Provocative article on voluntary workouts

[BTTA]

Dan Graziano
Let's please let 'voluntary' mean voluntary - NFC East Blog - ESPN

I like this, makes me think and smile.

Down here in Philadelphia, new cornerback Cary Williams missed a big chunk of the voluntary offseason program for a variety of reasons. He got married. His daughter had a dance recital. He had to pick out sconces for his new house. The reasons for his absence subjected Williams to a high level of ridicule from Eagles fans who believed he should be working out with and getting to know his new teammates and coaches. Williams was perplexed by the fuss.

"I mean ... fans ... I love you, but jeez," Williams said after Tuesday's mandatory minicamp practice. "If I had three kids with three different women, and if I was a womanizer, you all would be reporting that. But now I'm a guy who wants to see his little girl's recital and I'm a bad guy? Come on."

Look, I know I'm not an NFL coach or an NFL fan, but to me Williams sounds like the voice of reason and Coughlin sounds like the cranky old man who wants everybody off his lawn. Words have meaning, and the word "voluntary" means of one's own will and without outside interference. Translated for purposes of this discussion, that means that neither Nicks nor Williams nor any other player in the league has to attend voluntary OTAs or tell his coach, teammates or anyone on the planet why he didn't. This is their right as human beings and as NFL players, and no amount of conventional meathead wisdom changes that. None.

The fact that almost everyone else on the team is there practicing doesn't change it. The fact that they make a lot of money and play a game for a living doesn't change it. The fact that coaches and fans prefer players who go above and beyond what's required of them doesn't change it. Nothing does. Every single defense of Coughlin's rant about Nicks is unjustified. Every single bit of scorn directed at Williams for staying home is just another example of the NFL establishment insisting on treating the players like something less than human beings. And it needs to stop.

 

[ausbacker]

It annoys me when people refer to a career in sports as "it's just sport" or "they play a game for a living". Worldwide, sport is probably a trillion dollar industry several times over. It's a very real career path.

 

[primetime]

The players collectively bargained for explicitly voluntary offseason workouts, and they are entitled to skip the workouts as a result.

It annoys me when people refer to a career in sports as "it's just sport" or "they play a game for a living". Worldwide, sport is probably a trillion dollar industry several times over. It's a very real career path.

It's also an extremely heavily unionized profession, and the general attitude in the US (where we work too much for too little, in pretty much every profession) is so anti-labor that people tend to be dismissive about things like workers' rights, even though this is a clear-cut case of that.

 

[RUaPatsfan]

They have every right to skip these workouts...but they are in a profession that each and every year they are competing for their job. If they happen to lose their job because they want to skip things that the guy trying to take his job is willing to do, well, then he will have plenty of time for his family.

And there are plenty of us that have had to miss important things in our lives because of work. Dance recital - that is such BS

 

[patriot lifer]

Good for Cary Williams. I think if a player was just sitting on his butt instead of going to camp, then he is being lazy. He would be entitled to it, but he has the right to do that. It's key for bubble players and players outside the bubble to attend these camps, but established players have every right to skip on the workouts.

Good perspective to have when judging these players.

 

[BTTA]

I've got a different attitude about this, after reading this post and the one above it. The reason for the collective bargaining is to create some breathing space for the players from this kind of hyper competition. It isn't like there is a shortage of competitive opportunity for the coaches to make their decisions. The players want a break, a small window in the year, where the competitive activity is limited to their private workouts. Make it even more Darwinian doesn't improve anything.

I've made it clear to employers (past) and clients (more recently) that family always comes first and that I block off time for that stuff. Including dance recitals. It isn't BS.

They have every right to skip these workouts...but they are in a profession that each and every year they are competing for their job. If they happen to lose their job because they want to skip things that the guy trying to take his job is willing to do, well, then he will have plenty of time for his family.

And there are plenty of us that have had to miss important things in our lives because of work. Dance recital - that is such BS

 

[patchick]

I've made it clear to employers (past) and clients (more recently) that family always comes first and that I block off time for that stuff. Including dance recitals. It isn't BS.

Quick thought experiment: imagine that instead of "daughter's dance recital" he said something like "son's league championship soccer game." Do you think the same level of vitriol would have been directed toward the player? I kind of suspect not. But from the kid's perspective, it's pretty much the same deal: Dad is unavailable much of the year, but this is his "offseason." You've been training for many months for this one big day, you're beyond excited, and you SO want him to be there.

That said, I think Williams is in a tricky position as a FA joining a new team. In any new job, you do expect to go out of your way at first to make a good impression.

 

[Jackson 2]

Quick thought experiment: imagine that instead of "daughter's dance recital" he said something like "son's league championship soccer game." Do you think the same level of vitriol would have been directed toward the player? I kind of suspect not. But from the kid's perspective, it's pretty much the same deal: Dad is unavailable much of the year, but this is his "offseason." You've been training for many months for this one big day, you're beyond excited, and you SO want him to be there.

That said, I think Williams is in a tricky position as a FA joining a new team. In any new job, you do expect to go out of your way at first to make a good impression.

Some excellent points.

 

[vyrago]

Quick thought experiment: imagine that instead of "daughter's dance recital" he said something like "son's league championship soccer game." Do you think the same level of vitriol would have been directed toward the player? I kind of suspect not. But from the kid's perspective, it's pretty much the same deal: Dad is unavailable much of the year, but this is his "offseason." You've been training for many months for this one big day, you're beyond excited, and you SO want him to be there.

That said, I think Williams is in a tricky position as a FA joining a new team. In any new job, you do expect to go out of your way at first to make a good impression.

Great post Patchick.

 

[ivanvamp]

It annoys me when people refer to a career in sports as "it's just sport" or "they play a game for a living". Worldwide, sport is probably a trillion dollar industry several times over. It's a very real career path.

Absolutely right. I've thought about this for a while now, in fact. I work at a major division I university with big-time athletics. Many athletes (especially football and basketball players) don't take their regular classes seriously at all. If they think they're going to make millions in a sporting career why (they reason) should they take their middle ages European history class seriously?

I think schools should consider majors in the fields related to sports. I know some exist, but almost have an entire school of sports and sports business. Help these prospective athletes get legit education and equipping in so many aspects related to sports, including (but not limited to):

- contract law
- sports marketing
- history of sports
- money management (so they don't go broke)
- coaching
- interpersonal communication
- dealing with the media
- journalism
- broadcasting
- public communication
- sports business

There's SO much there that they could learn about the field they're about to enter. And it would prepare them for a career in sports (in some capacity) should they not be able to fulfill their dream as a pro athlete.

Sports is a legitimate field, and there are so many offshoots of it. Yet we don't have colleges dedicated to this multi-trillion dollar industry.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Hard for me to feel much simpatico here because folks working in competitive high tech companies (Google, Apple...) and high tech startups are expected to "voluntarily" work nights and weekends ad infinitum for far less reward. And God help anyone who tries to take 2 whole weeks of vacation.

 

[Snake Eyes]

Absolutely right. I've thought about this for a while now, in fact. I work at a major division I university with big-time athletics. Many athletes (especially football and basketball players) don't take their regular classes seriously at all. If they think they're going to make millions in a sporting career why (they reason) should they take their middle ages European history class seriously?

I think schools should consider majors in the fields related to sports. I know some exist, but almost have an entire school of sports and sports business. Help these prospective athletes get legit education and equipping in so many aspects related to sports, including (but not limited to):

- contract law
- sports marketing
- history of sports
- money management (so they don't go broke)
- coaching
- interpersonal communication
- dealing with the media
- journalism
- broadcasting
- public communication
- sports business

There's SO much there that they could learn about the field they're about to enter. And it would prepare them for a career in sports (in some capacity) should they not be able to fulfill their dream as a pro athlete.

Sports is a legitimate field, and there are so many offshoots of it. Yet we don't have colleges dedicated to this multi-trillion dollar industry.

Why are colleges, especially publicly funded ones, acting as a talent farm for professional sports?

 

[DocHoliday]

Why are colleges, especially publicly funded ones, acting as a talent farm for professional sports?

They make money from them.

It's their responsibility at the very least to give them a useful education.

 

[Snake Eyes]

They make money from them.

It's their responsibility at the very least to give them a useful education.

1 - Very few universities actually net a positive return from their sports programs.

2 - The talent farm athletes usually get a nonsense degree that is completely worthless.

 

[ausbacker]

Absolutely right. I've thought about this for a while now, in fact. I work at a major division I university with big-time athletics. Many athletes (especially football and basketball players) don't take their regular classes seriously at all. If they think they're going to make millions in a sporting career why (they reason) should they take their middle ages European history class seriously?

I think schools should consider majors in the fields related to sports. I know some exist, but almost have an entire school of sports and sports business. Help these prospective athletes get legit education and equipping in so many aspects related to sports, including (but not limited to):

- contract law
- sports marketing
- history of sports
- money management (so they don't go broke)
- coaching
- interpersonal communication
- dealing with the media
- journalism
- broadcasting
- public communication
- sports business

There's SO much there that they could learn about the field they're about to enter. And it would prepare them for a career in sports (in some capacity) should they not be able to fulfill their dream as a pro athlete.

Sports is a legitimate field, and there are so many offshoots of it. Yet we don't have colleges dedicated to this multi-trillion dollar industry.

We are in agreement ivanvamp.

 

[ivanvamp]

Why are colleges, especially publicly funded ones, acting as a talent farm for professional sports?

Well of course it didn't start out that way. Universities started having competitive sports long before there were pro sports leagues. For example, the NFL began in 1920, but the first college football game was in 1869 between Rutgers and Princeton. It was different than today's game, but the first game that we might recognize as close to modern football was played in 1875. Walter Camp was regarded as the founder of American football, and his first team was at Yale in 1878.

So we're talking about about a 40+ year time span. By the time the NFL started, there had already been many legendary college football teams. So it wasn't like college sports were designed to be feeder programs for pro sports; the college programs came first.

In Europe (well, Italy anyway), universities do not participate in sports. Sports exist in the form of clubs. So if you're college aged, you may go to a university and then also be in a soccer club. But the two are unrelated.

Maybe it's a better system. But our system is what it is, and it's not disappearing any time soon. Colleges are not leaving the world of athletic competition here in the US.

 

[ivanvamp]

1 - Very few universities actually net a positive return from their sports programs.

2 - The talent farm athletes usually get a nonsense degree that is completely worthless.

Do you think a "talent farm" athlete will take their schooling more seriously if it's directly related to the field they're hoping to enter (sports)?

 

[BTTA]

Hard for me to feel much simpatico here because folks working in competitive high tech companies (Google, Apple...) and high tech startups are expected to "voluntarily" work nights and weekends ad infinitum for far less reward. And God help anyone who tries to take 2 whole weeks of vacation.

Perhaps, but it isn't good for the employees or for those firms. I consult to them, and the start ups that are trying to eat their lunch, as well as biotech firms in similar environments. They are overly competitive and under collaborative. And all of the legitimate research - all of it - that compares situations where people can either compete or collaborate inside organizations shows definitively that collaboration provides better ROI in the short term and long term.

 

[Snake Eyes]

Well of course it didn't start out that way. Universities started having competitive sports long before there were pro sports leagues. For example, the NFL began in 1920, but the first college football game was in 1869 between Rutgers and Princeton. It was different than today's game, but the first game that we might recognize as close to modern football was played in 1875. Walter Camp was regarded as the founder of American football, and his first team was at Yale in 1878.

So we're talking about about a 40+ year time span. By the time the NFL started, there had already been many legendary college football teams. So it wasn't like college sports were designed to be feeder programs for pro sports; the college programs came first.

In Europe (well, Italy anyway), universities do not participate in sports. Sports exist in the form of clubs. So if you're college aged, you may go to a university and then also be in a soccer club. But the two are unrelated.

Maybe it's a better system. But our system is what it is, and it's not disappearing any time soon. Colleges are not leaving the world of athletic competition here in the US.

A minor league system would go a long way towards making college football irrelevant.

 

[ivanvamp]

A minor league system would go a long way towards making college football irrelevant.

I don't know about that. In some ways it sounds reasonable, but you really think these universities are going to just give up college football without a fight? Not gonna happen.