Published By Scott Swingle

 

Twitter: @IamFrankDux

 

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 Story after the break…

 

After watching/listening to countless hours of reporters, experts and analyst talk about the recent tragedy of Junior Seau and what this means for the NFL and it’s upcoming lawsuits against hundreds of former players, I have come to a conclusion. The NFL is ran by complete buffoons. This all could have been avoided before anyone would of ever thought of filing a lawsuit against the NFL. Why hide the documentation regarding the research that was done? We all knew players were getting concussions. We all knew coaches were throwing players back in with the risk of them being further hurt. For any NFL personnel or any true fan of the sport to claim they had no idea is either a liar or just flat out naive. I have an idea of how to fix the problem for the NFL. It’s nothing amazing but it would get them out of any legal trouble in the future and also benefit the players after football.

 

My idea is not bullet proof. Obviously with some tweaking and some legal jargon it would be more air tight. Make players choose between a signing bonus or health insurance. Follow me on this. A player makes most of his money through a signing bonus. How it works is you have the years of a contract equal X amount of dollars. So the player is being paid on a consistent rate every year, most of the time with bonus’ and cash incentives. Kind of like a salesmen gets a commission/bonus on every sale, the player receives the same with on the field production. Now a signing bonus is guaranteed money. The team can not take back the signing bonus. The reason for this is in case the player is cut they at least have money. NFL contracts are not guaranteed and teams may cut you at anytime with no penalty. Thus a signing bonus is implemented. Which brings me to another issue. Make contracts guaranteed. I get it guys, get hurt or aren’t as productive as you thought. You made the mistake now pay for it. NBA has it and so does the MLB. Stop offering players such high signing bonus’ and give them better contracts. Do your job as a scout and GM. Be accountable for your actions. Just my opinion.

 

How I would breakdown the contract. Signing Bonus’: You get the amount agreed upon in the signing bonus but less in the contract. Obvious. The years agreed upon will be played out in full. If the team decides to cut the player then the team must cover the contract on a percentage of the years/salary remaining. You forfeit any right to be apart of the player’s insurance program, therefore waiving the right to file any claims against the NFL for any injuries during your time with the team or any medical complications that ensue after football. If you can’t manage your money and provide health coverage for yourself than that’s your fault. Health Insurance: If you choose the option to have health coverage instead of a big signing bonus you are enrolled in the leagues insurance policy. What would of been given to you in a signing bonus will now be thrown into the NFL insurance funds. You MUST wear a mouthpiece and all NFL issued safety equipment. Any injuries that you suffer related to football or any off the field accidents that are beyond your control, will be covered by the NFL and the expenses of the players immediate family within reason(you aren’t getting paid to accommodate your lifestyle) on the insurance during and after the players career in the NFL. Only you and your immediate family(spouse, kids) will be able to receive any benefits. At any time the player has the option of enrolling into the program upon a NEW contract negotiation.

 

Make the players choose. Do you want to get paid a big contract or do you want to be covered for life? Who’s to say you can’t have both? I understand players are already involved in an insurance program with the NFLPA(player association/union) but with this policy you get out of it what you put in. I think you would find it surprising how many players would take the money. If I offed you a contract for 5 years at 4 million a year with a signing bonus of 10 million what would you do? Would you take the money and run or would you invest in the future for your sake and most importantly your family’s sake? I know what I would do. That signing bonus is going straight into the pool so I can use it later. Think about how much money the players will save on medical bill or insurance payments. Think about how much money the NFL and owners will save keeping all the money in house.

 

If the NFL would bump up the contracts and guarantee the money to the players, I don’t see why the players wouldn’t go for this kind of policy. It’s not about taking money out of players pockets. I’m all for players trying to get paid. With this policy I feel it gives the NFL and NFLPA balance. You make the decision as a player. The NFL no longer holds your fate in their hands. If you choose to get paid than you don’t get to come after us when you have the memory and motor skills of a punch drunk boxer. If you choose to be a part of the insurance program than the NFL will help you if it ever came to that. Obviously with ample proof that football created these health issues or with any immediate family ailment like stated above in the mock policy. Which with all the overwhelming evidence I don’t see how they can dispute anything.

 

Will something like this ever happen? Probably not. Is it a good idea? Absolutely. Like I said with some tweaking and filling in some holes I think it would greatly benefit the league and all the players from a legal side as well as a financial security side. Everybody wins. It’s a slight gamble for the NFL but insurance companies do it everyday. Also teams and owners need to stop having team doctors. The NFL needs to have their doctors on the sidelines and in the locker room to evaluate players. Team doctors sign off on what ever they are told to do. Do I need to remind you of RG3? Didn’t think so. If I didn’t make my points very clear, I’m sorry. This is just an idea where everyone would be happy. If you have any ideas how to fix the NFL player safety issue then please chime in. I’d love to hear them.

 

Thank you for taking the time to read the article. Let me know what you think in the comment section below. Be sure to follow me on twitter(link above) for updates and more article on sports, gaming and social media. If you liked the article be sure to subscribe to Swingle’s Playbook and check out baefed.com for all past and future news/rants. Thanks for stopping by and as always have a great day.

 

  Story after the break…

With recent reports and allegations surrounding a new PED(performance enhancing drug) scandal, I can only shake my head and ask myself why. Why do we as fans, but most importantly the media pounce on every opportunity to expose these cheaters?. The White Knights of baseball. I find it funny in an ironic way that the same people that are so quick to crucify a player for using steroids or PED’s are the same people that praised them for resurrecting a sport that was slowly dying. The “Juiced Era” is a bi-product of what the MLB created. More home runs equals more fans which equals more money. Let me explain in further detail.

 

I have been a baseball fan since I was a little kid. I grew up playing and watching the game extensively and thoroughly. I had family and friends that played the game past high school and some professionally. There is a game within the game that most fans wouldn’t understand. In fact they would find it quite boring. Well that’s exactly what happened. Unless you’re a true fan of the game you don’t want to watch a pitchers dual or a low scoring game. That was baseball before the mid-80′s when steroids started to surface in the MLB. Players were hitting just absolute bombs. You notice how all the new stadiums have smaller dimensions? For good reason my friend. That’s a rant for another day. Pitcher’s were throwing the ball harder and had nasty off-speed pitches. Batting stats were low and a new generation of fans did not find the game exciting enough to pay attention to. How could you compete with the fast-paced action of the NFL or NBA?

 

As players began to take part in using steroids you began to see batting stats begin to rise. Averages were up, home runs were up and so was attendance, kind of. Let me fast forward to the mid-90′s. We started to see more players hitting 40-50 homeruns in a season. I remember when Ken Griffey Jr. was threatening the single-season homerun record. It was all over the media. Sparking an interest among casual fans to see if he could break the record. Unfortunately he did not, but that was the beginning of the “Juiced Era” and it all starts with Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. A sport that was dying. A sport that only your grandpa or dad watched now become relevant to the younger generation of fans. These two guys put on one of the greatest shows in the history of Major League Baseball. Both players broke Roger Maris’s homerun record of 61. They did it in grand fashion. McGwire looked like a bodybuilder with a bat and Sosa would launch balls clear into the upper deck.

 

These two men brought the sport back to the national spotlight. The fans they brought in, merchandise they sold and attention from the media they brought changed the game forever. Now years later these players would be accused and found guilty of using steroids. Which was no surprise to me but to others it was the world’s most horrible tragedy. What these player’s also did was open Pandora’s box. The MLB made so much money and were living large. The players wanted in to. You know why we have guys that make 250-300 million dollar contracts? It’s because of the revenue jump. If a guy can blast me 50-60 bombs a year and make me 3-4 times what I give him then why not? This also added extra pressure on players to stay up to speed and also get paid. Everything was great. Players were on steroids, making money and the MLB was soaring in the ratings, financially too. Well, “unforeseen” by everyone a former MVP by the name of Ken Caminiti dies of a heart attack in 2004. In 2007 a report comes out about how the heart attack was a combination of drugs and steroid abuse. Uh oh, someone’s in trouble.

 

Now the MLB is on the defensive. How can we save the day? How can we stop steroids before its too late? How can we save our revenue from dropping? I know!!! Throw everyone under the bus. The Mitchell Report come out in December 2007 exposing over 100 players that were linked to steroid use. Yay!! The White Knight that is the MLB saved the world from these monsters and cheaters. Give me a break. The MLB continued to grow in popularity and batting stats seemed to be rising around the league. I thought we got rid of steroids? Nope now players got smart and started using PED’s. Which at the time most were not on the banned substance list. Should we fix this? Well let’s ride this out a bit. No sense in throwing away money.

 

Batting stats have started to go back down in recent years due to harsher punishments for violators of the banned substance policy and the list is extremely long when it comes to things you can no longer take to improve your game. Now owners and MLB big wigs are upset at the fact they blew all this money on players that can’t perform without steroids or PED’s. If players become suspended by violating rules the owners don’t have to pay them. It’s a witch hunt to save money. Don’t tell me it’s for the integrity of the game. You lost all integrity when you sold it to become billionaires. Did the game ever have integrity to begin with? Is this whole integrity thing a nice way of putting it to the public that it’s a member’s only club and if we don’t like or have any use for you than you can’t be a part of it?

 

So after this long rambling history lesson and sarcastic questioning let me tell you and what every true baseball fan thinks. You did this to yourselves. You helped created a monster to make money and it back fired. To save face in the media you destroyed the very people you created. You weren’t complaining when you were making money off of McGwire and Sosa so why now? Do I find it shameful that the MLB had to use steriods and PED’s to get to the next level? Of course I do, I love the game of baseball. The game will always be tainted now. Not because of the players but because of the league itself. I find this whole thing hypocritical from every angle. Players, MLB and the media.

 

Thank you for taking the time to read the article. Be sure to follow me on twitter(link above) for more articles and updates. Also be sure to follow Swingles’ Playbook for articles and news on sports, gaming and social media. Let me know what you think in the comment section below and as always have a great day. Thank you Baef for the opportunity to be a part of baefed.com.