Ahh...The NFL Season Is Upon Us...

Okay, is it just me or is the NFL getting more absurd every year? As long as I can remember I've followed the league and some of my happiest childhood memories are of Sundays watching games with the family. Lately, the league seems to change every year and get more bizarre with each passing season. Yes, this is another post that whines about the state of the sport.

I mean seriously - rookie holdouts, convicted felons - what is this? Imagine this scenario:

You're a superstar in your field in college. You have a few organizations looking at you for employment. One company says they would like to hire you. You visit them and take pictures with the industry leader/spokesperson holding up a shirt emblazoned with the company logo. Everyone now believes that you will work there. The day you are supposed to show up to start working, you decide that you're going to hold out until they give you more money. You've never proven yourself in the professional world and insist that you need the highest salary in the company in order to perform.

Okay, conversely, some rookie athletes are very good at what they do. They've dedicated their entire lives to perfect their skills. However, there are many more that get picked in in the early round that fade into the realm of the unusable or fighting for backup positions. It must be nice to get so much money on what I call "shoulda, coulda, woulda".

I still can't get over the whole convicted felon thing. Go commit a felony, serve time, and then try to get a job back in your industry that you previously worked in. Better yet, try to make more than minimum wage. Go try to make a million or so. How often does that happen to mere mortals? Sure, the person I am talking about "served his time" but I've seen stories of executives getting a much smaller offense and their lives and careers are ruined. What makes this guy so special? He wasn't THAT good to start with. I'm all for fairness but I just don't see this as fair.

It isn't just the NFL. "Celebrity" buys a lot for a person. Whether it is a quarterback, singer, or well-covered CEO; the rest of us live by a different set of rules. We can only get a glimpse from what mainstream media shares with us and wonder what it would be like to be so privileged.