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How the NFL Really Works (And Doesn't)

Mike Florio
Public Affairs, 2022

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Editorial Rating

9

Qualities

  • Controversial
  • Eye Opening
  • Bold

Recommendation

Fans of American football might imagine playing for the NFL is a glamorous career, but as Mike Florio reveals, this isn’t always reality: Whether enduring workplace harassment, risking their health and safety, getting drafted to a city they don’t want to live in or experiencing harsh criticism from fans when they attempt to negotiate their contracts, the lives of NFL players come with significant challenges. Florio boldly touches on everything ranging from officiating issues to the NFL’s culture of nepotism at the highest levels. He makes one thing abundantly clear: The NFL needs change.

Summary

It’s time to end the NFL draft; it’s dehumanizing and anti-American.

The fact that men beginning their careers can’t exercise their right to choose where they’ll work, who they’ll work for, and who they’ll work with is anti-American. The NFL draft undermines young men’s self-determination while telling them that they’re “privileged” to surrender their freedom. Players submit to the draft because the NFL gives them no alternative option, and in the extremely rare occasion that players push back (e.g. Eli Manning) by displaying their lack of desire to play for teams that have drafted them, fans who’ve internalized the ideology of the draft often criticize them.

It would be more ethical to let rookies select their own teams while instituting salary caps and limiting the amount teams could spend, but this is not a reality players are likely to see anytime soon.The draft generates off-season publicity for the league, so one should expect it to continue to support the status quo to the detriment of its players. And since resisting the draft is such a rarity, the NFL has little motive to abandon this process.

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About the Author

Mike Florio is the owner and creator of the NFL news organization ProFootballTalk.com. He hosts the daily show PFT Live on NBCSN and SiriusXM, and makes weekly appearances during the NFL season on the Sunday Night Football broadcast.

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