NFLPA avoiding its biggest issue shows it only pretends to care about minorities

[Halldan1]

NFLPA avoiding its biggest issue shows it only pretends to care about minorities

When all is said and done, it’s never said, nor is it done. Not the stuff that really counts.

nypost.com

By Phil Mushnick

When all is said and done, it’s never said, nor is it done. Not the stuff that really counts.

Recently, the NFL Players Association announced a partnership with Black Men Vote as the latest of its many charitable partnerships. Black Men Vote’s mission statement is to insure racial justice by registering black men to vote — especially from within “marginalized communities.”

That surprised me, as the nation not long ago twice elected a black man as our president, the highest office in the land.

Still, as the NFLPA statement reads, “The NFLPA represents more than 2,000 players — the majority of whom are men of color.” But most confusing is the NFLPA’s focus on the socio-political when its membership is increasingly laid low by what can only be described as a profound, untreated and growing crime problem.

In recent days, star Saints running back Alvin Kamara agreed to a misdemeanor plea bargain in Las Vegas, stemming from his participation in the four-man assault of Darnell Greene Jr. in a nightclub at 6 a.m. following Kamara’s participation, hours earlier, in the 2022 Pro Bowl.

Las Vegas is the new NFL-chosen hot spot, with only big and anticipated trouble to follow (see: ex-NFLers Adam “Pacman” Jones, Marshawn Lynch, Henry Ruggs III, among others).

Greene claimed the beating and stomping occurred after Kamara and friends denied him entrance to an elevator in which they were riding. Also arrested and charged in the beating was former Chiefs now Colts corner Chris Lammons.

Kamara, though he avoided a felony conviction, has to pay a $500 fine and more than $100,000 in medical bills to the victim. He also reached an “undisclosed settlement” with Greene in a civil case and faces an NFL suspension for the crime.

But as USA Today put it: “At least this is one less distraction for the team to deal with during the offseason.” Yes, just a distraction.

Last week, Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill reached a legal settlement with a dock worker he’s alleged to have physically attacked at a Miami Beach marina. Hill reportedly had originally offered his victim $200 in cash to let the matter go away.

Just after college — West Alabama, his third college — Hill fell to a fifth-round pick of the Chiefs due to his arrest for domestic violence. In 2019, Hill was suspended by the Chiefs as he was investigated for child abuse.

Also, last week, Jaguars cornerback Chris Claybrooks was arrested for domestic abuse, his second arrest since April on that same charge, but allegedly against different women. The first charge ended when Claybrooks and his victim “reached a settlement.”

Also, last week, it was reported Dalvin Cook, a free-agent running back who starred for the Vikings, will visit with the Jets as he seeks a new team. It was also reported last week, in court documents obtained by the Minneapolis Star Tribune, that Cook offered his ex-girlfriend $1 million to make her domestic assault claims go away.

Photos of what the woman claims Cook did to her show her with a bloodied, swollen, busted face. Wonder if the Jets noticed or even cared?

But as the NFL goes, not an atypical week. And as if NFLPA boss DeMaurice Smith doesn’t know, all of the aforementioned players are black, as are most of their victims.

 

[Halldan1]

So, instead of working on the voting habits of NFLPA members, I’d strongly suggest that he first concentrate on their conduct.

He can start with the brutalization of women — mostly black women — by black NFLPA players against women, in 2023 a steady crime among the rank and file.

Then he can work on the proliferation of the illegal possession of weapons and drugs as so often discovered by police at 4 a.m. Perhaps Smith can even encourage NFLPA members to be home by 3 a.m. and not frequent establishments where guns, ready to go, are most likely to be required.

Smith might then work on players’ driving habits, such as the legal kind, meaning sober and with legitimate licenses that haven’t expired or been suspended. And keeping it to the speed limit as opposed to death-defying speeds that have led to wrecks and even vehicular homicides. That’s one I’d work on, too.

Then there’s financial responsibility. How many freshly signed black multi-millionaires has Smith watched go broke during his 14 years as executive director because they blew their fortunes on over-the-top cars, unsustainable mansions, conspicuous consumption garish jewelry and expensive clothing that could make Madonna blush?

Black Men Vote? Wouldn’t Smith vote for changing that, for encouraging or even insisting upon more intelligent long-range spending? Especially among those with kids to support, regardless of how many mothers? Or is the latter not an ongoing issue, too?

I’d also work on literacy. Sure, our football-first universities have recruited academic non-qualifiers then watched them depart without the ability to speak or write coherent sentences — even on social media platforms that carry threats, boasts and vulgarities.

Isn’t Smith even a tad concerned with the after-football careers of players bereft of functional literacy? And how many times has Smith condemned on-field assaults — those that bring fines and suspensions — of NFLPA members for attacks on fellow unionists? I’m still waiting for one.

Yet he’s eager to front the appeals of those sanctioned for unnecessarily excessive union-member on union-member brutalizations.

Black Men Vote is a means to elevate the political and social standards of black NFLPA members? Then where is Smith to condemn Roger Goodell’s annual presentation of black Super Bowl halftime rappers who promote and perpetuate every negative stereotype of blacks, from boastful and vulgar gotta-have-it crotch grabbers to violent gun-worshippers who reflexively call black men n—-s and brag about quickies with dozens of women, though rarely referenced as women?

I’d scream for immediate change. Perhaps NFLPA boss Smith would prefer to join the NFL commissioner in reciting the lyrics and miming the actions of those selected to entertain on the NFL’s largest stage. You know, that’s called keepin’ it real.

No? He won’t do that? Nor will Goodell? Why not? Because it’s all a con. Keep blacks running backward as a feckless pandering plan, then blame it all on racial injustice. It’s an easy, media-certified con.

How do football fans of any color, but in no immediate need of improved social skills or fundamentally useful education ignore what Smith ignores? Or is he just another race-based, selectively blind, deliberately ignorant, well-paid hustler, as if there’s a shortage?

Black Men Vote? Good. Hopefully they won’t vote to further the decay of the NFL as a sport and NFLPA leadership as do-nothings while NFLPA members, packing heat but not a valid driver’s license, roll out at 2 a.m. to vote.

We’re neither stupid nor blind. And that’s keepin’ it real.

 

[TheHall87]

Phil makes some great points here.

Those points would be better served if he knew that DeMaurice Smith is no longer Executive Director of the NFLPA. He was removed after losing a re-election bid earlier this year.

That's the kind of mistake he would hammer other journalists over. If I know this information, surely someone in his position should.

 

[HALL85]

Phil makes some great points here.

Those points would be better served if he knew that DeMaurice Smith is no longer Executive Director of the NFLPA. He was removed after losing a re-election bid earlier this year.

That's the kind of mistake he would hammer other journalists over. If I know this information, surely someone in his position should.

Ouch! Great piece but that’s a big miss.

 

[Section112]

Just more of the NFLs hypocrisy with anything they do. Most of their programs for players are window dressing or to reduce the leagues liability. Not so sure they really care about the players as much as they care about lining their pockets.

 

[HALL85]

Just more of the NFLs hypocrisy with anything they do. Most of their programs for players are window dressing or to reduce the leagues liability. Not so sure they really care about the players as much as they care about lining their pockets.

All “check the box stuff”, just like the social justice messages in the end zone.

 

[SPK145]

They should be more concerned with more people of color in coaching/front office positions and more non-colored people as players, no? Diversity, equity, and inclusion.

 

[CaptBob]

The NFL, like most of corporate America, will say anything to keep in good stead with the backers of whatever the cause of the liberal minority happens to be on that occasion. It's all about the almighty Dollar. Can you envision the uproar if the NFL called for real penalties for players involved in wife beating, rape, shootings and the like--and God forbid that the race issue should potentially be involved--

 

[walshtrips]

Change begins with a good elementary education and promotion of the nuclear family, something that neither the NFLPA or NFL are interested in promoting.

 

[Gritty5837]

Change begins with a good elementary education and promotion of the nuclear family, something that neither the NFLPA or NFL are interested in promoting.

This country totally turned its back on God many decades ago and now reaps the consequences. Oops, I may be carrying this convo off the ship….