- You're gonna get arthritis in your knees,
you're gonna probably have some stress in your back.
Your ankles are gonna crack and pop all the time,
and it's just things that come with the territory.
Decisions and sacrifices
that you knowingly make coming into this game.
But the NFL really could care less.
You know, it's hard to stress player safety
in such a violent game.
Because, at the end of the day,
ratings sell, people wanna buy tickets,
people are gonna come to games regardless.
Now,
does the league care when Cam Newton
gets hit in the face, you know, five times,
and pretty much knocked out the game?
And they have all these spotters,
and people that watch the game
specifically for these reasons,
and you see the guy on his hands and knees,
shaking his head after he just took a shot to the face.
And they're saying they didn't see any indications
that he needed to come out of the game.
If you take the reigning MVP out of a game
in the last couple of minutes,
with the game on the line,
he'd be frustrated,
the fans would be frustrated,
but it would be in line with what you said
that you want to see in terms of player safety.
But you didn't because it would affect the ratings,
because it would affect the game.
They're a bottom-line business.
If you can increase their bottom line,
then they'll love you.
They'll do everything they can to put you out more,
to market you, to make sure the fans buy your jersey,
to put your jersey out because it makes them more money.
If you're not making them money, then at the end of the day
they're gonna find somebody else.
We really don't have reason to trust the NFL,
and I don't think they mind either way.
At the end of the day, they're gonna do
what they have to do to make their money,
and to make as much money as they can for the owners.
And our union's gonna do what they can
to protect the interest of the players,
and the rights of the players,
and help them make as much money as possible.
And that's the way it's always gonna be.
You know, I think sometimes the public gets confused
by the league/player relationships,
thinking that it needs to be amicable to work,
and it doesn't.
It's not gonna be that way,
because if you're a race car owner,
you have to keep the car running.
You have to keep the car running at a high level,
if you wanna make money,
if you wanna win races,
if you wanna, you know, do the things
that make you successful, that gain you notoriety.
So I think the same is true in football.
They have to do enough to keep the players
in good enough shape to go out there and perform.
So that's to the degree they care.
Once they don't have to deal with a player,
once the player isn't on their rosters, etc., etc.,
then they don't care.
That's the relationship we have with the league.
They're gonna use us until our time is up,
and then they're gonna find somebody else.
I think the majority of our players
don't come from affluent backgrounds,
so, to them,
this is destiny.
This is their opportunity to change the stars.
The ability to change their family's lives,
to make sure their kids get a better shot at education.
You know, maybe they're paying for their kids' college,
buying their parents a house, or, you know,
buying their siblings a house.
You know, getting people in a better situation
than they were in before.
It's a short-term way to make a living,
but you can make a lot of money in a short amount of time,
and change your entire family's outlook.
And as our union gets stronger and as we get more informed,
I think we're gonna continue to move forward
and make our game stronger,
and make the interests of the players more known,
so that the league doesn't abuse its power.