Just A Theory

Flamma · Jul 17, 2020

MyFairLady said:
So I have been thinking about what it is to be a professional athlete these days and I think I am starting to find a bit of clarity. Back in the day, say 30 years ago, a professional athlete was not outrageously different that you or I. On average they made a very good living for a brief window but they did not live in the world of the rich and famous. I believe that on average an athlete back then would have considered winning a title to be very important and it was most likely the primary goal.

I really do not believe that today's athlete feels the same way and who could blame them. Look at our very own Cowboys. Players like Zeke and Cooper and D Law are already rich and famous beyond belief. They have already achieved through sports everything that you could possibly imagine. I believe that their primary goal has been fulfilled. Winning titles are incidental.

Now there are always exceptions to the rule. Some guys would play for free and their legacy on the field is all that would matter to them. I think of players like Ronny Lott or Ray Lewis or Michael Irvin. These are the exception not the rule.

I have always been a die hard Cowboys fan and I have loved and cherished the great players who helped pave the way to super bowl victories. I think in order to remain a true fan I i am going to have to alter my views and expectations. Expecting the world to adapt to my beliefs is just foolish. If I am going to cheer for athletes I need to align my goals and expectation with theirs. I need to prioritize and celebrate the same things as they do.

When Clear Eye View meets it's gross net revenue targets that would be great.

When Dak finally gets his 50 million dollar signing bonus that will truly be something to celebrate.

When Zeke's twitter account reached 3 million followers that will be so cool.

And the list goes on. In all honesty these types of personal accomplishments are better than a super bowl win so why wouldn't players focus on them? And why wouldn't we as fans prioritize them as well?

I agree with you all the way up until you said what it takes to remain a true fan. I only celebrate the things worth celebrating. Things that make me happy. My happiness level doesn't move whether Dak gets a 50 million dollar signing bonus or a bag of shells tied with a pink ribbon. If he plays on either condition and wins a championship, then I'll celebrate.

I'm not a fan of the players, just the team. If good things happen to the team, I'll celebrate. But I will not celebrate Zeke's Twitter account reaching 3 million anymore than I would celebrate what my dog does when I take him for a walk.

VACowboy · Jul 17, 2020

DakPresgoat said:
the salary cap is an artificial creation. It was created to maintain parity amongst teams across the league. It’s succeeded in that. But the side effect is that it has made financial choices off the field, almost as important and impactful as a players performance on the field. And has created a system in where now fans have to worry more about how much a player earns because it impacts the rest of the team directly.

I think the amount players make will always affect the team as long as free agency is part of the equation. The salary cap just means we have to worry about whether a player we want will fit into our team's finite financial structure instead of whether our owner has the means and the willingness to outbid everybody else.

VACowboy · Jul 17, 2020

I think players today prioritize winning less and less but free agency was what allowed that to happen.

superonyx · Jul 17, 2020

So many fans these days seem to believe players of the past were these gods who didn't care about making a living and volunteered all their spare time at the orphanage and taking homeless puppies for a walk. They were people just like todays athletes are.

Owners, players, league executives make the salaries or incomes they make because they drive revenue through fans, advertisements ect.
We don't get so upset when tv or movie stars make 20m to pretend they are someone else for 90 minutes of screen time.
If you never had the opportunity to stand near a high level football game and realize the incredible physical toll this level of impact and violence has on the human body and imagine yourself taking that abuse then you should find a way to. Watching from the stands doesn't give accurate perspective. Unlike movie stars these guys need to train all year to be able to compete at this level.

The players are a product of their environment. The environment is created by the league and the owners. Imagine working for a company that fires 1/3 of your organization every year. Imagine that the longest tenured coworker has about 8-9 years of time at your company. We expect the players to show more loyalty than they are shown.

MyFairLady · Jul 17, 2020

I think it is the salary cap that does it for me. In the 90s I was banging the table for Jerruh to give Emmitt whatever he wanted. I didn't care what the number was it didn't affect me either way. I just wanted him on the field. I am sure the super bowl wins helped but I wonder if the salary cap is the major difference. I sure didn't feel the same way about Zeke. I just can't help but to weigh the available resources against the value. It is similar to a wins above replacement statistic for baseball. You could be the best player in the entire league but if I traded 4 first round picks for you then signed you to a 50 million dollar per year deal are you really helping the team win? I think i there was no salary cap I wouldn't care at all what Zeke or Dak make. Perhaps I wouldn't despise Crawford. Who knows.

JD_KaPow · Jul 17, 2020

McKDaddy said:
Well, players played with broken legs, willingly amputated appendages, etc. to continue playing. So, there was a pretty high level of caring and dedication to team that you haven't seen in decades.

They didn't want to lose their jobs; they were treated as expendable by the team and would get nothing (including no medical treatment) if they were cut. Read "Ball Four" sometime (baseball, but the same idea). It wasn't "dedication to team," although of course it gets painted that way. (Yes, I'm sure there were guys for whom it was, just as there are today).

McKDaddy said:
Also, those guys weren't making enough that they were rich. They still worked other jobs in the offseason. So, they didn't have the time or the facilities of today's athletes to train during the offseason.
The reason people are bigger, faster, stronger and better at the game is because they start earlier, are given more & better opportunities and everything is available to help them achieve the goals. (nutrition, specialized training & coaches, technology, etc.,)
No doubt a lot of these guys put in the time to look the part but its also easy for today's player to project an image that he is working really hard whether he is or not. Most of them care more about how they look than how they perform. So, just cause you hitting the gym doesn't mean you are becoming a better player.

Sure, all of that is true, except for, "most of them care more about how they look than how they perform," which is patently ridiculous. In the modern era, if you aren't working hard, you won't last: there's simply too much competition out there for your job. In that regard, it's the same as in the past: these are jobs the players want and don't want to lose.

Jake · Jul 19, 2020

VACowboy said:
I think players today prioritize winning less and less but free agency was what allowed that to happen.

From a fans perspective pro sports were better when the teams basically owned a player for as long as they wanted him.

As an adult I now understand why that sucked for the players but as a kid I loved guys playing their entire 10-15 year career for the Cowboys.

VACowboy · Jul 19, 2020

Jake said:
From a fans perspective pro sports were better when the teams basically owned a player for as long as they wanted him.

As an adult I now understand why that sucked for the players but as a kid I loved guys playing their entire 10-15 year career for the Cowboys.

Without a doubt. Teams owning players wasn't right. And I don't remember the context behind my post but I know I believe that free agency was the only fair way to go and had to happen. I just also know that players are more about money all the time and less and less about winning and it's bad for the game.

kskboys · Jul 19, 2020

DakPresgoat said:
I honestly don’t care how much players do or don’t make. I just like watching football and hoping the team wins.

I also know that the NFL being the business it is, and as cutthroat as it is financially, is not just because of the players but also because of the owners as well.

Let’s be real, most of us all root for the laundry at this point anyway.

it just is what it is. Doesn’t really bother me one way or another.

Salaries directly affect a team's ability to win a championship.

HungryLion · Jul 19, 2020

kskboys said:
Salaries directly affect a team's ability to win a championship.

yes I know. I said as much in another one of my posts.

The salary cap and free agency still doesn’t really bother me though. I just look at it as part of the game more than anything.

Modern football games are won and lost on and off the field. Games are won and lost in the off-season. It’s part of the game nowadays.

conner01 · Jul 19, 2020

ChronicCowboy said:
Ben DiNucci will be starting for this team by the 2022 season. I’ll bet money on that.

I’d take that bet
Just because the odds are so slim
But I do like Ben
From what I’ve seen he looks promising but the odds are against a player becoming a starting QB in this league taken late in the draft
It happens but it’s rare

shabazz · Jul 20, 2020

"Some NFL players a great big hole, right in the middle of themselves. And they can never buy enough, or spend enough, or make enough money to ever fill it."

Doc Holiday Quote

Fastpitch Dad · Jul 20, 2020

CowboyRoy said:
All I can tell you is that the NBA and the NFL have all been harder and harder to enjoy watching. The salaries, the player opinions, ESPN's opinions and everything else is out of control. Its no longer a place to get away and enjoy the day. Its basically a place where all the BS is right in your face and being pushed.

As each day goes by I care less and less about the seasons even starting again. I would like nothing more than for the owners in both leagues to put the players back in their place with the labor agreements. If that means no sports for another year, so be it.

100% my beliefs as well. I seen what was happening to the NBA a few years back and quit it all together. Don't miss it one bit.

CowboyRoy · Jul 20, 2020

Fastpitch Dad said:
100% my beliefs as well. I seen what was happening to the NBA a few years back and quit it all together. Don't miss it one bit.

Yah if I have to see this nonsense when I turn on a NBA or football game its going to ruin the sport. Its already doing it.

GMO415 · Jul 21, 2020

30 years ago, players got jobs throwing luggage at the airport during the off-season.

MikeB80 · Jul 22, 2020

DakPresgoat said:
This is a good point. For a lot of players, winning increases their ability to demand money.

let’s be real. If Dak’s performance (stats) were exactly the same. But the cowboys won a Super Bowl last year. Jerry would have paid him whatever he wanted this off season.

So, to a degree. The financial drivers do drive a desire to win.

They always have. The old owners used to take advantage of the players.

back then the teams wanted to make the playoffs for the chance to win a championship of course but also because of all the bonuses involved with winning post season games.

INCowboysFan · Jul 22, 2020

McKDaddy said:
Well, players played with broken legs, willingly amputated appendages, etc. to continue playing. So, there was a pretty high level of caring and dedication to team that you haven't seen in decades.
Also, those guys weren't making enough that they were rich. They still worked other jobs in the offseason. So, they didn't have the time or the facilities of today's athletes to train during the offseason.
The reason people are bigger, faster, stronger and better at the game is because they start earlier, are given more & better opportunities and everything is available to help them achieve the goals. (nutrition, specialized training & coaches, technology, etc.,)
No doubt a lot of these guys put in the time to look the part but its also easy for today's player to project an image that he is working really hard whether he is or not. Most of them care more about how they look than how they perform. So, just cause you hitting the gym doesn't mean you are becoming a better player.

Players still play hurt. Romo played with broken ribs and a collapsed lung. Witten played with his jaw wired shut. Jaylon Smith basically played on one leg in 2017. It happens every Sunday (except for players amputating fingers at halftime like Ronnie Lott).

INCowboysFan · Jul 22, 2020

GMO415 said:
30 years ago, players got jobs throwing luggage at the airport during the off-season.

40 years ago, maybe. The avg NFL salary in 1990 (30 years ago) was $422k. 40 years ago in 1980 it was $78k, or the equivalent of about $260k today. Salaries exploded in the last 30-35 years.

DandyDon52 · Jul 22, 2020

MyFairLady said:
I feel like the goals of the modern athletes are directly conflicting with the goals of the modern sports franchise. An in our case winning a super bowl isn't the top priority for wither group. I find it makes it hard to be a fan of the players on your own team. It is something I am struggling with and I am trying to over come that. I would like to get back to a place where I can enjoy sports as much as I used to. Just trying to figure out how.

part of the problem, is you have too much information about the players and all the contract stuff etc.
If you really want to like them more, you need to stop reading about them.
Back pre 2000 there wasnt much info about the players, but the internet has gradually become a source of abundant info on the players, as well as actors
and other people and things.
I decided to stop reading about actors I liked, because I would read something that made me not like a actress or actor, and then I could not enjoy them
anymore, so I decided to not read about them.
Same thing with these players, reading here can taint certain players, and also there is the opposite, where u read about someone and then like them more.

Then there is the on field stuff . Players start with the self glorification in HS , then College, then the nfl. They get addicted to self glory and being showoffs.
There is no way to avoid seeing that stuff.

I think players today want to eat their cake and have it too. They want to self glorify, make many millions, each player will have different goals with money,
but since they think so highly of themselves they usually think they are the best so should be paid top pay for their position.
And last but not least they want to win games, win div get into playoffs, and go to SB.
They want it all, but money and self glorification come first before the whole SB thing.

I can understand that if a good player is on a team and he knows they wont get to a SB, so he will then focus on just the other two.

Players on good teams capable of going to a SB, then that is up to the HC, and maybe some of the players to get the whole team focused on that goal.
That wasnt going to happen with wade as HC, or JG, and now we will see what mike can do in that regard.

Just A Theory

Flamma

Well-Known Member

VACowboy

Well-Known Member

VACowboy

Well-Known Member

superonyx

Well-Known Member

MyFairLady

Well-Known Member

JD_KaPow

jimnabby

Jake

Beyond tired of Jerry

VACowboy

Well-Known Member

kskboys

Well-Known Member

HungryLion

Well-Known Member

conner01

Well-Known Member

shabazz

Well-Known Member

Fastpitch Dad

Well-Known Member

CowboyRoy

Well-Known Member

GMO415

Well-Known Member

MikeB80

Well-Known Member

INCowboysFan

Well-Known Member

INCowboysFan

Well-Known Member

DandyDon52

Well-Known Member