fault, for sure, but the league needs to be doing more to prepare them for life after the nfl, and thats one of the thing that the players want. I don't think thats too much to ask.

this

[88 Bronco]

They can most likely PAY off a decent house within a year or two.

Are NFL players not adults?

Give me a break.

What the hell would you have done when you were in your early twenties and someone gave you a million dollars?

[Zaximus]

What the hell would you have done when you were in your early twenties and someone gave you a million dollars?

Guess I'm just different then.

I will say, that if the owners want them to play more games, but make less money, that by default is wrong. If anything 18 games should gain them more money.

[theyhateme45]

average career is 3 years and you earn 1.2 before taxes, agent fees, etc.

78% of nfl players are bankrupt 2 years after their career ends with no job skills to support them, and most of them coming from poor rural or urban environments.

nfl players are the lowest paid among the four professional north american sports leagues.

a really good argument can be made that the nfl prays on poverty but i dont want to go into the effort for it.

So then the issue isn't necessarily about more or less money it’s about players being more educated about money. If that’s the case who’s responsibility is it to teach them that? Family? College? They get teaching in the NFL, but apparently that’s not enough.

Also whose fault is it that they don’t have other skills to lean back on? Myself like a lot of other Americans had to pay $$$ to get a college education, while these players are given education in exchange for their talents… Yes schools do use these student athletes for their skills, but the student athlete has to be smart enough to use them for their education.

They end up bankrupt because people give them this false belief that if you make in to the NFL you’re a millionaire and set for life. So they believe it, spend like it, and when they are out of a job can’t pay their bills. I believe if the NFL doubled the player’s salary you will still have the same problem.

So to me that issue isn’t about the amount of money they make, it’s more of an issue with education of money.

[Zaximus]

So by all of you guys' comments, should they put their money in a fund they can't touch till 30, when they are "Mature"?

[Fiz]

What the hell would you have done when you were in your early twenties and someone gave you a million dollars?

get a room mate, live off ramen and invest in annuities

duh

[88 Bronco]

Guess I'm just different then.

I will say, that if the owners want them to play more games, but make less money, that by default is wrong. If anything 18 games should gain them more money.

You also have to consider that this is the first time any of these kids have had any real freedom. They lived at home under parental guidance. In college they had the coaching staff baby sitting them. Now they have been thrown out into the would with more money than they have ever had. Again I implore you, what would you do?

[rayzor]

So by all of you guys' comments, should they put their money in a fund they can't touch till 30, when they are "Mature"?

i know i would have been better off.

[Samuel L. Jackson]

get a room mate, live off ramen and invest in annuities

duh

pfft... I'd whip it out in public and start jacking it off over random homeless people as I sang Amazing Grace just because I could...

But yeah, at one point in time I faulted both sides, but the players really are a victim here... Not only because of greedy owners, but because of the route most of them took to be a professional football player was shaped by adults that likely passed them along and pushed them through with no real desire to help them better themselves as a person, nor as a student...