Sports Is Not "Just a Business"
Over the past few years I have heard more and more about off-field issues, contract situations, and legal ramifications than I have heard in the past. Honestly, I'm getting sick of it, and people need to stop making excuses for all of the negative aspects of the field that sports is going through, especially the NFL, that it is just a business. It is more than that, and people who say I need to grow up for not realizing that need to get their heads out of their a**es and realize all of the atrocities and issues that happen in sports due to money.
Anybody know who Roger Goodell is? Adam Silver? Yeah, I bet. Commissioner of the NFL and NBA, respectively. Who is Brian Niccol, though? Do any of you even care to find out? What about Jack Dorsey? I bet more of you know who James Harrison is than either of those two men. So, who are Brian Niccol and Jack Dorsey? They hold similar positions to that of Goodell and Silver, but the difference is, they aren't in charge of sports. And the mass public doesn't care who they are. Yet, they care a lot about their companies. Brian Niccol is the CEO of Taco Bell, and Jack Dorsey is the CEO of Twitter. If you know that, props to you, but you probably have some reason for knowing it, like you work for one of these companies, or are highly involved with them or people close to them or their companies. But what they do on a day to day basis does not matter to you anywhere close to what is happening with Aaron Rodgers, LeBron James, or even Dennis Rodman.
What is my point? Nobody not directly involved with non-sports businesses care about what the employees salaries are, observe them at their jobs and keep track of which employees are coming and going. Nobody has a blog about the employees at their local Taco Bell, and if they did, it would probably be considered creepy, even if it was a manager doing it. Yet, I am one of probably thousands of people writing about the NFL players, NBA players, and more. It's not the same, yet we talk about it like it is.
Imagine what would happen at the 49ers game if one of the concessions people took a knee during the anthem. Likely, you wouldn't hear about it, and maybe they would have been sent home that day and potentially lost their job. What if an employee of the San Diego Chargers, non-football related, was hired and then wouldn't work until they held out for more money up front? They'd be back out on the street, looking for a new job. Nobody notices people working twelve hour shifts at a steel mill from 7pm to 7am, lifting, bending, pushing, pulling in very bad conditions six days a week, and nobody says anything about the daily threat to their health working in those conditions. And most of all, nobody notices the McDonald's employee who was charged with domestic violence, is fired from his job, and never gets a second chance.
The sports world is different, because these things ARE noticed. All Colin Kaepernick and others received for kneeling during the anthem was a stern look and a cold shoulder from numerous Americans. Yet they got attention. DE Joey Bosa eventually won his contract battle with the Chargers, because the Chargers were "looking bad" and needed him on the field. He's not sitting out for being "selfish", he'll likely play next week. And the NFL got attention. Everybody has a problem with a helmet to helmet hit, yet millions of Americans are in worse conditions daily. Yet the NFL gets the attention. Players like Greg Hardy got a second chance after domestic violence, and nothing bad happened to him. Yet the NFL gets more attention.
Yes, all the NFL cares about is money and it gives a lot of time and money to numerous charities, but there is a reason we know about the situations the NFL is going through more than the ones people go through on a day-to-day basis. It is because people, especially kids, look to these people for guidance, wisdom and entertainment. They treat them as role models, not the local McDonald's worker. People celebrate their achievements, but not when the local Sprint store sells the most phones in the country in a year. Sports influences how people think, feel, live and it can even influence things like when they eat, sleep or request off of work.
All of those things are more than just a business, it's more than the societal impact Brian Niccol or Jack Dorsey have, because for some it is almost a livelihood. It is a way out for some, and a way to come together for others. Sports has more responsibility than other businesses in the community, local and national. Maybe I just don't get why people compare the sports business to the local offices, or maybe people don't get that sports is more than a business. It's a game, a livelihood, an influential group of people who have a responsibility to help lead society in the right direction. After that, it's a game, a match, or a race. And once all that is done, it's a business. The NFL right now has it backwards, and that's why we are hearing all of this negative stuff coming out of the league lately. Roger Goodell's job is to make money for the league, but it is his RESPONSIBILITY to keep the league in good standing and provide first-class citizenship from himself, the owners, and the players he represents. That's the problem with the NFL, money first, morals later. And that needs to change soon, or this game will soon start losing both.
