On the Tunney Side of the Street, #221, March 23, 2009

On the Tunney Side of the Street #221, March 23, 2009

After Further Review … “Collapse of Distinction” is a new book by colleague Scott McKain, subtitled “Stand out and move up when your competition fails.” http://collapseofdistinction.com/ While this book is about the business world – NOT sports – the title and its impact are intriguing. I thought about the “collapse of distinction” when I learned about the impasse between first year Denver Broncos Head Coach Josh McDaniels and Broncos star quarterback Jay Cutler. http://www.denverbroncos.com/

The Denver Broncos have always distinguished themselves as an outstanding NFL franchise. However, the firing of Head Coach Mike Shanahan by Broncos owner Pat Bowlen at the end of the 2008 NFL season, did not sit well with the Broncos players and/or fans. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Bowlen Shanahan, whom I’ve known since he was hired as Broncos Quarterback Coach, has distinguished himself as a top NFL Coach. He is only one of six NFL coaches to win back-to-back Super Bowls (XXXII and XXXIII); but when the Broncos went 7&9 (2007) and 8&8 (2008), Bowlen believed a change was needed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Shanahan

Enter McDaniels, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josh_McDaniels who inherited Cutler as his starting quarterback. Cutler is rated by most experts as a quarterback with a strong arm, but, coming from Vanderbilt University, http://www.vanderbilt.edu/ had not much big-time experience. This issue, however, is not about how Shanahan and/or Cutler performed. This is about new Coach McDaniels arriving on the Broncos scene and wanting to trade Cutler. Cutler’s feelings were hurt. http://www.jaycutler.org/

McDaniels wanted New England Patriots quarterback Matt Cassel, http://www.patriots.com/team/index.cfm?ac=playerbio&bio=30943 but he was quickly snapped up by the Kansas City Chiefs http://www.kcchiefs.com/. The “hurt” Cutler failed to report for a voluntary program, which McDaniels asked of all current Broncos players. Cutler then expressed his unhappiness to the press, and asked to be traded. None of this is unusual in the business of Pro Football -- business is the operative word. Professional sports are in the business to win. One NFL Head Coach said to me, “As Head Coach, you don’t get paid to coach, you get paid to win.” McDaniels came to the Broncos to win, and thus was taking charge to resurrect the Broncos winning record.

Trade issues happen on every team on a regular basis. What is important is that when issues like these occur, they need to be resolved internally, and not in the press. Neither side wins in the press. Issues debated in the press, collapses the distinction of the T.E.A.M. Let’s hope McDaniels and Cutler can resolve their family squabbles by settling them in one-on-one meetings.

Will you strive to resolve disputable issues internally to keep distinction from collapsing?

For more information about Jim Tunney, please visit his website:
www.JimTunney.com, or if you would like to respond to this message, please send your email to Jim@JimTunney.com

On the Tunney Side of the Street #220, March 16, 2009

After Further Review ...“They almost like handed him crumbs. It’s almost like a slap in the face,” said the mother of a prominent National Football League player. That player is reported to have a contract through 2011 that would pay him $24 million. The team for whom he is under contract wants to renegotiate his contract that would pay him $6.725 million for the 2009 season, “Handing him crumbs?” Hardly! In the interest of fair play, I will not mention the team, the player or his mother’s name, because this is not so much about this player – it’s about the whole concept of professional players’ salaries. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/nfl/salaries/2008/all.html

In today’s (2009) stressful economic times, offering a player a salary at or about $6+ million per year would be tempting to many NFL players. While the player in question remains nameless, it is important to note that he has been invaluable to his T.E.A.M. In the several seasons he played he was, without question, largely responsible for his T.E.A.M. making the playoffs and is regarded as one of the NFL’s marquee players. Further, he has done much for the community in which he resides; you can’t fault a mother for sticking up for her son.

Salary issues are always difficult to address, particularly when the NFL has established each team’s salary cap for 2009 at $127 million (for players) per team. As the NFL www.nfl.org continues to grow in popularity, the money is there. With the current economic meltdown affecting individuals and businesses in all walks of life, will the NFL have a financially successful year in 2009 as it had in 2006, or 2007 or 2008? Major League Baseball is currently experiencing a decline in their ever-popular Grapefruit and Cactus League attendance. Some Major League baseball teams www.mlb.com are offering a “free ticket on your birthday” or a “buck-a-game” ticket for regular season. If attendance falters, teams will need to revisit players’ salaries.

Corporations have already pulled back their financial support for stadium naming rights. Further, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Goodell has voluntarily cut his salary 10-20% and NFL headquarters has reduced staff, as well as have many NFL Clubs’ office staff www.nfl.com. Unfortunately, there is little evidence of players or coaches stepping-up to cut their salaries. That being said, it must be noted that many of them donate monies and do enormous charity work in their communities.

It has long been advocated in these writings that IF all NFL players would voluntarily cut their salaries 10% (many variations are possible), and pass those savings onto the fans so that parents can take their families to the games, the NFL would encourage a friendlier and more widespread fan base.

Will you continue to support your favorite T.E.A.M. regardless of players’ salaries?