NFL Hall of Famers are trying to score big off the field. They've written a letter demanding a king’s ransom in benefits from the league, including lifelong paychecks and health insurance. In a letter sent to Commissioner Roger Goodell, the league CEO and to the director of the players' union, they threatened to boycott the annual Hall of Fame induction ceremony if the NFL doesn't roll over and empty Brinks truckloads of cash to their already bulging bank accounts. To adoring media libs, these wealthy ex-jocks are America's Entitlement Team.
Over at Fox Sports' The Undisputed talk show, co-host Shannon Sharpe loudly advocated for Hall of Famers' demands. Sharpe is a member of the pro football Hall of Fame who would be among the first to receive the mega-benefits demanded in the Hall of Famers' letter that went public yesterday.
Sharpe told co-host Skip Bayless "someone has to start this relay race in order for us to get it around the track and bring the baton home. ... Eventually our goal is to, okay if we gonna start with the Hall of Famers, the gold jacket members. ... Eventually we would like to have every retired football player that's vested to be able to get health insurance." He threw out the number of 10-15,000 former players eventually climbing on board the gravy train.
The letter that's now saturated all over the internet wasn't supposed to go public because there are people working on this behind the scenes, in good faith, Sharpe insisted. Hall of Fame Board Chairman Eric Dickerson is the front man behind the ultimatum issued by people who did not even get Kurt Warner's or Jerry Rice's permission to attach their names to the list of co-signers. The legitimate, if not disgruntled signers, including greats like Jim Brown, Joe Namath, Marcus Allen and other millionaires, referred to "the mistreatment of NFL Hall of Famers, who are often exploited as unpaid ambassadors of the sport." Envy accompanied their greed; they cited the commissioner's $40 million salary and a $1 billion construction project at the Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio to further justify their sense of entitlement.
Who else in the media is behind this "stimulus package" for wealthy retired pro football players?
Fox Sports analyst Chris Broussard tweeted support: "Bravo for the NFL Hall of Famers, who are demanding health insurance and an annual salary from the NFL! They deserve it."
Writing on The Shadow League blog, Rob Parker said: "The complaint is simple. While the honor of being inducted into the Hall of Fame is great and a gold jacket, a bust and a ring are cool, it’s just not enough. ... The HOFers point to the NFL’s $14 billion revenue as Exhibit A. They believe there should be a cut for those who build the league from the ground up and made it popular. The letter said it would be a drop in the bucket for the country’s richest league to help out its elite former players. ... As the legends of the game’s past, we deserve nothing less.”
New York Daily News' social justice warrior Carron J. Phillips jumped on the front of this entitlement bandwagon, too:
"On first thought, it’s sad that the Hall of Famers have to even be in this situation.
"And on second thought, it seems like this is something that the league could easily accommodate.
"I hope the NFL will do the right thing, for once ...."
However, some sports media people are not on the board with Team Entitlement. ESPN's Dan Graziano grumbled: "So... a bunch of Pro Football Hall of Famers are threatening to skip their own favorite day of the year unless they -- and only they! -- get better health care and more money than they were willing to strike for when they played. Got it."
Former Denver Bronco lineman and current Fox Sports' NFL commentator Mark Schlereth is on the same page with Graziano and tweeted: "So the players that played beside HOFers, often times doing the dirty work so they can shine, somehow didn’t sacrifice the same blood, sweat, and tears and don’t deserve the same benefits? Weak!”
