Rodster wrote:Luck, took a beating his first few years. This is why the next CBA needs to demand “guaranteed contracts”. NBA players get ridiculous money compared to NFL players, that’s guaranteed and are not subjected to the same physical violence as NFL players.
Well they did use to give big guarantee money to top rookie draft picks. I think Sam Bradford got something like $40 million on his rookie deal and then the NFL and NFLPA reduced the amount players could earn on their rookie deal.
In fact, I believe if Luck left school a year or two earlier, he would have gotten one of those high rookie contracts.
Owners have all the leverage though. I believe in case of either a lockout or a strike, the TV deal still pays the owners. Look at how stingy NFL teams are about paying RBs, who have short careers with the beatings they take. No way the owners give up guaranteed contracts without getting something back. Hell they enforce marijuana violations as a bargaining chip. They would want NFLPA to give up something big to stop suspending players for weed.
I think in Luck's case, he probably figured it wasn't worth playing to take more beating. I don't think he's as driven by money as other pro athletes and he's got the ability to have some other substantial career with the rest of his life if he wants to, like maybe go to med school or get into business.
He carried the Colts but he was willing to take hits to make big plays. On a different team, maybe he doesn't try to play hero ball so much. Or a different system like the Patriots where Brady could check down to backs like Faulk, Lewis and other who would make plays taking short passes or they'd throw a lot of screens to players like Welker and Edelman. That is how Brady has lasted, he's not sitting back there trying to make big plays all the time.