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?

On The Tunney Side of the Street #194, Sept. 15, 2008 (www.JimTunney.com)

After Further Review… Does fan behavior determine the outcome of a game? Does it influence the performance of an athlete? Should fans only cheer (read: Encourage) their team and not ‘boo’ or cast disparaging remarks towards a player or team? Is there a limit as to how far fan behavior can or should go?

Many of these questions arose with the recent announcement that Tennessee Titans’ starting quarterback #10 Vince Young (http://www.10vinceyoung.com/) was “hurting inside and out” and doesn’t want to play football anymore. Young, in his third season with the Titans after being the third pick in the 2006 Draft, was expected to lead the Titans to the Super Bowl. What happened?

Late in the Titans’ (http://www.titansonline.com/) opening game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Young scrambled, was tackled, and sprained his left knee. Before the injury, Young was booed loudly after throwing two interceptions, even though the Titans eventually won 17-10. That emotional damage appeared to affect Young more than the revelation that the MRI on his knee showed a “sprained medial collateral ligament.” Young has since reconsidered and rejoined the team, pledging his full commitment to the Titans (http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12118_4135869,00.html) .

Some athletes handle booing/jeering, etc. better than others. Fans have always expressed their dissatisfaction with performances that they feel are not in keeping with their expectations (read: Winning). Fans don’t want to lose. Neither do players. Players always want to give their best performance. Someone has to lose. Fans don’t accept that, thus the booing.

As an NFL referee for 31 years, I have been booed many, many times. Whether it was on a foul called – or not called – fans took out their displeasure by booing. On more than one occasion fans have thrown bottles, cans, snowballs, etc. venting their displeasure. Fan behavior became so violent a few years ago at Philadelphia’s Veterans Stadium (http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/) , where the Eagles play, that a Civil Court Judge was placed in the bowels of the stadium and out-of-control fans were adjudicated and sentenced right on the spot.

Actually, I have found that a team playing ‘on the road’ away from home has less difficulty with booing than playing at home. A team on the road may get booed during player or team introductions, but often no one player is singled out. If a visiting quarterback throws an interception, the home team crowd doesn’t boo – they cheer!

So how does any player rebound from the booing of fans? Coaches and teammates play a vital role, at any level – Little League to professional – to help an athlete bounce back from abhorrent fan behavior. Thus, the word T.E.A.M. means just that -- Together Everyone Accomplishes More.

Will you be supportive of a teammate who is having a bad day?


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