This week has continued the on-going conflict between the the National Football League (NFL) and Seahawks Running Back Marshawn Lynch. This is not about what Lynch has said but what he refuses to say.
Lynch was recently fined for a crotch grab on national television. However, he is more reticent off the field where he avoids media. The NFL has fined him to force him to speak with media — a rule that in my view is moronic and counterproductive. Rather than just encouraging players to speak with media (some cannot be kept away from the cameras and social media like Lynch’s teammate Richard Sherman), the NFL actually fines players who simply have nothing to say. Now Lynch is being criticized for going to the compelled press conference and just repeating the same line over and over: “I’m here so I won’t get fined.”
Admittedly, I have long been a critic of the NFL, which remains one of the most greedy and thuggish organizations in the country in dealing with host cities and citizens, including shaking down artists. The fact that it has been allowed to retain not-for-profit status is a grotesque triumph of money and lobbying in our country.
Now the NFL is reportedly considering another fine to go with the earlier $500,000 to force Lynch to speak with media. It strikes me as completely bizarre and troubling to have compelled speech outside of the game that he plays. Lynch clearly wanted to convey his legitimate objections when he showed up at the conference and asked “When does my time start? Oh, it’s started.” He then said “Well, let me say, I’m just here so I won’t get fined.” He then repeated that line as a mantra to every question. I must admit that I liked it. He repeated it until four minutes and 51 seconds later when he declared “Time” and walked out.
Obviously, these players agree to be subject to NFL rules, but that does not mean the the NFL should be able to run roughshod over players in this way. Moreover, the media should not want forced interviews with captive players at press conferences.
Lynch is a great player. Let him play. I have no problem with fining him and other players for obscene or juvenile antics on the field. But compulsory speech outside of the game is in my view as excessive as it is counterproductive. Press conferences should not be NFL versions of forced public confession hour at a Pol Pot prisoner camp. Most players (and their agents) want to speak to media to fuel public personas for marketing value. Some just want to play the game. So be it. I will tell you what. When the NFL is forced to disclose details of its own operations (and forced to pay taxes), we can discuss when they should be able to force others to speak.
Source: Yahoo
Football is a waste of time and energy. The only reason for the NFL is when you want to beat your wife and don’t want anyone to blame it on the liquor.
issac,
“I am also a strong advocate for placing obstacles on the field to jazz up the game a bit, old tires, concrete blocks, tree stumps, etc. The game is just too clean.”
Sounds a bit like how we played football in the yard as kids. The end zones were two trees at one end of the yard, and the other was the driveway–had to make sure you didn’t crash into a parked car or skid on the concrete!
With all the complaints regarding the perceived excessive pay of professionals & executives – I have now added entertainers to that group meaning guess who ? I know no one cares what I do – so why am I telling anyone ? I’ve got to tell someone !!!
Ain’t nobody going to remember a player’s media time unless it’s stuff like this. I think he’s brilliant here and the NFL knows it.
Forcing someone to speak to the Press can lead to some interesting results. Be careful what you ask for.
Is talking to the media in his job description?
Although the Super Bowl will be in Glendale, the NFL has taken over the center of Phoenix for block parties. They have even built a climbing wall that is a replica of the Grand Canyon. In the meantime, Glendale is losing money on this while Phoenix and Scottsdale make out like bandits.
Some people are media shy and should be allowed to be. Some people, Charles Barkley comes to mind, are media whores and should be allowed to be. I think the NFL should lose its anti-trust protections.
@BigFatMike I think in this case, that is not quite the same. Lynch (and other players) do their entertaining on the field when they play. They aren’t like actors, comedians, etc. Sure, they can be ‘entertaining’ off the field but I feel confident in saying that I watch players for how they play on the field, not how they act off of it.
I mean, there are players out there that are absolute riots on social media, but you never see them on the field and thus I could really care less. I don’t think the NFL has a leg to stand on here because it doesn’t say in the contract what you have to say, just that you have to make yourself available. I mean, to put it in context, Lynch’s press conference was 10x entertaining than anything you see Belicheck on a weekly basis. And it is getting way more coverage than anything and the NFL is all about ‘exposure’.
RFB
in my opinion more realistic, point of view is that Lynch is also an entertainer.
Mimes are entertainers ……….(to some people)…..he could pantomime a football play with an invisible ball. That would be entertaining. Maybe he should do a soft shoe shuck and jive dance to entertain the proles?
So they (the owners or bosses) insist that he speak to the press. Just what is it that they want him to speak to or about? Perhaps a rousing rendition of Hamlet’s soliloquy
To be, or not to be–that is the question:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
And by opposing end them. To die, to sleep–
No more–and by a sleep to say we end
The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to
Seriously. Some people are good public speakers and others just are not. Either they are afraid or don’t have the skills and come off as ignorant dunderheads and would rather just not speak in public. Al Sharpton should take a lesson on that last point.
Here’s the deal w/ Lynch. You have A-hole v A-Holes. The press are idiots and their usually stupid and vapid questions grow exponentially during Super Bowl press day. The dysfunctional NFL obsesses about the veneer of niceness while their players pimp slap girlfriends and beat children @ home. But, you best show up to press day and answer idiots questions!! Yeah, the NFL has their priorities straight.
Some of the players who refuse to speak w/ the press. Lynch has had DUI’s, driving off after striking a pedestrian. He has an illegal weapons conviction. He is not a good citizen. But, there are also athletes who are good people who just tire of the stupid, incompetent press. I have been involved in cases where the press was involved and they get BASIC facts wrong all the time. Eddie Murray did not speak w/ the press. Anyone who has played w/ Murray say he is a good, decent, man and a great teammate. Some athletes have standing in what can be a righteous stance. Not Lynch.
What does the NFLPA have to say about this? No doubt this media day appearance rule was in force when he signed his contract so he has to appear. Does that rule go so far as to direct the content of the player’s responses during media day? After his $500,000 fine, I have to believe his attorney reviewed the rules thoroughly, discussed this with their union and advised him how to meet the letter of the contract.
Regarding the non-profit status; what have they got over the federal government to secure such a deal? Do the other professional sports leagues have the same status? Are they that impactful on the economy to warrant the government looking the other way? What would be the impact on the fans if they lost the non-profit status?
I’m no economist, but they don’t call themselves NFL “owners” for nothing, and forcing players to speak to the media is simply another way of asserting their property rights over their capital, isn’t it?
I think it’s just one more prerogative of non-profit capitalism, like getting taxpayers to finance football stadiums.
Speaking of Lynch’s reluctance to hype Sunday’s agon, aren’t they kind of running this Super Bowl thing into the ground, anyway?
I mean, haven’t they already had 48 of them?
I think it is odd that all of your wrath is on the owners.
If Lynch did not want to do interviews, then he had a duty to communicate that to his lawyers who represented him in drafting his employment contract. Apparently he failed to effectively communicate his loathing for interviews with his lawyers and his lawyers failed to probe enough to find that out about him. In essence, you blame the billionaire owner for having lawyers better represent their interests.
There’s a cynical way to look at it, too. It’s a stunt. Lynch doesn’t talk during interviews to generate a media controversy. The more the media talks about it, the more name recognition he garners for himself. Perhaps he can charge more for endorsements. In that case if his lawyers helped orchestrate the whole thing, then they look like geniuses rather than bad lawyers who failed to adequately understand the best interests of their client.
There is a set of rules with, among other things, fines for certain actions. He was fined — punished to the full extent of the rules. A further fine was in the rules if he did not appear. He followed the rule and appeared. Said ‘no comment’ (in different words) and left.
Can they make a rule that a player or coach must answer reporters’ questions as if under oath? … truthfully? …candidly? Even when the player simply has nothing to say that has not already been said?
For the money they get, they should sing, dance, or tell jokes. Entertainment is entertainment and without the celebrity status the business would not be what it is. Fan base would be lower, salaries lower, less bling. He did put on a show, so let him go. He’s on the stage, in a rage, like a lion in a cage.
I am also a strong advocate for placing obstacles on the field to jazz up the game a bit, old tires, concrete blocks, tree stumps, etc. The game is just too clean.
I don’t see this being the end of the contention. Given the history of strong armed tactics said of the NFL, I can only imagine they will continue to attack this player until they are satisfied he has been pacified. There are those who just don’t know when to give up.
Lynch is usually friendly to fans, but has never liked dealing with the press. He spoke the truth after being forced to speak. I agree with Jonathan. This is excessive and counterproductive. I even said a while back that the NFL seems to treat its players almost like slaves, trying to control every aspect. I do understand that they are paid a lot of money, but I think the NFL overdoes it. And I definitely agree that they should not be a Not-For-Profit organization.
That said, I will be watching on Sunday.
Go Hawks!
” I have no problem with fining him and other players for obscene or juvenile antics on the field. But compulsory speech outside of the game is in my view as excessive as it is counterproductive.”
A different, and in my opinion more realistic, point of view is that Lynch is also an entertainer. In that sense dealing reasonably with the media and public is just part of the job. Fining him is no different than docking him for not showing up for work of doing a bad job when he does.
I think the strongest criticism one could make of the NFL is that the rules and contracts governing player conduct should be more explicit about the responsibilities of players for their performance in front of the media.
But I don’t think you can get to ‘excessive and counterproductive’ for what is clearly just part of the job for players in the modern era of mass communications and social media.
I too thought it was an admirable protest and if we’re in his cleats, I would have done the same. One of his best performances this season.
As a Packer fan, I say take all his money.
If you are making millions of dollars playing a game many of us played for free as kids, I have no sympathy for issues about not wanting to grant interviews and talk to the media. Grown child men get what they deserve.