UFL players threaten a strike

[Mr. WEO]

On 3/1/2025 at 7:46 PM, HardyBoy said:

 

Do you hear yourself and how contradictory your first sentence is compared to the rest?! They're literally saying we're not going to play if you don't treat us at a level of these specific standards. 

 

They're literally saying they are willing to not play...nobody is forcing them and they're saying they won't play in these conditions...like seriously dude, seriously with this?!

 

I believe it's just the QBs who are threatening to not play.

 

On 3/1/2025 at 11:55 PM, HardyBoy said:

 

Do you realize how insane it is for people in terms of affording stuff, especially younger people... I'm not talking food, but like owning a house without previous equity to put on a down payment...do you have any idea how much rent has gone up in the last 5 years? You can't get a car loan under like some wild number now without a solid down payment, plus the car's crazy expensive.

 

The UFL not being able to afford to pay fair wages and benefits because the league could clearly not secure enough funding to ensure proper payment and protections...there potentially never should have been a league. They're very likely being intentionally exploited, and you're not even willing to entertain that extremely likely situation. It's like the NFLPA exists for literally no reason

 

 

Who is exploiting them?  They can chose not to play.  No one else is willing to pay them to play football.  

 

The NFLPA has nothing to do with the UFL.

[HardyBoy]

6 hours ago, Mr. WEO said:

 

I believe it's just the QBs who are threatening to not play.

 

 

Who is exploiting them?  They can chose not to play.  No one else is willing to pay them to play football.  

 

The NFLPA has nothing to do with the UFL.

 

They believe they are being exploited, they are choosing not to play under the current conditions. 

 

The NFLPA came around to protect against what players perceived as exploitation by NFL teams against the players. I think it's fair to say likely the same reasons the NFLPA was something the players felt necessary in terms of perceived exploitative actions and likely present in the case of the UFL. Like the basic issues of player compensation and fair compensation and benefits are present in a league such as the UFL as well, I don't think it's somehow special or different.

 

Also, absolutely it's the players choice, but making what I read above as $55k of a season, where you have a damn good chance of experiencing life long pain and disability, if not catastrophic life long injury is not a fair trade...especially when looking at the hourly rate and taking into consideration that when they are traveling or spending the night in a hotel the night before a game...that is all work time. 

 

Also, "it's $55k for four months"...like they aren't keeping their bodies in shape all year long and paying for personal trainers...$55k a year for the majority of players playing in a nationally televised football league is flabbergasting low and I'm sorry, but bone on bone arthritis at 35 is not something that $55k compensates for fairly, even if the people playing are in situations desperate enough to accept that as payment...training, nutritionists, massages, agents, etc...cut that in half post taxes and then take the overhead out of the rest...it's pathetically unfair

[Augie]

13 minutes ago, HardyBoy said:

 

They believe they are being exploited, they are choosing not to play under the current conditions. 

 

The NFLPA came around to protect against what players perceived as exploitation by NFL teams against the players. I think it's fair to say likely the same reasons the NFLPA was something the players felt necessary in terms of perceived exploitative actions and likely present in the case of the UFL. Like the basic issues of player compensation and fair compensation and benefits are present in a league such as the UFL as well, I don't think it's somehow special or different.

 

Also, absolutely it's the players choice, but making what I read above as $55k of a season, where you have a damn good chance of experiencing life long pain and disability, if not catastrophic life long injury is not a fair trade...especially when looking at the hourly rate and taking into consideration that when they are traveling or spending the night in a hotel the night before a game...that is all work time. 

 

Also, "it's $55k for four months"...like they aren't keeping their bodies in shape all year long and paying for personal trainers...$55k a year for the majority of players playing in a nationally televised football league is flabbergasting low and I'm sorry, but bone on bone arthritis at 35 is not something that $55k compensates for fairly, even if the people playing are in situations desperate enough to accept that as payment...training, nutritionists, massages, agents, etc...cut that in half post taxes and then take the overhead out of the rest...it's pathetically unfair

 

Nobody owes them anything. I’d suggest that they look into futures with better prospects if they are concerned. It’s a decision they make. 

[HardyBoy]

2 minutes ago, Augie said:

 

Nobody owes them anything. I’d suggest that they look into futures with better prospects if they are concerned. It’s a decision they make. 

 

I'm not going to get into the nuance of why those prospects are the way they are and the exploitation that is being faced by many, if not most players in that league across their lives and the profound lack of fairness based on predictive outcomes based solely on zip code.

 

Paying desperate people low wages for extremely risky work that they accept because they are desperate and calling it a decision they make...I don't agree with that as being a fair choice, i believe it to be an exploitative ultimatum and the reason unions should exist honestly.

 

We probably agree on more than we disagree on this topic for what it's worth, I'm just saying that $55k for playing professional football with all we know about what the risks and long term impacts are is really low and if the reason that you might say it's not is because they're willing to take such low pay because they are desperate...I mean it's kinds the definition of exploitation.

 

Anyway, I'm about to see Sierra Hull in a small venue and I'm super pumped for that

[Mr. WEO]

2 hours ago, HardyBoy said:

 

They believe they are being exploited, they are choosing not to play under the current conditions. 

 

The NFLPA came around to protect against what players perceived as exploitation by NFL teams against the players. I think it's fair to say likely the same reasons the NFLPA was something the players felt necessary in terms of perceived exploitative actions and likely present in the case of the UFL. Like the basic issues of player compensation and fair compensation and benefits are present in a league such as the UFL as well, I don't think it's somehow special or different.

 

Also, absolutely it's the players choice, but making what I read above as $55k of a season, where you have a damn good chance of experiencing life long pain and disability, if not catastrophic life long injury is not a fair trade...especially when looking at the hourly rate and taking into consideration that when they are traveling or spending the night in a hotel the night before a game...that is all work time. 

 

Also, "it's $55k for four months"...like they aren't keeping their bodies in shape all year long and paying for personal trainers...$55k a year for the majority of players playing in a nationally televised football league is flabbergasting low and I'm sorry, but bone on bone arthritis at 35 is not something that $55k compensates for fairly, even if the people playing are in situations desperate enough to accept that as payment...training, nutritionists, massages, agents, etc...cut that in half post taxes and then take the overhead out of the rest...it's pathetically unfair

the league has no money to pay more than that.

 

they should put their college degrees to work for real money, no?

[HardyBoy]

2 hours ago, Mr. WEO said:

the league has no money to pay more than that.

 

they should put their college degrees to work for real money, no?

 

The whole system is a scam...how many of the people playing in the UFL have college degrees?

 

How many only got into the college because they could play football, and then their scholarship doesn't even pay them lunch, and until recently they couldn't even work.

 

How many would have been better off going to a vocational school that are now in situation where they need to accept $55k for playing a season of football where the chance of long term sigingificant injury is high, and the chance of getting an injury, likely a lingering one is really high.

 

Why are there so many zip codes where what I'm saying above is the case. You didn't have a choice on where you were born; your zip code should have no input into how much opportunity you have to meet your potential, be it the most urban zipcode or the most rural or some suburb in between. We are not responsible for the sins of our parents, I thought that was a core tenant of all of this...fairness is a fair chance for everyone, the players destroying themselves for not enough to buy a fairly nice car, and likely not enough for a year's worth of car and house payments after all is said and done with taxes and paying for your nutritionist and agent and whatever else is required to stay in peak athletic shape on your own dime.

 

If the league has no money to pay fair wages, they should not exist...period...end of story... that's literally the point I am making. It is not enough money and the benefits are too low...cool, let's talk about another example of how spring football doesn't work instead of how we can blame the exploited for getting into a situation to be exploited...like for real dude, listen to yourself spouting out just things you've heard...go listen to My Back Pages

 

Good and bad I defined these terms, quite clear, no doubt, somehow.

Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now.

[Mr. WEO]

8 hours ago, HardyBoy said:

 

The whole system is a scam...how many of the people playing in the UFL have college degrees?

 

How many only got into the college because they could play football, and then their scholarship doesn't even pay them lunch, and until recently they couldn't even work.

 

How many would have been better off going to a vocational school that are now in situation where they need to accept $55k for playing a season of football where the chance of long term sigingificant injury is high, and the chance of getting an injury, likely a lingering one is really high.

 

Why are there so many zip codes where what I'm saying above is the case. You didn't have a choice on where you were born; your zip code should have no input into how much opportunity you have to meet your potential, be it the most urban zipcode or the most rural or some suburb in between. We are not responsible for the sins of our parents, I thought that was a core tenant of all of this...fairness is a fair chance for everyone, the players destroying themselves for not enough to buy a fairly nice car, and likely not enough for a year's worth of car and house payments after all is said and done with taxes and paying for your nutritionist and agent and whatever else is required to stay in peak athletic shape on your own dime.

 

If the league has no money to pay fair wages, they should not exist...period...end of story... that's literally the point I am making. It is not enough money and the benefits are too low...cool, let's talk about another example of how spring football doesn't work instead of how we can blame the exploited for getting into a situation to be exploited...like for real dude, listen to yourself spouting out just things you've heard...go listen to My Back Pages

 

Good and bad I defined these terms, quite clear, no doubt, somehow.

Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now.

 

 

likely all of them.

 

How many NFL players have a college degree?

 

If every UFL player is there by choice for their career, doesn't that mean they all agreed to the compensation when they joined?  Why shouldn't they be allowed to make that choice. 

 

Plenty of people work in actually dangerous jobs for less (loggers death rate on the job is 1 per 1000), yet they may not have health insurance--and they certainly don't have agents or nutritionists.  Should, say, logging not exist because of the poor pay and real danger?  How about roofing?  Mining?  

 

These guys should thank their lucky stars for someone agreeing to pay them to play a kids game.  Their alternative is to get a real job--clearly they would rather not.  

[HardyBoy]

3 hours ago, Mr. WEO said:

 

 

likely all of them.

 

How many NFL players have a college degree?

 

If every UFL player is there by choice for their career, doesn't that mean they all agreed to the compensation when they joined?  Why shouldn't they be allowed to make that choice. 

 

Plenty of people work in actually dangerous jobs for less (loggers death rate on the job is 1 per 1000), yet they may not have health insurance--and they certainly don't have agents or nutritionists.  Should, say, logging not exist because of the poor pay and real danger?  How about roofing?  Mining?  

 

These guys should thank their lucky stars for someone agreeing to pay them to play a kids game.  Their alternative is to get a real job--clearly they would rather not.  

 

Correct, logging and mining and whatever else should not exist if the owners of the companies, likely raking in massive profits should not be allowed to exploit people. I'm confused how this is even a question in your mind?

 

You're cool with corporations that outsourced manufacturing to other countries using contractors that pay their workers less than a dollar a day? You don't think that's exploiting them?

 

You'll probably say, well they shouldn't accept the job if they don't like it and if that's all they can do, well that's on them...do I have your perspective right?

 

How about when we've gone into those countries and destroyed their local economies through things like donations, which on their face sound awesome, but the local person making clothes...well would you rather buy a shirt or get a bunch of 90s bills super bowl shirts for free? Why aren't there other opportunities for them?

 

Now, if that's something that was done externally, you don't think for a second that stuff might be occurring internally here and has been going on for a very long time? 

 

Like this "no excuses" approach without looking at the potential systemic structures that cause kids born in certain zip codes to have a massively higher chance of ending up in poverty than kids born in other zip codes...it's unfair, and taking advantage of that lack of fairness is exploitation.

 

You aren't born with bootstraps dude

[Mr. WEO]

2 hours ago, HardyBoy said:

 

Correct, logging and mining and whatever else should not exist if the owners of the companies, likely raking in massive profits should not be allowed to exploit people. I'm confused how this is even a question in your mind?

 

You're cool with corporations that outsourced manufacturing to other countries using contractors that pay their workers less than a dollar a day? You don't think that's exploiting them?

 

You'll probably say, well they shouldn't accept the job if they don't like it and if that's all they can do, well that's on them...do I have your perspective right?

 

How about when we've gone into those countries and destroyed their local economies through things like donations, which on their face sound awesome, but the local person making clothes...well would you rather buy a shirt or get a bunch of 90s bills super bowl shirts for free? Why aren't there other opportunities for them?

 

Now, if that's something that was done externally, you don't think for a second that stuff might be occurring internally here and has been going on for a very long time? 

 

Like this "no excuses" approach without looking at the potential systemic structures that cause kids born in certain zip codes to have a massively higher chance of ending up in poverty than kids born in other zip codes...it's unfair, and taking advantage of that lack of fairness is exploitation.

 

You aren't born with bootstraps dude

 

People are born into the zip codes their parents chose to have them in.

 

Pro football players are not miners (although they certainly could learn to be if they so chose).  They also aren't overseas sneaker sweat shop prisoners.

 

If you eliminated all industries that underpaid their workers, there would be no goods and products to buy, no?  Companies will always seek to pay there employees as little as the market will allow. 

 

Which countries were ruined with inaccurately labeled NFL surplus donated shirts?