The 2010 NFL Holdout Epidemic
by shake n bake on Jun 4, 2010 4:23 PM EDT
in Colts Analysis
Email
PrintThis offseason it seems like there's a player looking for a new contract wherever you look. Even in places that are largely untouched by public disputes like Indy. The Colts have been very good at keeping contract negotiations private and in-house, free from public demands, pronouncements and bad blood, but this year they have several holdouts simmering while around the league many players are pushing for a new deal, including guys under contract for years to come like Chris and Andre Johnson. Why is the heat seemingly turned up on the annual offseason pushes for new contracts?
The looming threat of a lockout in 2011 looks like an obvious cause. These are just skirmishes before the owners and union sit down and attempt to hammer out a new CBA. A signing bonus on a new extension would likely cover the lost salary if a lockout came to pass and losing a year of salary would be a blow to the players no matter what their salary. While empathizing with guys that make 6-7 figures a year isn't easy in tough financial times, it does help understanding to realize that while most people if worst came to worst would have a shot at similarly paying jobs to their previous one, NFL players would have next to no chance to maintain their income level elsewhere. The pressure is on players financially.
Unfortunately for them the same uncertainty will make their push for new deals more of an uphill battle than usual. No owner will be excited to lay out a big signing bonus when they might not be fielding a team in 2011.
On the brighter side a major contributor to the delay on a new CBA was the pending American Needle case before the Supreme Court. The case was to have massive influence on the owners bargaining position. A victory, a declaration that the NFL was 1 business made up of 32 teams, rather than 32 businesses, would have given the owners a leg up on the union that likely would have allowed them to easily roll back many of the changes to the last CBA which had led to their early opt-out from it. However their case was soundly defeated before the Supreme Court. Hopefully this will bring the owners to the table seriously, now that they know they won't have the advantageous position the American Needle case could have provided, and we'll have NFL in 2011. For now though, we'll see effects of the uncertainty in public contract disputes.
52 comments
|
2 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Great write-up.
Hopefully with this new perspective people will look at the situation a bit differently.
"Life's hard. It's supposed to be. If we didn't suffer, we'd never learn anything."
I don't care how much you make.
Most people are not in a position to go from a salary to no salary for a year. This is even more true when your average career length is as short as an NFL players.
Further more, the NFL owners have a direct incentive to keep the players poor. It makes them more desperate.
I am wondering how many players
are similar to Marvin Harrison who own multiple businesses. Most NFL players have a degree in some form or another. I know Peyton has D1 because my kid plays soccer there every weekend and it seems to be doing very well. I would imagine that alot of these guys don’t just sit around after football stops.
The average NFL player is bankrupt soon after leaving the league
The average NFL career is only 4 years. Source
The median salary for the Colts is 540K. Source
The average NFL player pays 35% in taxes, 3% in agent fees, and who knows how much in legal, accounting, medical, and training fees.
It is very easy to just look at the NFL players and claim that they are spending frivolously and it is their own fault, but the fact remains it is very hard for the average american adult to manage their finances, that gets harder the more money you have not easier. Further, we are asking young adults in their 20s who are experts in football (not finance, or running a business) to navigate the current financial crisis, when the biggest brains on Wall Street can’t seem to manage.
that is why they have to be smart and think/plan for the future...
is it what Deion Sanders has been trying to do, in his academy of sort? NFL players are like any of us who is trying to earn a living, and they in particular have to plan for the future pretty right away, as soon as they are drafted or signed, if not sooner.
If you see my smilieys, think of E.M.H. - our COLTs King of Smileys!
though when you are examining veteran holdouts it's a bit different
the guys that wash out within 4 years aren’t holdouts and they are looking at more, often significantly more, than the median salary.
Not that I disagree with your overall point
I don’t care how much you make. Most people are not in a position to go from a salary to no salary for a year.
gets at a big point I was trying to make more explicitly and concisely than I did.
Choke/Clutch is the fetishization of the small sample size.
"People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do." -Isaac Asimov
But the financial problems are not just for 4 year washouts
In the SI article that those numbers are based on they interview use Rocket Ishmail as an example. He made a ton of money playing professional ball.
At the end of the day, the average person is not capable of handling a large sum of money that they suddenly make. That is even more true for young people, and there is no reason to believe that someone with expertise in football has any advantage in this case.
Stories like this, and the impending loss of a year of salary would have me scrambling to get more now instead of later, and the only option that the players have is hold outs.
This in opposition to the owners, who are exponentially more wealthy, have had years to hone their money management skills, who will continue to receive revenue even in a lockout year, and who are not wasting a major portion of their income generating years by losing a year.
Frankly, I’m shocked that the average fan doesn’t come down on the side of players in these hold outs.
probably the only thing that stops them from doing so is that players getting the shaft on their team (relative to the rest of the league)
helps their on field product, especially when we were working with the cap.
Choke/Clutch is the fetishization of the small sample size.
"People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do." -Isaac Asimov
Good answer but not what I was looking for
Marvin Harrison is far from homeless. By all accounts, he lived frivously compared to many instant millionaires. I see alot of people like Dan Marino, Jon Elway, and others who have car dealerships and other businesses. If you graduate from Rytgers, UT, Ohio State, etc. with a degree, you have options. Now you may go from rolling in millions to living like the rest of us but a living can be made.
Also, Michael Jordan never made large sums off of the Chicago Bulls. He made most of his money from endorsements. I wonder how much these players rake in on top of the millions earned from advertising deals with Nike, Gatorade, Sprint, etc.
Re: Michael Jordan
I remember hearing that Jordan got $33 million from the Bulls after coming back from his first retirement.
"The only time you really live fully is from thirty to sixty. The young are slaves to dreams; the old servants of regrets. Only the middle-aged have all their five senses in the keeping of their wits." -Theodore Roosevelt
According to Basketball Reference
According to Basketball Reference:
1984-85 – $550,000
1985-86 – $630,000
1986-87 – $737,500
1987-88 – $845,000
1988-89 – $2,000,000
1989-90 – $2,250,000
1990-91 – $2,500,000
1991-92 – $3,250,000
1992-93 – $4,000,000
1993-94 – $4,000,000
1994-95 – $3,850,000
1995-96 – $3,850,000
1996-97 – $30,140,000
1997-98 – $33,140,000
I was not really considering the Michael comeback era. The rest of the years were pretty lean comparatively.
You have to take into account
How much revenue the NBA was brining in back in the 1980s. I maybe wrong, but were the ratings for the NBA kinda low in the 1980s?! Anyway, Gatorade, Nike, and Hanes paid Jordan well enough to buy a friggin’ team…
"The only time you really live fully is from thirty to sixty. The young are slaves to dreams; the old servants of regrets. Only the middle-aged have all their five senses in the keeping of their wits." -Theodore Roosevelt
True because they had a cap
then he made big bucks when it came off. All I am trying to say is that Peyton, for instance, probably brings in easy $40-50 million in major endorsements and who knows how much in the local market. Now he is the extreme but Reggie has had major endorsement deals with Reebok and Sprint.
I understand alot of these guys blow it but so do other people. It happens but there are other players who stash it away and very successful after they leave the field.
I believe Peyton is the highest paid NFL player
with all of his endorsements and his contract in the range of $35-50 million a year.
You’re right, though, too many of these guys lose all of their money from gambling and strip clubs or bad investment deals and other money scams. I wish the NFL and the NBA would offer a personal finance series that would be required for all rookies and open to any other player who would like to learn about finance.
"The only time you really live fully is from thirty to sixty. The young are slaves to dreams; the old servants of regrets. Only the middle-aged have all their five senses in the keeping of their wits." -Theodore Roosevelt
Yeah.... from twitter....
a couple of Colts players were in Vegas a couple of weeks ago …. and u know what happened of course….
If you see my smilieys, think of E.M.H. - our COLTs King of Smileys!
There is a big difference between them and us
If I screw up my finances for 4 years, I am not going to have lost millions of dollars and ruined my maximum earning years, they are.
Further, what did I have to plan for when I was 21? Put as much money into my savings and 401K as I could afford bang, there’s all the advice I needed to get through my 20s.
When you are dealing with millions of dollars even figuring out who’s advice to trust is nearly impossible. It takes expertise that most people do not have. Especially when you are trying at the same time to make it as a young professional athlete.
Everybody has a choice in doing what they do.....
Nobody is ever forced into playing football for a living. While i think some players are totally worth their pay, some are not. And based on real life adjustments based on economics, luck, health, politics, court rulings…… they get what they are paid, whether it is worth it or not. While all the players have the rights to demand more or stage their claims on more, there should NOT be any generalized rationale for them to make more. Like it or not, it is a variant form of employer/employee relationship. While Wayne, Mathis and Bethea definitely have the rights to try to get more, the situations are very different for them. Maybe NFL should recommend that all players get a financial advisor or estate planner when they enter the league….
Oh, btw, yes, a lot of young people don’t plan nowadays but that is NOT the basis or argumnet of getting more money from the team… it is not welfare! geez! Playing football is a job, plan accordingly and i sincerely hope the players will be given instructions or guidance on doing that.
If you see my smilieys, think of E.M.H. - our COLTs King of Smileys!
by Manning4ever on Jun 4, 2010 10:07 PM EDT up reply actions
I'm not arguing they deserve more because they lose it
I’m arguing against this mindset that they “get paid millions of dollars and I don’t” so I can’t empathize with them.
The fact remains that NFL players are unlike other employees because even though they get paid lots of money, they have virtually no leverage with their employers. I can always leave my company and go get another job making similar salary to what I make now, they can’t.
Conversely, the owners are in a nearly unique situation in the first world, where they can prevent their employees from finding a new job, have them locked into a pay structure, yet have no obligation to pay them the entirety of their agreement.
Given the financial state of most NFL players, the lack of leverage they have with owners, and the impending labor issues, it seems obvious to me that those players that might make more money by holding out, should.
Which seems to fly in the face of the conventional wisdom around here, which wants to turn a simple business decision into a referendum on their moral character. Again, I’m surprised the average fan is not on the side of the players in this disagreement.
I am sorry..... your logic does not make sense to me....
Leverage?? SOME players have leverage and some don’t, just like any other kind of workers/employees…. Well, not going thru your post point to point…. you can definitely hold onto your viewpoints, and us ours….
If you see my smilieys, think of E.M.H. - our COLTs King of Smileys!
Which players have leverage`?
Other than Manning, who is the abnormality.
"It's the greatest job in the world until Peyton comes off the field and you think his thumb might be broken and there's three minutes left in the AFC Championship Game and you're down by three to New England and you haven't taken a snap all year. Yeah, it's a great job until that point." - Jim Sorgi.
"If I couldn't play for the Colts, I would probably stop playing football." - Peyton Manning.
colts or incl other teams...
darrelle revis does at this time…
If you see my smilieys, think of E.M.H. - our COLTs King of Smileys!
by Manning4ever on Jun 5, 2010 6:56 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
No he doesn't.
"It's the greatest job in the world until Peyton comes off the field and you think his thumb might be broken and there's three minutes left in the AFC Championship Game and you're down by three to New England and you haven't taken a snap all year. Yeah, it's a great job until that point." - Jim Sorgi.
"If I couldn't play for the Colts, I would probably stop playing football." - Peyton Manning.
Not really.
"I am in favor of censorship ‐ not against what is supposed to be sexy or dirty, but against what is idiotic." -Jean Renoir
Random fact of the week from the empty void that is my mind: In the average lifetime, a person will walk the equivalent of 5 times around the equator.
so if manning didn't attend ota's would we be ok with that or not?
My whole point is I don’t understand the current mindset that says that by holding out of the OTAs Reggie and Mathis are bad people when it is literally the smartest thing they could be doing right now as business men.
I also find the argument that “they get paid so much more than me, they should just be happy” absurd. They 1. get paid what the market will bear. 2. Have a skill set that cannot be easily replicated.
Finally, I find the attitude of the common fan that thinks most NFL players are set for life due to their profession doesn’t jibe with the real world, and it’s not (for most) because they are out spending tons of money on strippers and krystal.
You bring up a great point...
Would we say Peyton is a “douche” for not attending OTA’s in need of more money? It saddens me that people were so quick to turn their backs and deem Mathis/Wayne expendable.
"Life's hard. It's supposed to be. If we didn't suffer, we'd never learn anything."
The BIG difference is... and maybe one of the reasons why Peyton will
most likely be the highest paid player in the NFL soon…. is that he WILL NEVER do that…… higest paid or not…. he is already working his tail off without even securing the higest paid contract…
If you see my smilieys, think of E.M.H. - our COLTs King of Smileys!
Because he knows that he will be the highest paid player anyway.
He did hold out before signing his rookie contract. Douche!
"It's the greatest job in the world until Peyton comes off the field and you think his thumb might be broken and there's three minutes left in the AFC Championship Game and you're down by three to New England and you haven't taken a snap all year. Yeah, it's a great job until that point." - Jim Sorgi.
"If I couldn't play for the Colts, I would probably stop playing football." - Peyton Manning.
No one can guarantee douche!
I will not take his rookie season as a yardstick. Nobody we are talking about here is a rookie. The other Manning became the higest paid last year. Maybe there will be another player, albeit unlikely, going to be the highest paid soon after his. Maybe he should hold out to make sure that he is the higest paid in his remaing years by inserting some terms and conditions in the new contract. Did you ever think about that? He can, but he deesn’t.
If you see my smilieys, think of E.M.H. - our COLTs King of Smileys!
And, i think you know it already ....
Manning’s hold-out was mainly due to getting a frame of reference of how his contract should be since Manning and Leaf went 1 2 on QB that year. he signed 2 days after Leaf got his deal confirmed. Not sure if you can classify that as a “threaten you if I don’t get a better deal” kinda of holdout. BUT, i really don’t know anything…. I am a triple-douche!
If you see my smilieys, think of E.M.H. - our COLTs King of Smileys!
by Manning4ever on Jun 6, 2010 10:06 PM EDT up reply actions
I know some of us will think...
income should be fair and equal and re-distributed…. then there will be no argument here because it “should” not work that way. Please it is very scary for people to even THINK that way. That point maybe used in negotiations by other players as a tactics.. but we all believe that should be case, you guys all prepare for a socialist idea here. I know how that works… and please don’t go there.
If you see my smilieys, think of E.M.H. - our COLTs King of Smileys!
by Manning4ever on Jun 6, 2010 2:03 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
rec'd for wisdom
Careful what you wish for... "A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have." Gerald Ford, 38th US president
how in the hell does a post that isn't even english get rec'd for wisdom
I never mentioned socialism, yet someone who is either A) drunk or B) not literate get rec’d for wisdom. I assume it is because of some weird knee jerk reaction to employees getting paid, being equated with socialism.
Very weird.
have you experienced that socialism?
please shut up if you haven’t. Yeah, my professors said my mind goes faster than my hand so sometimes if I don’t proofread, i write un-intellgible proses…..sorry about that.
If you see my smilieys, think of E.M.H. - our COLTs King of Smileys!
Ignore him, M4
Your English is fine.
Careful what you wish for... "A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have." Gerald Ford, 38th US president
Thanks! I just also got insulted elsewhere in this blog...
got really frustrated being called names.. but I guess this is the way of life.
If you see my smilieys, think of E.M.H. - our COLTs King of Smileys!
by Manning4ever on Jun 6, 2010 10:04 PM EDT up reply actions
Don't take it personally
It’s hard, i know… but ya gotta remember that the anonymity of the web seems to bring out the worst in people. We’ll say things under a pseudonym we’d never say to someone face-to-face.
You’ve become a valuable contributor here. Don’t stop doing what you’re doing.
Careful what you wish for... "A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have." Gerald Ford, 38th US president
thanks Teej, i appreciate that.
I thought about not coming back here again BUT:
1) I deal with people who don’t agree with me everyday but there are almost always things that I can learn from them.
2) I cannot change the world or others’ thoughts by being absent.
3) America is still a democracy…. last time i checked….. so i guess my voice needs to be heard too.
4) last but not least, kind people like you (and of course some others) make the world a better place.
thanks again!
If you see my smilieys, think of E.M.H. - our COLTs King of Smileys!
my apologies
I didn’t realize that you had trouble writing English.
Having said that, I continue to maintain that this has nothing to do with socialism. This has to do with an oddity of the NFL where the owners have contract rights that are virtually unheard of in any other employer/employee relationship.
Fans then take a player using the only negotiating tool available to them and extrapolate that the player is a “scumbag” or a “douche” because of it.
All the while everyone else (other players, owners, GMs, etc.) all see it for what it was. A business decision.
honestly according to my British professors....
most people here in the States have trouble writing AND speaking English… I got ribbed by them for not writing elegant pretty and convuluted prose and then after adjustments, got ribbed by my American professors for being not brief and concise. While at IU, i got help from an “ukranian” professor and straightened things out but that was quite a number of years ago – she told me to read and re-read what I wrote and got into the shoes of those who were reading my writings, and to think IF the audience would understand what I was trying to convey. I always skipped a few steps and words and connectors since there were just so many things I needed to write! While my academic capacity was not doubted, I needed to be able to communicate clearly and effectively all my points and therefore conclusions…. My one and only (cough cough….) weakness persists till this day is that my thoughts usually go too fast …..
If you see my smilieys, think of E.M.H. - our COLTs King of Smileys!
You're comparing player to player leverage
kasey is comparing leverage of NFL players in general to leverage of employees in other businesses. Two completely different things.
Imagine this scenario: an investment banker has been with a company for 3 years and has had good success. He’s learned a lot, made his clients a lot of money, and has a promising future ahead of him. He goes to the CEO and says, “I want to be the top-paid employee in this company.”
The CEO says, “Hold on there, son. You’ve done well and you have a lot of promise, but there’s guys that have been doing this for years. They’ve paid their dues and have been making me money since you were in diapers. I’m not paying somebody who’s been here 3 years more than these guys, no matter how much promise you have.”
Now in the “real world,” the promising banker has options. He can say, “OK, I’ll stay here and work my way up like everybody else,” or he can say, “Screw you, I’m going to another firm who’ll pay me more.”
In the NFL world, players don’t have that option. As long as they are under contract, they must stay with the team that owns their rights. The banker has leverage in contract negotiations because he can go to another firm. An NFL player under contract cannot. Of course an NFL player can take a job in Canada or the UFL, but that would be the equivalent of the banker taking a job as a teller — not even remotely an equivalent option.
And for the sake of brevity, I won’t even get into the concept of contractual obligations in employment — suffice it to say that there are very few contractual situations in the business world where one side is allowed to change the terms of the contract with virtual impunity while the other side is not.
There are reasons that the NFL and MLB frequently have to deal with antitrust issues. The unique nature of the labor situations is one of the big ones.
Nothing's complicated if you understand it.
as FineClub has explained to us....
there is a different point of view of the situation. Leverage is leverage but maybe different kinds of leverage. You don’t have to go into conractual obligations. We are also very educated business people here. So, save youself some time.
If you see my smilieys, think of E.M.H. - our COLTs King of Smileys!
Not trying to insult anybody's education
Just trying to point out that the nature of NFL contracts and the unique labor situation of such a closed system leave the player very little leverage. Of course a Peyton Manning has more leverage than a special-teamer. But that’s comparing two like quantities. Comparing contractual leverage in the NFL with contractual leverage in 99.9% of the business world is comparing apples and oranges.
Nothing's complicated if you understand it.
Also
The NFL does recommend that players get a financial planner for all rookies, they do have a 1 day seminar on money management, but these are not enough. To handle the kinds of money they are making you need to be a professional.
In fact, if you read the SI article about this, you will find that one of the biggest problems is that it is really hard to find a financial planner who is honest, knows what he is doing, and doesn’t take advantage of the player.
If you won the lottery tomorrow, where would you find your financial planner, accountant, and lawyer. For most of us this would be a very challenging task.
Then the NFL or individual teams need to do something more about it
Don’t they? Can we all blame our parents for not giving us sound money lessons and that’s why we are not mult-millionnaires?
If you see my smilieys, think of E.M.H. - our COLTs King of Smileys!
Why would/shoul the NFL or the teams do something about it?
They are the employers. Why should they care? That’s naive.
If anyone should do something, it’s the NFL players union.
"It's the greatest job in the world until Peyton comes off the field and you think his thumb might be broken and there's three minutes left in the AFC Championship Game and you're down by three to New England and you haven't taken a snap all year. Yeah, it's a great job until that point." - Jim Sorgi.
"If I couldn't play for the Colts, I would probably stop playing football." - Peyton Manning.
look at the cats who are making more and the stats they’ve produced…
Its a buisness…they have the ability to be in a market..They are taking advantage of it….
The most interesting thing I see there
is that the Panthers Steve Smith has the name “Stevonne” in parentheses next to his name. Interesting.
"Life's hard. It's supposed to be. If we didn't suffer, we'd never learn anything."
absolutely....
of course there are some anomalies such as Jamarcus… or ….
If you see my smilieys, think of E.M.H. - our COLTs King of Smileys!
Yep! there you go...
and possibly many more examples…
If you see my smilieys, think of E.M.H. - our COLTs King of Smileys!
Get your $$$ while you can!
Most NFL contracts are not guaranteed & your career can be over tomorrow.
It’s a rough sport & players do not live a normal, healthy lifestyle after it’s over.
It never hurts to ask, but get all you can while you can.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
