Last week, Vikings running back Adrian Peterson created a stir by comparing NFL players to “modern-day slavery.” Many disagreed with Peterson. Eagles fullback Leonard Weaver is one of the exceptions.
“We as players want to make a statement that you know what, we love playing for you all, we love your owners, you know?” Weaver told Derrick Gunn of CSNPhilly.com. “We love you guys very much, but at the same time we need to see some equal opportunity here and stop treating us basically like Adrian Peterson said, like slaves. . . .
“We as players, we are an important part of this agreement here and an important part of this league. We care about our benefits and who we are. It’s not just about money, but it’s about our livelihood after the game of football.
“I want people to understand that we as players are gonna stand strong in our opinion and we’re gonna really fight this thing until it gets solved.”
That’s fine, but NFL players aren’t slaves. They’re currently feeling the squeeze of owners who think the players are getting paid too much money and want to pay them less of it. But NFL players aren’t slaves, and they aren’t being treated like slaves.
Instead, they’re being treated like 99 percent of all American employees. The boss makes the rules, and if the employees don’t like it, they can go work somewhere else.