Saturday's Notebook: Childress Calls T-Jack 'One of Hardest Working Guys'

1) Olympic hopefuls train and are screened by the same Olympic substance/doping standards in all 50 states, apparently without a hotbed in a few states to get around the Olympic standards due to an off-premise/off-duty clause.
2) Last I’d heard/read, the Olympic standards were even more limiting than the NFL’s.
3) The Olympians actually do the work required to stay in shape, etc.

Even the MN law states that whatever may be taken off duty and off premises must not interfere with the employee’s ability to do his/her job, and if that happens to be to show up for an authentic weigh-in for an accurate gauge of health and contractual obligation, then the use of that StarCaps pill or other last-minute diuretic will not be protected by the MN STATE law, either.

That argument could win alone, and I must be more bored than usual today to bother with the rest…

Just like you didn’t respond to the slavery or segregation examples…states have the right to make laws, but those laws are not the final word on anything if there are conflicts with federal laws and precedents.

Here’s another example: credit card companies. They were all headquartered in Delaware because that was the most lenient in terms of the interest they could charge. As a result, a MN cardholder still paid the rate of interest allowed in DE, even if that rate would have been unacceptable had it been a contract/cardholder agreement with the same company based in MN instead. The NFL could be similarly ok via the location of its headquarters.

The purpose of all of these other laws and precedents is to specify and frame the very broad language of the Bill of Rights. An NFL team doesn’t simply have the right to the ball (“But we won the coin toss! We have the right to the ball as specified in…absolutely!”), there are many other rules which govern how they must demonstrate possession, how they may proceed on a possession, and under what sorts of circumstances the ball would be scored or turned over to the opponent.

They don’t give a rat’s hairy patootie about the health of the players except where it impacts their pocket-book.

Even if the NFL cares as little as you say, the NFL and NFLPA have a vested interest in keeping players in good health for promotions, special appearances, charity work, to raise the competition for and quality of future coaching jobs, and to limit liability/health costs and claims by avoiding expensive deaths (which doctors won’t necessarily be able to treat given the unknown/unquantifiable nature of supplements, their possible side effects, and their possible interactions). The players have a vested interest in participating in a competitive league with longer careers and career achievements which appear more legitimate in a PED-free environment than in a PED-tainted one, although some of them do not look at it that way. Rafael Palmeiro isn’t seen in the media or in advertising anymore after his steroid use became publicly known, and his chances of being enshrined in Cooperstown went from probable to none. That’s several million dollars lost in his case.

…players that make millions of bucks a year would have more rights than a player that only makes a few hundred grand a year.

And this has nothing to do with what we were discussing, but the richer the player, the more “right” to get away with something. Reggie Rogers served only 1 year in prison for killing 3 teenagers while driving drunk, and chalked up his 5th such offense in the state of Washington in the past year. What everyday citizen could get away with that? (12 years on a guilty plea means that was a bargain compared to what she would have received after being found guilty.) Leonard Little is an example every time a player is suspended or jailed for offenses which killed fewer people than Little’s last DUI.

We all have the right to make as much money as we can legally rake in, it’s neat little system called Capitalism. LOVE IT!

Yes, but the Williamses are not entitled to work in the NFL. They have the right to seek employment wherever they feel that they would be a good fit and agree to a contract with their employer of choice or refuse that contract and move on. It’s not illegal to wear a bikini, either, but more than these two teachers have been fired for being hot or otherwise pursuing happiness off premises while off-duty.

So say all involved with the NFL, especially the owners and those in the commissioner’s office. It’s not that you’re wrong very often, but that you don’t seem to acknowledge that these legal matters are complex in that both sides have the same rights.

I think I answered your questions here while replying to someone else.

And you’re absolutely right that this is complicated—especially to non-lawyers—and while I am 100% in favor of workers’ rights, the NFLPA is a very strong union which has fought those battles and fought them well. There is nothing oppressive about the substance testing which must be carried out equally in all states with NFL teams.

If anything, the NFL policies on this matter are generous toward the players. For instance, Shawne Merriman tested positive for steroids, but received only a short suspension and was still eligible for an award! And then he was allowed to put that ’roid-enhanced body back on the field and reap the benefits of his cheating for the rest of his career. Allowing that only creates an incentive to cheat as much as possible early on, win the biggest 2nd contract inhumanly possible with as much guaranteed money as possible so that your body falls apart on their dime before getting to a 3rd contract. But the goal should be to encourage fairness and longevity (protecting both the league and its players), and the only way to do that would be to have a 1-and-done deal (like the teachers had to a far more restrictive degree, referenced in the linked post, although I personally fail to see why the schools would even bother with that).