Sam Amico
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Mike Florio runs NFL-based website ProFootballTalk, but that doesn’t mean he’s a fan of the NFL Draft. Quite the opposite, actually.
As relayed by Awful Announcing, a chapter in Part I of Florio’s new book, “Playmakers: How the NFL Really Works (And Doesn’t),” makes the argument that the draft is, well, un-American. Honestly. The chapter is actually entitled, At Its Core, The Draft Is Anti-American.
Florio is a former labor lawyer who actually launched PFT back in 2001, when he was still practicing law on a full-time basis. So his career background likely plays a role in his stance here.
“The draft reflects Anti-American values,” Florio wrote. “It restrains movement and flexibility and the inherent realities of self-determination. It forces men not long removed from being boys to move to places they otherwise would never choose to live, often hundreds if not thousands of miles from the places they’d prefer to start their professional lives.”
In other words, Florio believes that NFL prospects should be able to pick where they want to “work,” just like many other American citizens.
Of course, what Florio fails to realize is that NFL players are picking their place of employment. They are picking the NFL. When a player is drafted by the Dallas Cowboys, he isn’t really working for the Cowboys. He is working for the NFL.
The NFL is assigning the player a location in which to work. Think about it. Nearly every company ask potential employees the following question: “Are you willing to relocate?”
Sometimes, the answer is no. But if you want the job badly enough, it’s yes.
At any rate, Florio stood by his point in an interview with Awful Announcing.
“It really is un-American,” he said of the NFL Draft. “There is no industry other than professional sports where someone who enters a workforce cannot pick where they are going to live, cannot pick who they’re going to work for, cannot pick who they’re going to work with. They just have to submit.
“The players are brainwashed. The fans are brainwashed. We just accept that’s the way it is. You can’t push back against it. Well, you can. They just don’t do it often enough.”
Actually, again, this doesn’t really apply. Players can in fact choose to play in a league other than the NFL. Or not play pro football. Just because someone is drafted by a team doesn’t mean he has to take the job. He can say, “I don’t want to work for the NFL.” Or maybe, “I don’t want to live in that city.”
That is the same thing as an employee who doesn’t want to relocate. The option is there. But if you want to work for a certain company, in this case the NFL, you have to be willing to move the city in which you are assigned.
And even if you agree with Florio’s stance, you can’t argue that the draft is perfectly legal.
“That’s due to the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the NFL and the NFL Players Association,” Awful Announcing wrote. “Both sides agreed to these conditions.”
Employers and employees agreeing to something to make their company a better place? Sorry, Mike. That’s as American as it gets.
Be funny if he lost all access to the NFL after that statement. I would also that he and other “journalists” have made a great living covering the NFL. Be damn shame if they lost access and have to make a living doing something else.
Florio is an idiot. It goes to show you that lawyers aren’t that smart, or at least the vast majority of them. He couldn’t critically think if his life depended on it.
That is a stretch to say the “vast majority” of lawyers aren’t smart. It is a bad take but that happens to “smart” people all the time.
Sam, what you said is exactly right. If the player doesn’t like the team or the city he can choose to enter another profession. Simple as that. He’s not bound to do anything he doesn’t want to do. Some lawyer this douche, Florio, would be.
When I think of what is and what’s not America, I turn to Mike Florio.
Judging by the criteria, is it safe to say that the military is also Un-American?
Was this from The Babylon Bee??? My gawd
Look for Mike’s new book on the 90% discount rack at Barnes & Noble in a couple weeks.
100% correct Sam. I am in the insurance business. I am from NJ, interviewed in NJ then Ohio. I trained in Ohio. Was sent to Florida for add’l training. Was permanently assigned to Scranton, PA, didn’t like it and left the company. My choice.
When you’re making the kind of money that NFL players make, you can choose to live in one location and have a second place (own or rent) where your team resides. It’s not a hardship Mike! Honestly, has anyone ever heard of a football player complaining about this issue?
It’s about as in-American as the military where We didn’t get a say in where we went, the unit we worked for, and the co-workers we worked with. All for about 30k a year. But I knew what I was signing up for and so do they.
I hate typing on a phone. Can we get an edit button for after we have our first cup of coffee? Outkick?
Agree. I didn’t tell Uncle Sam where I wanted to go, he told me. Deal with it.
If the players don’t like their situation they can quit and find a job using their education. That way they will end up working for minimum wage.
“There is no industry other than professional sports where someone who enters a workforce cannot pick where they are going to live, cannot pick who they’re going to work for, cannot pick who they’re going to work with. They just have to submit.”
Well, other than the military, all Federal law enforcement agencies, most state-wide (i.e. CHP) law enforcement agencies, al lot of tech and insurance industries, oh, and of course JOURNALISM, where they can send you anywhere they want to cover a story. What a fucking idiot.
This is such a dumb take. The NFL Draft is awesome.