Worrying about inconsistencies in the story or debating whether Belichick is being treated too harshly are completely beside the point here. I think it's pretty clear that this could have been almost any player and any coach here. Belichick coaches a tough style of play, but Tony Dungy could be in the same situation. Or Mike Shanahan. Or ... anyone.
This is the seedy underbelly of football. And no one escapes blame, imo. The NFL is a corporate behemoth that has glossed over these problems for years. The NFLPA is a joke when it comes to truly representing its players beyond the most basic pay issues (and even then is no MLB players' union). The coaches put a lot of pressure on players. And, too often overlooked, players put a lot of pressure on each other. The peer pressure is intense. Look, even we fans shoulder a small part of the blame by ignoring the many warnings about stuff like this and giving our commercial support to the game without demanding answers and better conditions.
It's not that there are no villains here; they are all villains. They all share part of the blame. You could probably make a convincing case that the NFL has the most power (by far) in the whole relationship, so they shoulder more of the blame, but I don't think it's even that.
Because this is endemic in NCAA football, as well. And at least with the pros, they are men making a lot of money, so they are making a trade-off. College kids, though ... ugh. There are few institutions I have less respect for than major college football.
Football is a brutal sport, and that brutality bleeds over far too much into the treatment of players. Arguing about Belichick (or blaming him) is a complete waste of time. The media will focus on that (because it's easy), the NFL will let them (because it gets them off the hook), and the basic questions about this will probably not get the attention they deserve.
Yeah, Belichick might get thrown under the bus over this ... but it's not Ted Johnson who's doing the throwing. If that happens, Belichick will be a scapegoat for the problems of the whole league, pure and simple.
This is the seedy underbelly of football. And no one escapes blame, imo. The NFL is a corporate behemoth that has glossed over these problems for years. The NFLPA is a joke when it comes to truly representing its players beyond the most basic pay issues (and even then is no MLB players' union). The coaches put a lot of pressure on players. And, too often overlooked, players put a lot of pressure on each other. The peer pressure is intense. Look, even we fans shoulder a small part of the blame by ignoring the many warnings about stuff like this and giving our commercial support to the game without demanding answers and better conditions.
It's not that there are no villains here; they are all villains. They all share part of the blame. You could probably make a convincing case that the NFL has the most power (by far) in the whole relationship, so they shoulder more of the blame, but I don't think it's even that.
Because this is endemic in NCAA football, as well. And at least with the pros, they are men making a lot of money, so they are making a trade-off. College kids, though ... ugh. There are few institutions I have less respect for than major college football.
Football is a brutal sport, and that brutality bleeds over far too much into the treatment of players. Arguing about Belichick (or blaming him) is a complete waste of time. The media will focus on that (because it's easy), the NFL will let them (because it gets them off the hook), and the basic questions about this will probably not get the attention they deserve.
Yeah, Belichick might get thrown under the bus over this ... but it's not Ted Johnson who's doing the throwing. If that happens, Belichick will be a scapegoat for the problems of the whole league, pure and simple.