25% of players (max!) care about winning the Super Bowl

[TheRainMaker]

Depends on how one defines "family." I should have also included community.

Here's a values sorting exercise. Choose your preference of:
1. Making $10M and playing for a winning team
2. Making $14M and playing for a winning team while being the lead donor on a community hospital and making it possible.

???

I'm a little confused by this too.

 

[Off The Grid]

Once you've made enough money to cover financial needs for your life and a bit more, the rest is gravy. The notion that "the smart player with family responsibilities will be as mercenary as they can" is actually a very bad one. The smart player with family responsibilities, who's made sufficient money for his liftetime, should have a host of priorities above money.

Depends on how one defines "family." I should have also included community.

Here's a values sorting exercise. Choose your preference of:
1. Making $10M and playing for a winning team
2. Making $14M and playing for a winning team while being the lead donor on a community hospital and making it possible.

???

That...was The Correct Response.

 

[BTTA]

Typo, fixed below.

Depends on how one defines "family." I should have also included community.

Here's a values sorting exercise. Choose your preference of:
1. Making $10M and playing for a winning team
2. Making $14M and playing for a losing team while being the lead donor on a community hospital and making it possible.

 

[TheRainMaker]

Typo, fixed below.

Okay that makes more sense. Majority of players will take the extra $4M and go with option B. Money can be guaranteed, "Championships" are not.

 

[PatriotsReign]

In my opinion, most of the best/top players do in fact want to win championships. The same is true of pro golfers. Sure, most just want to keep their tour card. But Tiger, McElroy, Michelson, Nicklaus and all top players want to be champs

The same is true among elite NFL players

 

[NormZauchin]

I'm not sure. Barwinism, or the theory of the evolution of college defensive linemen to the professional football league by natural selection in the draft, is in regards to positional transition to playing other positions such as linebacker.....not necessarily the ability to play for more money in the swamplands of NJ.

The validity of Barwinism has been denied by those who believe in football fundamentals.

 

[Deus Irae]

Typo, fixed below.

I wouldn't put that anywhere near the top of the values chart. I wouldn't feel any need to be the lead donor on anything, and I could still donate money to a cause if I was "only" making $10million instead of $14milion.

However,

Don't like cold = why put up with a northern climate just for unneeded money?
Don't like heat = why put up with a southern climate just for unneeded money?
Love family = why go somewhere away from family just for unneeded money?
etc...

Money is just short of essential for minimalist purposes (i.e. health care, food, shelter), but nobody needs 3 Porsches and 4 houses. Those are pure luxuries. There's nothing wrong with having them, but I think David Price could certainly serve as a poster child for the argument that chasing the money is not always the way to greatest happiness.

 

[NormZauchin]

You’re missing the point here.

Players have to perform well if they want paid well, and a collective group of players performing well usually leads to more winning.

They both come hand in hand. It’s not like they have no desire to win, because winning is part of what gets them paid.

What determines good performance can be a problem for some players on the Patriots, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. Eating up space, staying in the area of your responsibility, etc., can reduce the number of sacks and tackles and take away the stats that players like to have when they become free agents.

 

[TheRainMaker]

In my opinion, most of the best/top players do in fact want to win championships. The same is true of pro golfers. Sure, most just want to keep their tour card. But Tiger, McElroy, Michelson, Nicklaus and all top players want to be champs

The same is true among elite NFL players

It's easier for golfers, swimmers, track and other individual athletes to want to win because they are in control of whether they win or not. It's a lot harder for a football player to win when your accounting for 21 other players that take the field on offense and defense. Baseball, forget it. It's so hard to win a World Series let alone getting there.

It's not that they don't want to win, it's just not going to ruin their day like it actually does for fans.

 

[Tunescribe]

I actually commented on this when I first joined the board. The biggest myth in pro sports is that athletes want to "win a championship". The reality is that they want to get paid! It's actually quite bizarre fans really think athletes primary goal is to win "Championships" over money. Fans seem to forget they do this for a living and and Championships don't pay the bills for most players. Guys that get paid like Tom Brady, Tiger Woods, LeBron James and other franchise type players can concentrate on obsessing over this because they don't have to worry about money like practice squad players or journeyman type players. You also have to take into account players are programmed to say this so they appear more marketable to the media, advertisers and most importantly.... fans. Could you imagine if a player said "I only signed with (insert team here) because they offered me the most money and I don't really care about winning a Championship"? LOL. This is the honest truth about pro athletes.

In Little League, you want to win a Championship. In High School and College, you want to win a Championship. In pro sports, you want to put food on the table and have a roof over your head.

Look at it this way, do you go to work everyday hoping your company wins an award for best company? Of course not. LOL. You're there to get paid!

Are you a millennial?

 

[TheRainMaker]

What determines good performance can be a problem for some players on the Patriots, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. Eating up space, staying in the area of your responsibility, etc., can reduce the number of sacks and tackles and take away the stats that players like to have when they become free agents.

That's a very good point. Unfortunately, teams do look at "stats" when negotiations take place and I'm sure the Pats hold that against their own when their contracts are up. There's a reason why you've seen so many times WR's getting angry when they are wide open and the QB dumps it off for a minimal gain and they have to punt. There's a reason why players enjoy padding their stats whether it gets the team a win or a loss because that's more potential money on the table.

 

[TheRainMaker]

Are you a millennial?

Ha ha. I'm an old millennial. You think these athletes do this for a hobby and don't want to get paid? Nobody wants to lose, but their main priority is how they are getting paid for the task they are being asked to do. Don't be naive and think this is their main objective. It's extremely difficult to win a championship in pro sports.

That will be the day we hear players reject an offer from a team because it's "too much money" and they'd rather have them give that to other players so they can "win". What Tom Brady has done throughout the years has been the biggest fluke in pro sports history. Why don't other QB's do this instead of accepting those cap crippling contracts? Because every athlete wants to get paid what their worth.

 

[Tunescribe]

Ha ha. I'm an old millennial. You think these athletes do this for a hobby and don't want to get paid? Nobody wants to lose, but their main priority is how they are getting paid for the task they are being asked to do. Don't be naive and think this is their main objective. It's extremely difficult to win a championship in pro sports.

That will be the day we hear players reject an offer from a team because it's "too much money" and they'd rather have them give that to other players so they can "win". What Tom Brady has done throughout the years has been the biggest fluke in pro sports history. Why don't other QB's do this instead of accepting those cap crippling contracts? Because every athlete wants to get paid what their worth.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to get paid as much as possible. But when winning a championship becomes a non-priority personally, the drive to compete starts to ebb as well. Then other "priorities" start to manifest -- like "having fun" vs. pushing oneself to be the best, becoming overly cautious about risking injury, slacking off on film study, seeing a demanding coach as "disrespectful," etc., etc. Before you know it you have a slapdick league full of slapdick players followed by slapdick fans who value fantasy league stats over whether a team wins and it all goes to crap. The quality of play in the NFL already is suffering under the millennial scourge.

 

[TheRainMaker]

There's nothing wrong with wanting to get paid as much as possible. But when winning a championship becomes a non-priority personally, the drive to compete starts to ebb as well. Then other "priorities" start to manifest -- like "having fun" vs. pushing oneself to be the best, becoming overly cautious about risking injury, slacking off on film study, seeing a demanding coach as "disrespectful," etc., etc. Before you know it you have a slapdick league full of slapdick players followed by slapdick fans who value fantasy league stats over whether a team wins and it all goes to crap. The quality of play in the NFL already is suffering under the millennial scourge.

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I get what you're saying but they are paid to do a task such as run block, pass block, throw the ball, kick the ball, etc.. They are only in control of what they can do for the team. If they win, great. If not, it's out of their control.

Do you hope the company you work or worked for wins "best company award". I highly doubt you hope so. This is my point.

 

[Tunescribe]

I get what you're saying but they are paid to do a task such as run block, pass block, throw the ball, kick the ball, etc.. They are only in control of what they can do for the team. If they win, great, if not, it's out of their control.

NO!!! You're not getting it. NEEDING to win makes ALL the difference! Vince Lombardi said it best: "Winning isn't everything -- it's the only thing." It's what defines competition and drives the will to succeed. Without that you get mediocrity and failure.

 

[TheRainMaker]

NO!!! You're not getting it. NEEDING to win makes ALL the difference! Vince Lombardi said it best: "Winning isn't everything -- it's the only thing." It's what defines competition and drives the will to succeed. Without that you get mediocrity and failure.

I guess most NFL players don't get it then. Please explain why QB's keep getting paid ridiculous amounts of money when they know it's going to hurt the team more than help? Why don't they just take a lot less so they can spread it around and pay other players so they "win".

 

[Tunescribe]

I guess most NFL players don't get it then.

That's what it's coming to and we're seeing it manifest on the field.

Please explain why QB's keep getting paid ridiculous amounts of money when they know it's going to hurt the team more than help? Why don't they just take a lot less so they can spread it around and pay other players so they "win".

Brady's been doing that, others who value winning have as well.

 

[Deus Irae]

I guess most NFL players don't get it then. Please explain why QB's keep getting paid ridiculous amounts of money when they know it's going to hurt the team more than help?

You assume they "know" that. I assume they "know" it not to be a significant issue. It's not as if high pay has prevented QBs from winning any Super Bowls at all, or anything.

 

[JarOfMayo51]

It takes a special makeup of a person to be able to grab their lunch pale and show up to work for the Patriots every single day and compete for Championships over a long stretch of time...

That is why they're hard to find, so while I don't really care what arbitrary percentage this anonymous agent has thrown out as his assessment of the entire league as a whole, it's not entirely shocking to understand that some people are not wired to want to grind it out for 15+ years at that level both mentally and physically

There really isn't anything wrong with that either, but don't come play for the Pats if that's how you feel because its obviously not a culture that gels with your beliefs at that point, and especially don't go whining to the media about how hard it is to play for them and how you like your nap time or whatever the **** it is they do over there that is so wonderful... because that is pathetic and petty

 

[jimnance]

I thought it was 87.3% (the decimal adds some validity to the number )

That's only true 49% of the time.