Jamal Spencer: No Loyalty in Sports Where the Game is the Game
“The game is the game.”
(SNH) — In my humble opinion, no finer piece of art has ever graced the television screen like the series “The Wire.” It’s the greatest television program of all time (with respects to “Sesame Street” and “The Jeffersons”).
But more than entertainment, the show was a powerful tool for dissecting the very fabric of America by highlighting the many problems with America. Its main theme was always “The game is the game.”
You can’t fool it. You can’t fake it. You’re either in it or you’re not, but if you’re in it, then you have to play by the rules. The game doesn’t allow for feelings. The same can be said of professional sports contracts.
Every time an athlete holds out for more long-term money, more years on the deal or more guaranteed money in his contract, you can hear the grumbles.
Some call the player disloyal.
Some call the player selfish.
Some say the player is being a distraction to the team.
Nah. I say the player is smart. An athlete’s earning window is small. The average NHL career is 4.5 years. Same for the NBA. An average MLB career is 5.6 years long. In the NFL though, the average length of a career is just over three years. I believe that while an athlete is playing the sport they love, then they should try to make as much as they can, for as long as they can.
While fans can waiver on how holdouts make them feel, or what their first thought is when their favorite player demands a trade or to be released, they can’t argue the facts: Feelings don’t matter in the game.
Professional sports franchises are expected to put the best team out there that the owner can reasonably afford. Some owners spend more than others (hello, Steinbrenners!) while other owners are notoriously cheap. Either way, they can’t make EVERY player on their roster as rich as they want to be. Often players accept contracts that are more team-friendly, either for less years on the deal or for less overall money.
Nobody has to honor the deal, though. Players can decide they’re underpaid and sit out while demanding more money. If ownership doesn’t give in to that demand, then the player can force a trade. Ownership, meanwhile, can decide a player is overpaid and release him or trade him to try and save money.
Take the Buffalo Bills for instance.
Over the past few years, the Bills thought they were assembling a roster that could win a Super Bowl. Instead, despite a few postseason wins, the Bills have lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Playoffs three of the last four seasons. Buffalo never made it to a Super Bowl. In fact, the Bills advanced to the AFC Championship game just once since 2017. On Wednesday, March 6, the bill came due.
Due to salary cap restrictions the Bills had to release five core players and three more reserves. Among those waived were starters including safety Jordan Poyer and center Mitch Morse. The team entered the offseason a projected $44 million over the salary cap, so even though players like Tre’Davious White had years left on the contract that THEY were expected to honor, the team felt they were now too expensive (despite signing them to these contracts). So they were released.
Or take the well-told story of former All-NBA power forward Blake Griffin. The Los Angeles Clippers were the only franchise he’d ever known. He was approaching free agency, but before he could get there, the Clippers made him a sweet pitch: they took him out to the court and told him that one day he’d retire a Clipper and they’d raise his number to the rafters. If he stayed, he’d cement himself as a franchise legend. Moved by their passion, he re-signed. It was a 5-year, $171 million deal. He wanted to stay in Los Angeles and retire a Clipper. Six months later the team traded him to Detroit because his contract was too large. He believed in the franchise, and they threw him away to a team that hadn’t won a single playoff game in a decade.
Given the Bills’ decision to reduce their salary cap number by cutting the very players they signed, or the Clippers getting buyers remorse IMMEDIATELY after paying Griffin, an athlete should always do whatever he can for himself while he can.
Because the game is the game and, in it, the players are believed to be expendable. However, if you’re going to play the game, remember the wise words of one of the biggest stars in The Wire, Michael K. Williams, who played Omar Little: “The game is out there, and it’s either play or be played.”
Jamal Spencer is a writer for Sports News Highlights.
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