Jim Kelly on Josh Rosen not wanting to play for Browns: “I get it”

[Mango]

8 hours ago, MTBill said:

The problem is - the NFL is a monopoly.  If you want to play QB in the US and get paid like the NFL, they are your only option.  There is no plan B.  The USFL was that for a short while, and the XFL less so.

 

Players coming out of college have no choice in who they get to play for.  The draft is in place in hopes of maintaining at least a small degree of competitiveness.  If every player got to choose the team - you'd have many teams who would end up folding because they would never have talented players.  With Transition tags - the NFL has given teams even more power once a rookie contract is up for a team to continue to hold power over a player's 'rights' from other teams signing them.

 

As a follower of a team like Buffalo - this is a good thing.  Imagine a world where the elite players all wanted to play for big name/big market teams.  By also having "rounds" of a draft - players also get a slotted salary - again helpful for the team - but not the player.

 

In short - if you are a college FB player who is good enough to play at the NFL level, you are screwed.  You have to play football for free in college (yeah, you may get a degree out of it) and then you have to play for the team who wants you based on how much they want to pay you.  Maybe they could create some sort of buyout clause for players drafted in the first round to allow them to move to a team which didn't have a chance to draft them (e.g. the team they wanted picked after the place they were drafted) - where the drafting team gets compensated somehow.  Even that seems unfair to competitive balance, but the player would still have to find a dance partner willing to pay the cost.

 

 

 

 

Not to hijack the thread, but that idea is bogus. “You may get a degree”. Huge portions of these college athletes in any sport are out of state with huge tuitions and a ton of benigtis. I’ve worked in a number of college athletic departments so I’m familiar with my number for my sport. But here is a crazy number.

 

Athletif Deparments in the SEC spend an average of $160k + per athlete per year. So that goes if your the starting DT or the guy who never races on the track team at Bama; averages $160k plus per year in tuition, tutors, living expenses, travel, amps, books, etc. Many guys red shirt freshman year and go 5 years. That’s nearly an 800k lifestyle for 4-5 years. Again averaging fringe sports. Football player are getting much more. They are getting cash.

 

The more we propagate that these kids need more the more we hurt the system. Football is just as time consuming as Rowing. It’s absurd and totally doable.

 

Experience: trained with team USA for years, with zero dollars or institutional support. Worked 20-30 hours per week. And won 6 national championships in the process. Life is hard. People need help, bu they also need accountability. Accountability is lacking in football and basketball not ease of cash for students 

[MTBill]

I went off my point. I agree that for most college athletes, the degree is the prize.  I was talking about elite college athletes who aren't using a degree.  They get no choice in where they play for their first team.  They may grow to love a place, but they are basically forced to go where they are drafted if they want to play.  Obviously, almost every one of them is OK with this. But some aren't, and they don't really get a say in it.  Pretty much everyone on this board gets to choose where they work - unless their field is so specialized there are only a few options - but even then, there are options.  The draftee gets no such choice - and that seems slightly broken.

 

For positions like QB - their success is determined by the players surrounding them.  If I possessed their talent, I wouldn't want to play for the Browns either.  Well, maybe I would - but only because I like challenges.

 

For the record - I was pissed when we got snubbed by Jimbo - and was tickled pink when he came back.  Even though I was pissed, I understood some of his reasons.

 

[Gordio]

14 hours ago, LabattBlue said:

Really?  When he used to be on WGR radio in recent years, he always came across as a disgruntled miserable prick...who oh by the way, made millions playing in the NFL.

 

 

I agree with you he did come off as one miserable sob when they had him on GR, but he never made millions playing in the NFL, not even close.  I think that is why he was so bitter & miserable, seeing these punk kids making 20 times the salary he made not to mention the game had to have a physical toll on his body & he is probably right, he was never compensated or educated properly about the dangers of playing in the NFL.

Edited January 25, 2018 by Gordio

[row_33]

11 hours ago, klos63 said:

I'm not sure he made 'millions', maybe 1-2 million over a 12 year career, players didn't earn much in the 70's. He also has brain damage , likely due to his time in the NFL. Give him a break.

Got a chance to meet him at our house when I was in grammar school, always been one of my all time favorites, so I'm a little defensive regarding him.

 

Yup, there's even people who hate and despise Joe, I guess you have to meet them in life....  

 

(and try to stay away from them for the rest of eternity...)

 

[nucci]

22 hours ago, corta765 said:

 

Jim is a tale of two cities. Pre Hunter and Once Hunter was born changed the guy big time. I have family who knew him before and after are remarked how he was an arrogant prick who went after any women, but after Hunter he shaped up and matured big time to become a good man. Good for him IMO we all have our warts in the past.

So did getting caught cheating on his wife

[MJS]

20 hours ago, Gugny said:

 

Enough is enough.  There's been lots of great Bills since that 90s stretch (who never won a ring) and you don't hear any of them "chiming in."  Part of me hopes McD pulls a Jeff Fisher vs. Erik Dickerson move and says, "get out."

 

And when I start charging $2.99/month to read my posts, I expect yours to be the first PayPal account I see.

 

They can talk about whatever they want. Just like you. The media are the ones coming to them looking for quotes, afterall.

 

Nobody cares if you've had enough. Boo hoo.

[LabattBlue]

7 hours ago, Gordio said:

 

 

I agree with you he did come off as one miserable sob when they had him on GR, but he never made millions playing in the NFL, not even close.  I think that is why he was so bitter & miserable, seeing these punk kids making 20 times the salary he made not to mention the game had to have a physical toll on his body & he is probably right, he was never compensated or educated properly about the dangers of playing in the NFL.

I stand corrected on salary.  I forget the Joe D was drafted in '73.   He certainly didn't make millions.  Maybe 1 million...maybe.

[Livinginthepast]

Ironic that the pick that the Bills used to get Kelly was in a trade from Cleveland for the NFL rights to Tom Cousineau who once again ironically spurned the Bills to go to the Montreal Alouettes.  I wonder if Jim would have gone to Cleveland had they picked him at that spot. In those days, the Browns were half decent team.  The Bills were really disrespected as an organization in the early 80s despite having some good teams in that stretch. 

[BobbyC81]

5 hours ago, Livinginthepast said:

Ironic that the pick that the Bills used to get Kelly was in a trade from Cleveland for the NFL rights to Tom Cousineau who once again ironically spurned the Bills to go to the Montreal Alouettes.  I wonder if Jim would have gone to Cleveland had they picked him at that spot. In those days, the Browns were half decent team.  The Bills were really disrespected as an organization in the early 80s despite having some good teams in that stretch. 

 

Yeah, they put together a good team in the early 80s under Chuck Knox but   then wouldn’t pay to keep it together so Knox left.

[MrEpsYtown]

I like Rosen and from most accounts he is an extremely intelligent kid. It makes sense for him to look at the Browns and see it's been a mess.