Torn Ligament - $40,000
Concussion - $60,000
Staph infection and five days in the hospital - $200,000

Eating an Oreo faster than Payton Manning - Priceless

Wow, I'm really surprised by the hostility that is shown here towards football players. Astounding. The fact is, Scott Fujita DID help the Saints get their first Super Bowl. Seems like everyone here would rather put douchebags like Tom Benson on a pedestal and trash the players who brought us the Lombardi - the same players who are simply trying to get decent healthcare and a better salary - as anyone would in this situation. How many of YOU have actually played in the NFL? Of course, none of you have.

If I'm Fujita's agent, that's what I want the public to remember my client for -- for winning the SB with a sense of humor, joking around with Peyton, not for union militance and bitterness.

I'll bet you money, Drew remembers the importance of diplomacy, and the court of public opinion. How many great players eventually fell, because the public could not embrace them? (Randy Moss wants to know.)

better to keep silent. I remember '87.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ClintSaints (Post 290596) ... Seems like everyone here would rather put (tired epithet) like Tom Benson on a pedestal...

I dont know your age, but without Benson, the Saints would be owned by a guy named A.N. Pritzker, and they'd be playing in Chicago. (google -1985) I stand by my statement that Benson worked for what he has.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ClintSaints (Post 290596) ...Seems like everyone here would rather ...trash the players ...

You did catch this post, right? (below)

"At this point, I already sympathize with the average player. I know what its like to run till you puke, to break bones, and to study and work out and practice, and not get enough sleep. I know what its like to deal with pain every day. At this point, I like the players, they're still my heroes..."

Quote:

Originally Posted by ClintSaints (Post 290596) ...the same players who are simply trying to get decent healthcare and a better salary ...

Im guessing when you make a million dollars, Blue-Cross Blue Shield isnt really that big a chip out of your budget. They already have better insurance and healthcare than you or me. Bear in mind, I'm already sympathetic to their pension needs, only because I know a lot of people are too dumb to save and invest for the future, on their own.

Personally, healthcare & retirement is not a right of mine, nor a responsibility of my employer, but rather an added bonus. It is my responsibility to plan, save, & invest. (I am both poor and a minority.) If I have cable tv, tickets to the game, a flat screen, and a weight problem, chances are, I can afford an insurance premium.

I dont even need to address the salary statement.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ClintSaints (Post 290596) How many of YOU have actually played in the NFL? Of course, none of you have.

Probably most of your Gulf Coast posters here, myself included, played football in school. For free. The hits were real, and so was the running.

I aint mad at you. I just disagree. And I think you're stating your side from the wrong angle. Nobody's going to buy that players are downtrodden or exploited, especially when you bring in "salary." Attack this instead from the angle that there is a 9 billion dollar piece of dessert that the owners dont seem to want to share. There's your argument.

Also note that we are nearly unanimous in disagreement with the owners
proposed 18 game schedule. We pretty much all hate the idea.

Her hardships are real, from a real place and inside she is hurting more than any wounded warrior could ever comprehend. Maybe her battle scars can't be seen on her body or in her checking account but that doesn't mean they don't exist. Wherever they do exist though, I want to go there and shake her like a paint shaking machine until she comes back to where everyone else exist.

it took me a minute beast....good response!

Someone please take away her iPhone

Precisely. Now somebody pimp-slap that ho. She is clearly clueless.

Having grown up with two family members playing in the NFL, I have seen the damage it does to the body. My Uncle played in the 70's when he had to work an off-season job just to pay the bills.

Lost him a year ago to cancer. But, he was not able to move around without a cane and had all kinds of problems with joints, bones, back, etc. He started using a cane when he was 41. He knew the risk that he took, but he played because he loved the game. His wife, my aunt, was aware of the risk to, but she did not realize the effects it would have on him after he played.

Now I have another member of my family playing in the NFL. He makes much more money than my uncle did and he to is aware of the risk. He loves the game, but recently had his second child and is seriously thinking about hanging them up. He is not a superstar and he has been in the league for 7 years, but to watch him try and go up the stairs and play chase with his son is tough.

I don't side with either the owners or the players, both make enough money to satisfy anyone. But, I do side with the families. Yes, it is their choice to play, most of us would do the same (I would).

If we start taking sides, we will all lose. Football will be back and we will be yelling "Who Dat!!!" come the fall. So let the money makers (owners/players) whine, complain, and do whatever makes them happy. Remember, when these Saints retire, most of the fans could care less what happens to them after their playing days, they will be cheering for another set of Saints on the field.

I'm sorry. I'm not buying it. Is playing in the NFL tough? Nobody in their right mind would argue otherwise. Is it any more taxing on the body than a guy hauling logs for a living? Is it any more dangerous than crabbing in the Bering Sea? Hell, Strato has probably played some Saturday Night gigs that were more dangerous...

HELL NO IT IS NOT! The Players and their 'former' Union want us to hear about all the injuries and the sob stories, and I'm not being a hard ass to their plight, but GIVE ME AN EFFING BREAK.

More former NFL Players live long, healthy lives after Football than don't, by a LONG shot. It ain't even close. They want us to hear about every nagging little injury such and such player 'suffers' with. Good God my Grandpa suffers worse from driving trucks and building houses his entire 80+ years and counting. Don't buy the hype people. Don't be a victim to clever marketing, and that's all this is. The players clearly have made tons of headway in their attempts to make everyone think playing in the NFL is the most dangerous job in the world.

Bull****.

Climb broadcast towers for a living. Work on a boat. Be a Policeman in Oakland or Detroit. Fight Fires. None of those men and women can even sniff the Cadillac plans the NFL players have, regardless of the CBA being enforced at the time. For heaven's sake they stop playing into Social Security with a percentage of their first check, for the year, even on the lowest NFL player salary. I know a few players and former players too. Kevin Mawae (we called him mowee in school) chief among them. It's crap. It's a ploy. They are playing on your heart strings. Don't be so damned gullible.

Be more like the Honey Badger. He don't give a ****...