Well, now we know who the cheap bastards are:
A controversy is brewing among the league’s assistant coaches because of a change the owners made at the NFL meetings in March that allowed teams to opt out of the standardized pension plan that has been one of the best in professional sports and implement one of their choosing.The Texans are one of nine teams — including Dallas, New England, Atlanta, Jacksonville, New Orleans, Buffalo, Arizona and San Francisco — that opted out of the NFL pension. Owner Bob McNair plans to meet with his employees next week to explain to them why he opted out and what the new plan will be.
Some of these owners are no surprise. Jerry Jones (Dallas) and Bob Kraft (Patriots) have been and always will be scum. Their clubs make a ton of money, and there is no reason for them not to pay into the pension plan other than plain and simple greed. Wayne Weaver (Jaguars), Bill Bidwill (Cardinals), Ralph Wilson (Bills), Bob McNair (Texans), and Tom Benson (Saints) are known cheapskates who routinely make decisions that damage the franchises they own. I know fans of those teams might not like me ripping their owners, but you don't need to look far beyond those teams' track records to see my point. Pretty much all of them have been bad for the last ten years, with the Patriots being the lone exception.
It's worth noting that great owners like the Rooney family (Steelers), the Mara family (Giants), Jim Irsay (Colts), Pat Bowlen (Broncos), Clark Hunt (Chiefs), and the citizens of Green Bay (Packers) did not opt out; all great teams with proud legacies who are making good money regardless of the size of their market. We also know that the Colts continue to pay into the pension plan even though their franchise makes maybe 1/4 the revenue teams like the Cowboys do.
In short, if you team's owner opted out of the pension plan, then your team's owner is a greedy prick. And for you "BBS is an ass for calling out my team" crowd, shut your virtual pie holes for a moment and know that I would say this if the after effects had nothing to do with the Colts and their coaches, like Howard Mudd. If the Colts themselves had opted out of the pension plan, I'd be bashing them (and Jim Irsay) as well. In America today, many corporations and businesses are using the current economy as an excuse to slash pensions. In many cases, the cutting of pensions does little or anything to help the business. The management is doing it because, quite simply, companies do not want to take care of their older employees. If you listen to Houston's resident idiot, Bob McNair, he tries pathetically to explain himself:
It (resolution voted on by the owners) lets each club make our own decision about what type of pension plan we’ll have for (non-playing employees)," McNair said Thursday. "It’s a move to get costs under control. What we’re going to have is, basically, the standard pension plan in American industry."
The last sentence made me laugh because it is McNair essentially admitting that "Yeah, just like every other company in America today, we're going to screw our longtime employees over. Why? Because we can."
The NFL don't have a cost cutting problem, as McNair suggests. When you're talking about a Super Bowl is friggin London, you don't have a cost cutting problem. When a depressed city with a failing industry gives more money to a rookie than Tom Brady makes, you don't have a cost cutting problem. The NFL is making a TON of money, and a lot of that money comes from the play of star players (like Peyton Manning) who were coached up and made great by coaches like Howard Mudd and Tom Moore. Now, obviously, this type of pension plan cutting is nothing compared to the issues facing many working, retirement age folks across the country; people who were working decades for their pension only to see it vanish.
However, what this latest incident between the owners has shown is quite startling: Several idiot owners just don't give a crap about the coaches that have helped make this league great. And guess what, it is going to cost them.
There are reports that assistant coaches are considering forming a union, staging a walk-out and, in some cases, resigning to coach in college.
Another union for the owners to negotiate with. Another union that will likely side more with the players than owners. Another union that is going to demand (and likely get) more from the owners than they otherwise would if idiots like Kraft, Jones, and McNair had left the pension plan alone. Because if they don't, they'll either leave for the college ranks or find something else to do. Don't think younger coaches haven't taken notice of this. They see their future; to work 30-plus years and then to suddenly have your pension yanked with little or no warning. That's the kind of thing that unites people and makes them say, "Um, no. We're not going to let you do that. I'm with Local 12."
In the end, teams like our Colts will likely get to retain coaches like Mudd and Moore as "consultants." But, the damage done by these idiot owners I've listed above could make this upcoming labor fight even more ugly.