In 2004, receiver Plaxico Burress boycotted a mandatory minicamp that was set for Mother’s Day weekend. Since then, few have said very much about football business being done on or around the second Sunday in May — with the exception of the 2014 Draft, which ended on Saturday and kept football folks busy while wrapping up undrafted free-agent classes on Mother’s Day.
This year, former NFL G.M. (and current employee of NFL Network) Scott Pioli had an observation to make, one that might not be all that popular at 345 Park Avenue.
“Question for NFL,” Pioli tweeted. “I know I was once a BIG part of the problem but in spirit of ‘football is family’ any way we can discuss no football activity/mini-camp on #MothersDay? We all understand Christmas & Thanksgiving in-season work but maybe a small concession to get better?”
“Football is family.” Regardless of what happens on Mother’s Day, it’s just a cheap slogan that surely sparked an expensive invoice from the marketing firm that conjured it. Football is business. And it’s very good for business to repeatedly say, “Football is family.”
On Mother’s Day weekend, football business takes precedence — even if it’s only rookie minicamps. Maybe, in lieu of complaining that Pioli stepped out of line and spoke his mind, the powers-that-be will see the merit in the point, and act accordingly in 2024.