NFL players took to Twitter on Sunday in a coordinated effort to urge the NFL to listen to its experts’ guidelines on safely opening training camps amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Many of the players used the hashtag #WeWantToPlay to accompany their tweets.
NFL Players Association president JC Tretter tweeted: “What you are seeing today is our guys standing up for each other and for the work their union leadership has done to keep everyone as safe as possible. The NFL needs to listen to our union and adopt the experts’ recommendations #wewanttoplay”
The size of the risk would depend on the size of his contract. Because the more guaranteed money it contains, the more punitive it could be in regard to the cap for the team to move on should he fall out of line.
It would be one thing if Brown were available on the cheap. In that scenario, maybe the Seahawks could live with certain parts of his past — the frozen feet and uncertified helmet debacles, going AWOL and confronting his general manager — knowing they’d have an all-world talent at a bargain price and could painlessly cut ties at the first sign of trouble. The hope would be that Brown realizes he is on a short leash and acts accordingly.
But even then, there are the other alleged parts of Brown’s past. It’s hard to imagine an organization that dealt with the fallout from the Clark pick signing a player who stands accused of sexual assault.
The Seahawks considered Brown when he was released by the Raiders, then passed on him two weeks later after he was let go by the New England Patriots.
Seattle’s approach with Tramaine Brock in 2017 might be instructive in this case. The team kept a close eye on the cornerback for months that offseason and only signed him once his charge of domestic violence was dropped. The woman later said through her attorney that the altercation in question was verbal.
It might take a similar turn with Brown for the Seahawks’ interest in him to go any further. Unless that happens, don’t hold your breath on seeing him catch passes from Wilson that count.
The Players Coalition is calling on Congress to pass a bill addressing education inequality that has been highlighted and expanded by the coronavirus pandemic.
In a letter, the players write that without Congressional action, education inequality for prekindergarten through high school students is “likely to be compounded in the coming year and beyond as state and local budgets deteriorate because of increased state and local COVID-related costs and steeply declining revenues due to COVID-related economic disruption.”
The players promoted a pair of bills, one passed by the House of Representatives in May and one proposed in the Senate in late June, that would provide billions of dollars in education funding.
Among the provisions the players are seeking in an education package are significant additional funding for elementary and secondary education, continued legal protections for marginalized students and addressing digital access for students.
COVID-19 exacerbated systemic problems in our schools. Absent significant Congressional action, education inequities are likely to continue growing. Today, we wrote to Senate leadership urging them to pass a COVID-19 relief package with crucial education provisions for our youth. pic.twitter.com/eqUYswaaoy
— PlayersCoalition (@playercoalition) July 17, 2020
The Players Coalition tweeted a copy of the letter Friday morning. It is addressed to Sens. Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer and signed by nearly 200 current and former professional athletes.
1 Related
“As Players Coalition members, we understand the importance of teamwork and never giving up — especially when prospects are bleak,” the players wrote. “We urge the Senate to work with the House to team up to enact these provisions, because giving up is not an option for our children of color and low-income children, or the future of our nation.”
McConnell, the Senate majority leader, is poised to release the Republicans’ $1 trillion coronavirus relief package as soon as next week. That plan is a counteroffer to the sweeping $3 trillion proposal that House Democrats approved in May, before the latest spike in coronavirus cases and hot spots.
The Players Coalition was founded in 2017. Its stated goal is “making an impact on social justice and racial equality at the federal, state and local levels through advocacy, awareness, education, and allocation of resources.”
In June, the Players Coalition gathered more than 1,400 signatures for a letter to Congress supporting a bill to end qualified immunity, which makes it difficult to sue police officers for brutality.
Myles Garrett said Thursday that he’s ready to live up to the distinction of being the highest-paid defender in NFL history.
“Now I have to assert myself as top dog,” he said. “I feel like I’m confident and ready to do that.
“Time to prove it.”
On Wednesday, the Cleveland Browns’ star pass-rusher signed a five-year extension with the Browns containing $100 million in total guarantees, the most ever paid to a defensive player, league sources told ESPN — with $50 million guaranteed at signing. The team did not discuss financial terms, but sources told ESPN that the deal is worth $125 million with a $25 million average salary, which is also a record for a defensive player.
“They had faith in me, and now I’ve got to give [the Browns] a reason to have that faith,” said Garrett, who, with the extension, will be under contract in Cleveland through the 2026 season. “I’m going to do my best to make it worth it to them.”
1 Related
Previously, the Chicago Bears’ Khalil Mack was the league’s highest-paid defensive player in both average salary ($23 million) and guaranteed money ($90 million). Mack was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2016. As the new highest-paid defender, Garrett said the onus is now on him to win the award as well.
“I was in the [defensive] player of the year conversation [last year],” Garrett said. “I don’t want to make it a conversation anymore. This next year, I want to ball out, win that award … take my team to the playoffs. … I want to lead Cleveland to the promised land.”
In finishing 6-10 last year, the Browns proved to be one of the NFL’s biggest disappointments while running the league’s longest playoff drought to 18 years.
Cleveland’s defense cratered after Garrett was suspended for the final six games of the season for hitting Pittsburgh’s Mason Rudolph with the quarterback’s helmet during a skirmish at the end of their Nov. 14 game.
Garrett referred to the incident as “a small bump in the road” for him and disputed the notion that he’s a dirty player.
“The players I’ve played with and know, that’s not who they see. They’ve never thought of me that way. I’ve never been that.”
The NFL reinstated Garrett in February, and Garrett alleged again in an interview with ESPN’s Mina Kimes shortly after that he reacted to Rudolph calling him a racial slur. Rudolph has vehemently denied the claim, and Steelers coach Mike Tomlin aggressively defended Rudolph in an interview with ESPN’s First Take, saying he was “hacked off” by Garrett’s accusation that Tomlin said neither team corroborated after the fight.
Garrett said Thursday that he has yet to talk with Rudolph or Tomlin since but would “have no problem” doing so. The Browns are scheduled to play at Pittsburgh on Oct. 18.
“I don’t have any ill intent towards either of them,” he said.
On Thursday, Garrett also weighed in on social unrest in the country and said that quarterback Colin Kaepernick “deserves an apology” from the league for the way it has treated him.
Garrett also said that he covered the funeral expenses of David McAtee, a Louisville chef who was shot and killed by police outside his restaurant during a protest. Garrett said he also reached out to the family of David Dorn, a retired police captain who was shot and killed by a man looting a pawn shop in St. Louis.
“I really wanted to reach out and help where I could,” Garrett said. “Those stories that reached me personally and touched me on a deeper level.”
