Dear NFL players: Please, keep throwing the ball into the stands!
Whenever I see a current player throw a ball into the stands after a touchdown, I rejoice and take a moment to think of all the former players that are benefitting from that simple act of exuberant defiance of the NFL rules. Players are fined for this "infraction". The NFL is afraid someone might get hurt. Translation: They might get sued.
It's only a $5,787 fine this year, so most players don't even think twice about tossing the ball into the stands because the average player salary is now 2 million dollars. That's more money in one year than the average worker makes in an entire lifetime.
The second offense for throwing a ball into the stands is $12,155, so it can start getting expensive if you're scoring a lot of touchdowns. If you want to see just how much certain fines can cost a player, for both first and second offenses, you can go to this link: NFL's Schedule of Infractions & Fines. Starting in 2012, the fine minimums increase by 5 percent each year as stipulated in the NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement. The increases continue throughout the duration of the current CBA. By the year 2020, it will cost a player $7,386 to toss a ball in the stands - and for a second infraction it will cost a player $15,513! You couldn't get that kind of money for a football if you pulled out a sharpie and autographed it before throwing it in the stands.
So why do I rejoice when a current player is fined? Because, according to their website........"The fines collected do not go to the NFL, but instead go to programs for former players. The Players Association and the league have agreed to donate fine money through the NFL Foundation to the NFL Player Care Foundation and the Gene Upshaw P.A.T. (Player Assistance Trust) fund." The bold emphasis in the first sentence is their's - not mine.
The Player Care Foundation and the Gene Upshaw Players Assistance Trust help former players who are facing financial hardships due to an unforeseen crisis, unaffordable medical bills and other services.
The NFL states that since 2009, about 4 million in annual fine money has gone to former players - and that's a very generous thing for the NFL and NFLPA to do...... but they could do more.
If every player that scored a touchdown would just throw the ball into the stands as a gesture of helping former players that are currently having a difficult time in their lives, it would raise over 6 million a year! Let's do the math. The average number of touchdowns over the past few years has been around 1,120 per season. So 1,120 TD's multiplied by $5,787 equals 6,481,440. That's almost two an half million more than the NFL and NFLPA are currently putting toward helping former players.
On their website, the NFL gives everyone the impression that all the fine money is going toward helping former players.......but it isn't. The NFL is only one fourth of the way through the season and the players have already racked up over 15.5 million in fines. Last year the NFL fined players $25,752,094.
Here is the current list of players and their 2015 fine amounts to date.
Hopefully you realize that I'm not being serious about this idea of throwing the ball into the stands as a remedy for helping former players. With $25 million in annual player fines, there is more than enough money, so the point I'm trying to make is that I believe more can be done to help out the former players that are really hurting. I'm not sure what the NFL does with the rest of the fine money, but I think a large portion goes to NFL Charities to support other organizations and worthy causes throughout the United States.
Former players are not looking for a hand-out, and we're not just sitting on our hands doing nothing to help our own brothers in need. Gridiron Greats has been helping former players by providing money to former players that are having financial problems and Fourth & Goal has been right there beside them. Bruce Laird, Sylvia Mackey, John Hogan and the Fourth and Goal Foundation donated $20,000 to Mike Ditka’s Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund in February. Both charities have done a tremendous amount of work helping former players and their families.
Matt Birk (Gridiron Greats), Sylvia Mackey (Fourth & Goal), Shannon Jordan (Gridiron Greats), Mike Ditka (Gridiron Greats)- Check Presentation from Fourth and Goal
At the press conference, Bruce Laird, President of Fourth and Goal said “The Fourth and Goal Foundation was founded in 2005 in the name of John Mackey and the many dozens of other NFL retired players and their families that were suffering with Dementia and other issues with life after football. It is all about NFL retired players helping each other first before looking to others to do the same. The NFL retired players community is an asset to all 32 NFL teams and the league. The mission of the Fourth and Goal Foundation was to be there with the financial assistance and the support for our own. We have accomplished that over our years of service and more. With our gift to Gridiron Greats who is doing that work for NFL retired players each and every day - we applaud them and the great work that Shannon Jordan and her staff does for the makers of this great game.”
In addition to those two groups, there are numerous NFLPA and NFL Alumni Chapters throught the US that are doing great things in their communities and providing assistance to their alumni brothers that have fallen on hard times.
We can all do more.........and we will!
So next time you see an active player throw a ball into the stands, don't think of the lucky fan that's getting a great souvenir, think of the former players that are being helped.
