NFL sending its rookies early season's greed-ing

[swede]

Once again I ask, what was the league holding over the heads of the rookies?

What would the consequence be to Brandon Jackson had he shown up at mini-camp instead of the Rookie Expo Whatever Photo Shoot?

[Zool]

Will this even be a blip in anyones memory in July?

[Patler]

Once again I ask, what was the league holding over the heads of the rookies?

What would the consequence be to Brandon Jackson had he shown up at mini-camp instead of the Rookie Expo Whatever Photo Shoot?

Don't blame the league, blame the union. Apparently it was determined to be in the best interests of the players as a whole to generate hype and the free flow of cash from fans to players by making this even as good as it could be. The early articles summarized it this way:

The Premiere event was scheduled for the same weekend as the Packers' minicamp -- and Jackson couldn't choose. The NFL Players Association and the Management Council ruled this week that Jackson was required to attend the Premiere event and not the minicamp.

[Patler]

Jackson missing this year is no worse than Hawk(I think it was Hawk, wasn't it?) missing last year, or countless others who have missed the May minicamps because their schools are still in session and rules forbid them from attending.

The coaches will give him some special attention over the next week or so, and he will catch up.

[swede]

Once again I ask, what was the league holding over the heads of the rookies?

What would the consequence be to Brandon Jackson had he shown up at mini-camp instead of the Rookie Expo Whatever Photo Shoot?

Don't blame the league, blame the union. Apparently it was determined to be in the best interests of the players as a whole to generate hype and the free flow of cash from fans to players by making this even as good as it could be. The early articles summarized it this way:

The Premiere event was scheduled for the same weekend as the Packers' minicamp -- and Jackson couldn't choose. The NFL Players Association and the Management Council ruled this week that Jackson was required to attend the Premiere event and not the minicamp.

That clears it up some. MM seemed more than a little annoyed by Jackson's absence, which surprised me since the issue seemed out of the young man's power to change. I suppose it was possible for MM to be annoyed with the league, the union, his own front office and the player all at once.

Vexed is vexed.

[Patler]

No reason at all for MM to be upset at Jackson. Jackson was powerless to do anything differently. That would be like being upset at a player who is forbidden from attending by rules because his school is still in session.

[packinpatland]

No reason at all for MM to be upset at Jackson. Jackson was powerless to do anything differently. That would be like being upset at a player who is forbidden from attending by rules because his school is still in session.

His 'being upset' was misdirected.
This is a fixable problem.
Whereas schools still being is session, that's one everyone will just have to live with, if the guy wants his degree.

Just curious, how many rookies, after signing their $$$$$ contracts, forgo their degrees?

[Rastak]

No reason at all for MM to be upset at Jackson. Jackson was powerless to do anything differently. That would be like being upset at a player who is forbidden from attending by rules because his school is still in session.

His 'being upset' was misdirected.
This is a fixable problem.
Whereas schools still being is session, that's one everyone will just have to live with, if the guy wants his degree.

Just curious, how many rookies, after signing their $$$$$ contracts, forgo their degrees?

It's fixable on a couple levels, if the NFL is hell bent on having these guys participate, don't schedule minicamp or OTA's on the same day!

[MJZiggy]

I thought the problem was that the didn't tell the teams these things were gonna be mandatory?? If it wasn't mandatory, perhaps M3 thought that playing football as a team was more important than having your picture taken. Oh wait. It is.

[Rastak]

I thought this was kinda weird....

http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/sports/index.php?[ntid=141545&ntpid=2

Jackson wasn't the only one who missed his team's minicamp because of the event; Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez and Chicago Bears tight end Greg Olsen and running back Garrett Wolfe also were absent from their clubs' workouts.

The NFL warned teams in advance that players would have to attend the event - the Detroit Lions, for example, moved their minicamp so wide receiver Calvin Johnson, the No. 2 overall pick, could participate - but the Packers were under the impression Jackson would be excused after telling the league he'd rather attend minicamp than the event, which paid him $12,000.

The league told McCarthy he had to attend ahead of time and he thought the NFL was joking?


Kinda old news now but I thought that was really strange.

[HarveyWallbangers]

The league told McCarthy he had to attend ahead of time and he thought the NFL was joking?

Like Ziggy said in the previous post, I'd think the Packers had a misunderstanding about whether it was a mandatory or voluntary event.