I’ve been following the news lately, and, man, what an interesting story this is about some NFL players trying to unionize. It’s been something that’s been brewing for months now, and with the influx of new contracts and negotiations on the horizon, it appears the need for a union is more pressing than ever.
Now, I’ll be honest: I’m sure a lot of us are still pretty confused about what this exactly means, and if it will even impact us. After all, the players are typically the ones who receive the large contracts, so what does their unionizing really do for us, the fans?
It turns out, unionizing could do a lot for us. For starters, it would give the players a collective voice to make decisions and negotiate better salaries and benefits. It would also provide them the support of numbers, a lawyer’s services, a retirement plan, and enough of a support system to ensure their safety and prosperity for the long haul.
And if the players unionize, it means something even greater for us: real change. They’ll be able to negotiate greater contracts that push salaries higher, which means fans will get a bigger, more exciting game. We’ll no longer be seeing teams ‘pay up’ reserves or drop stars in order to remain under salary cap. We’ll be seeing a more earned, higher-quality product on the field.
Plus, a union guarantee a safety net for all the players. Whether they suffer an injury, get traded, or eseasoned, they’ll always have a plan in place to safely move forward. Any fan would understand the importance of that, and be thrilled to root for a group of players who are taken care of and supported for life.
And I’m sure with the knowledge of all this, comes a greater degree of respect from fans to players. We can all stand behind them and rally behind their union since it benefits us all–players and fans! We’re all a part of this, and we can all help the cause by showing support.
So, it looks like unionizing could do a great deal of good in the long run–from giving the players a collective voice to ensuring their safety and welfare–all the way down to providing fans a higher-quality product with real change.
I still find it ironic though–NFL players are the ones who placed themselves in the path of unions in the first place. First, it was a bunch of players from the 70s deciding to unionize in order to form the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA). Now, here we are, 40 plus years later, on the brink of yet another restructuring of the sport’s labor force. Change may be tough but ya gotta love it!