The NFL Locks Out Its Slaves?!

After months of speculation, it's official! The NFL owners have officially locked out the players. The players have already voted to decertify their union in order to file an antitrust lawsuit against the owners. Plaintiffs in that case are players such as Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, and Drew Brees. There have also been several players speak out about the current situation. Considering the current circumstances, that is to be expected. The comments that really caught my eye though were the ones made by Vikings running back Adrian Peterson.

If you have yet to see his comments, he compared the current NFL labor situation to "modern day slavery." Like Doug Farrar says in the previous link, I don't think Peterson was actually comparing playing in the NFL to slavery. I think he was trying to prove a point and ended up choosing a poor choice of words. The link I included contains the entire dialogue of the Peterson interview. You can read it and decide for yourself what he meant.

With all of that said, I cannot help but think less of Adrian Peterson. He's a great player on the field, even if he does have a serious case of fumblitis, but he's a little out of his league on this one. It's a complete joke to use the NFL (or any professional sports league for that matter) in the same sentence as slavery, no matter the context.

I understand that it is hard to be a professional football player. Anybody that says otherwise needs to be realistic. Throughout the length of an NFL season, the players put their bodies through hell. Many of them feel the effects of that once they retire. Again, with that said, players can make a ton of money throughout their careers just for playing a game. I understand it is a job, but looking at the big picture, players are still making a ton of money to play the game of football. It sure doesn't sound like slavery to me.

As of the 2010 season, the lowest amount of money a player on any roster could make is $320,000, and that is only for players without a credited season in the NFL. The longer a player remains in the leauge, the higher their minimum salary becomes.

In 2010, it means that a player with no credited seasons will receive at least $320,000.  For players with one credited season, the minimum salary is $395,000.  For players with two credited seasons, the minimum is $470,000.  For players with three credited seasons, the minimum is $545,000.

For players with four to six credited seasons, the minimum pay if $630,000.

Seven to nine?  $755,000.

And for players with ten or more seasons, the minimum salary is $855,000.

That's a lot higher than the average salary a teacher makes, at any level.

It's also a bit funny that Peterson, of all people would make a comment like that. He is currently in the middle of a six year, 40.5 million dollar contract, with atleast 17 million guaranteed. So he could make anywhere from 6.75 million to 2.83 million in a given season. Keep in mind, that's just for playing a game for a living. That doesn't count any endorsement deals and other contracts that he may have.

I don't think Peterson really was comparing a life as a player in the NFL to the life of a slave. That doesn't mean that he doesn't need to either re-tract or clarify his earlier comments. I understand there is currently some bad blood between the owners and players. There always is during times like this, in any sport. However, it's completely asinine to even talk about NFL players and slaves in the same sentence. The current group of NFL players may not be happy about their previous deal, as well as the owners' proposals, but they are most certainly not slaves.

That was a dark time in the history of our great nation and there's no reason to bring it up now. I understand that "those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." But this is not the time, nor the forum to bring up the topic of slavery.

Step up and do the right thing Adrian, do what you need to do to make this right.