If the U.S. President thing doesn’t work out for Senator Bernie Sanders, maybe he can get a lucrative job as the head of the NFL Players’ Association. Sanders has traveled around the nation screaming about the impact greedy billionaires have had on the United States. Sports fans need to look no further than the No Fun(d) League. No, I’m not talking about the time that local, gluttonous billionaire took his team back to the West Coast. This week, the Wall Street Journal reported that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and his billionaire owner buddies got caught red-handed, taking money from the league’s players.
Stephen Burbank, an independent arbitrator, ordered the league to return approximately $120 million dollars it stole withheld from the players. Around $50 million of those dollars should have gone directly to players’ salaries over the past three years.
The NFL lying and making up rules to line fat cat pockets? OMG! Who would have ever believed it? The only thing unbelievable about the situation is that the league got caught and will actually have to return the money. As a result of the ruling, the league’s salary cap for 2016 is expected to get a $2 million bump as well. When is the last time somebody was caught cheating in the NFL and actually suffered a meaningful penance? Then again, paying the stolen money back is hardly a penalty. It’s not like a bank robber could get caught by the police and get off by simply saying, “You caught me. I’ll take the money back.”
“They created an exemption out of a fiction and they got caught,” NFLPA chief DeMaurice Smith told the Wall Street Journal.
According to the league, it was a simple “technical accounting issue.” I have a feeling the league would still be a’counting that money if Smith and his team hadn’t discovered the discrepancy. To make matters worse, according to Mike Florio of NBC Sports, the NFL’s defense was that the NFLPA should not receive the money because it waited too long to make the claim. In other words, because the players discovered they’d been robbed too late, they shouldn’t get what was rightfully theirs.
Imagine the discipline Goodell would dole out if a player got caught stealing $120 million. Players are called thugs and then fined, suspended without hesitation. Had Jameis Winston had been in the pros when he ran a play action on those crab legs, he would’ve likely ate at least a two-week suspension from the big boss man. Of course, nobody from NFL headquarters will be jailed or disciplined. Like the New England Patriots, league execs won’t stop cheating. They’ll just try harder to conceal it.
It seems that the NFL knows no limits when it comes to greed. Maybe the owners should start a secret Super Pac, NFL Billionaires for Bernie, to make sure the feisty fellow has his hands too full with Wall Street and Republicans to notice the excessively shady moves being made by some of the most high-profile one-percenters in the land.
Shame on you NFL!
Pacquiao left with bare foot in mouth
Manny Pacquiao’s race to irrelevance appears to be nearly complete. After dealing with reported money troubles and a lackluster showing in the biggest fight of his career, Pac-Man has his back on the ropes again. He was recently dropped as a Nike endorser after commenting that gays are “worse than animals.” Pacquiao apologized for the remark and stated that he was simply quoting scripture and did not intend to offend anyone.
This isn’t the first time Filipino fighter has had to apologize to the gay community. Back in 2012, it was erroneously reported that the former multi-division champion suggested that gays should be put to death. Pacquiao denied the claims, and the author of the original story backed up the fighter. Still, Pacquiao apologized for the confusion.
However, he has not yet apologized for agreeing to a third match with Tim Bradley on April. The bout will likely be Pacquiao’s last fight, but it’s also the last fight boxing fans wanted to see. Pacquiao had an opportunity to face a young, budding superstar in WBO Super Lightweight Champion Terence Crawford in a high-profile, highly anticipated bout. Like he’s done often at the tail end of his storied career, Pacquiao let promoter Bob Arum keep the money in house against a Top Rank opponent.
Clutch or Nah?
Clutch: The past week has been good for NBA scorers. Damian Lillard dropped 51 on Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors. Anthony Davis dropped 59 points and 20 rebounds on the Detroit Pistons. James Harden dropped 42 points on the Utah Jazz. DeMarcus Cousins had back-to-back games of 37 points and 20 rebounds and 39 points and nine rebounds. I guess the big question is, does anybody play defense anymore?
Nah: Kimbo Slice vs Dada 5000 was one of the worst fights in the history of MMA. Both combatants used up all their mojo within the first 30 seconds and the rest of the fight was like one of those World Star videos with old, drunk uncles fighting over something that happened on an episode of Good Times. They flailed, snuggled and hugged until Dada collapsed to the ground in defeat.
Follow Ishmael and In the Clutch on Twitter @IshmaelSistrunk
