Baldwin calls out Bennett for complaining about money

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/08/seahawk ... tract-talk

About time someone says something, these athletes have no right to complain about not making enough millions.

They have every right to complain about not making enough millions. On average they have 3 year careers, and the longer you're in the NFL the more your body will break down. Players have to make their money while they can, and the longer they stay in the NFL the more they'll pay the price later in life.

If anything they deserve to be paid more, especially considering how much the NBA and MLB pay.

Everyone has the right to complain about their salary. The NFL is a HUGE business, with owners raking in a LOT of dough solely from the performance of he players on the field. The players have every right to want to make more money. Does it mean they will necessarily get it? Not really, but they have the right to complain about it.

The median salary in this country is a little over 50k, so we look at guys like Bennett and say "hey, you make plenty of money", and yet a lot of us think we should make more as well, but then you have the rest of the world looking at us like we are insanely overpaid, considering the top 1% of global salaries is around 32k.

It's all about perspective. Bennett sees people who may not be as productive as him making as much or more than him and he thinks he's earned that as well. He also sees guys on his level getting mega deals that he's not getting. Salaries are rarely "fair". it's just the world we live in. Bennett is not holding out though, so if he wants to talk about his salary while still performing his duties, that's his choice.

Baldwin's comment about him talking about food on his kids plate while driving 10 cars, came off more like levity than calling him out, but that's just my opinion

hawksfan515":344xb698 said:

They have every right to complain about not making enough millions. On average they have 3 year careers, and the longer you're in the NFL the more your body will break down.

If anything they deserve to be paid more, especially considering how much the NBA and MLB pay.

Click to expand...

EXACTLY!!!! The "you make more then a teacher or doctor" argument is dumb. My buddy who teachs 8th grade doesn't bring in 7.2 billion dollars last year.

The owners are making money hand over fist and the players only have a small window to capitalize on their skills.

Lots of piss and vinegar between offense and defense this camp.

I hope it helps them play with an edge.

Bennett has 16mil gauranteed with an 8mil signing bonus with a 4 year 28mil contract. Thats more then enough to support his family for years to come the guy is a multi millionaire. Most ppl wont even make half of that in 20 years of hard work every day. He gets to play a game he loves and gets paid a fortune to do it. I dont know it just rubs me the wrong way whenever an athlete complains about pay when their contract isnt even up.

I love Baldwin but I'm not sure calling him out nationally is the best way to cultivate that "brotherhood" this team takes so seriously and seems to be at the very heart of championship-level success. I could be wrong and maybe it's fine and they are tight but this seems to smack of the kinds of drama this team could do without.

He's free to complain about whatever he wants. He's also free to look like an idiot. Sometimes he economizes on his time and does both at the same time.

Money figures aside, one of the things I found particularly stupid about what Bennett said is that he's complaining about people taking food off his families plate (or whatever) when he is in the middle of training camp where people are literally competing to be able to put food on their families' plates.

I think teammates should stay out of this kind of thing. But if there is one person who could relate to Bennett it's Baldwin. Both guys are UDFA's and both guys signed contracts that were bargains compared to their talent the first time they hit FA. Baldwin was a little smarter and did a short deal which got him to his next deal (a much bigger one) a lot sooner. Michael chose to take a 4 year deal instead of a shorter one, and now he's got cold feet.

RussB":136ppktw said:

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/08/seahawks-doug-baldwin-michael-bennett-fight-contract-talk

About time someone says something, these athletes have no right to complain about not making enough millions.

Click to expand...

I'm not sure you entirely understand what "rights" are.

As a free American he most certainly does have the right to complain about his compensation at work; as does everyone posting here, as does any of my employees.

Watching another man's pockets in something that I'll never understand.

The players have every right to complain about their contracts. It's a business.

But the owners also have every right to run their business in a manner that allows them to make a profit. That is the way businesses work. If they can't make a profit they would close down their business and none of the employees (including players) would be paid at all.

So the argument of not making enough money from some players to me is just mute. They know the business well enough, or they wouldn't have invested time and sacrifice to put themselves in a position to be in this industry. That is how capitalism works.

All anyone has to say to counter Bennett's stance is the following:

-- You tested free agency, nobody offered you big money, you signed a one-year deal with the Seahawks

-- You tested free agency the following year, nobody offered you big money, so you signed a long term deal with the Seahawks

Not many players test free agency TWICE in their prime. The simple fact is nobody wished to pay Bennett the kind of money he covets. And that is tough titties.

hawksfan515":2vo586ov said:

They have every right to complain about not making enough millions. On average they have 3 year careers, and the longer you're in the NFL the more your body will break down. Players have to make their money while they can, and the longer they stay in the NFL the more they'll pay the price later in life.

If anything they deserve to be paid more, especially considering how much the NBA and MLB pay.

Click to expand...

And a lot of charity work in this country is done by NFL players, which relies heavily on their personal income to start.

Aros":4hzy0xyq said:

I love Baldwin but I'm not sure calling him out nationally is the best way to cultivate that "brotherhood" this team takes so seriously and seems to be at the very heart of championship-level success. I could be wrong and maybe it's fine and they are tight but this seems to smack of the kinds of drama this team could do without.

Click to expand...

+1

Drama threads always have the most posts at the highest rates. Wonder why that is.....

Bennett has reported and not held out the entire time he has been unhappy with his contract.

He can say whatever he wants.

gowazzu02":3encplad said:

hawksfan515":3encplad said:

They have every right to complain about not making enough millions. On average they have 3 year careers, and the longer you're in the NFL the more your body will break down.

If anything they deserve to be paid more, especially considering how much the NBA and MLB pay.

Click to expand...

EXACTLY!!!! The "you make more then a teacher or doctor" argument is dumb. My buddy who teachs 8th grade doesn't bring in 7.2 billion dollars last year.

The owners are making money hand over fist and the players only have a small window to capitalize on their skills.

Click to expand...

Again, its all a matter of perspective. One could argue that a top tier teacher impacts the world in a much greater way than an NFL lineman, but thats just not how we have created our compensations systems.

You make valid points, but yet when this argument comes up, it makes it hard for us "regular guys" to relate to such inane complaining when we bust our tails every day and will never see the type of money some of these guys make in a month.

In MB's world, sure he feels like his complaints are valid. But he is living in a world that has become so sheltered and out of touch with the rest of the world that none of the rest of us could ever understand. Rubs many people the wrong way.

Bennett can choose to care (or not) about how he is perceived by the guy who worked hard to put himself through school to get a masters degree and is raising a family on $45,000.

Basis4day":1rqftevc said:

Bennett has reported and not held out the entire time he has been unhappy with his contract.

He can say whatever he wants.

Click to expand...

And his teammates and fans are also free to react as they wish as well.

I read somewhere that Baldwin was just having fun with Bennett and giving him a hard time. Not sure if he had a smirk on his face or what gave that impression but that is what I've heard of the situation.

He called bennet out after him and Sherman got into it...

http://www.fieldgulls.com/2016/8/24...man-fight-michael-bennett-trash-talk-seahawks