The National Football League Players Association is fed up with their player’s agent’s abuse of their positions in all sorts of nefarious ways. These guys get a big chunk of change for doing very little real work and still they continue operate as if they are a law unto themselves, until now.
Washington Redskin’s wideout DeSean Jackson recently went on record claiming that the well known agent Drew Rosenhaus had ‘bribed’ him. This disclosure did not sit well with the professional football community in general and with the player’s union, the NFLPA, in particular.
Bribing is an ugly word in professional sports circles where great efforts are made to keep the game on the up and up at all times. Professional standards are high and the passion and respect that most players hold for their sport has evolved into an effective system of checks and balances.
The reaction of the NFLPA was swift and to the point. The union sent out a memo almost at once stating that “effective immediately, the severity of discipline imposed, shall be increased. More specifically, punishments will be doubled.”
Previously a violation of NFLPA rules called for a suspension of six months. Apparently now the new term of suspension will be for a full year. Oh yeah, the fines will be doubled as well, naturally.
Included in the memo, which went out to every NFL player’s agent, was a friendly reminder that it was of the utmost importance for all agents to file any and all agreements they have with their clients, even those little side deals like ‘loans, lines of credit as well as pre-combine or pre-draft services or other benefits being provided to rookie clients’.
The union laid out their reasoning in the memo, “This policy is imposed in response to recent comments made by a number of Contract Advisors (Agents) to the staff and our player leadership regarding the use of ‘other agreements’ in recruiting players as clients.”
The NFLPA has set a deadline of 21 days from June ninth, or Monday June 30 for all documents to be filed. Seeing as how the agents were already supposed to have filed these papers anyway, the 21 days is actually a grace period for them to get their ducks in a row with the player’s union, or else.
The memo concludes with the stern warning, “Repeat offenders will also be more severely disciplined.” It sounds like the union means business. They even detailed a plan that basically says ‘three strikes and you’re out’ for the guys who just won’t take the hint.
