“They loved the game. The money was never there even though they earned it far more than today’s players do.”
John Unitas played a year for the Bloomfield Rams, a semi-pro team after being cut by the Steelers. He was paid $6/game. When called by the Colts he almost didn’t go to camp, his wife basically made him take the chance.
I remember Art “Fatso” Donovan talking about what jobs different players had in the off season so they could support their families. He took a bonus he got and bought a package store, it put his kids through college.
If not for men like Sayers, Butkus, Donovan, Ditka, Unitas and a host of others Tom Brady and P Mahomes might be digging ditches somewhere.
“If not for men like Sayers, Butkus, Donovan, Ditka, Unitas and a host of others Tom Brady and P Mahomes might be digging ditches somewhere.”
The game has gotten too big for itself. They now pay players rediculous amounts of money to be entertainers. And since it based upon violence, criminals. The intricacies of the game have gone away and is now who can show off better. And it is providing a horrible role model for the kids coming up as these behaviors are being lowered to everything from Pop Warner through NCAA. This also includes the drug used also.
And the stupidity for the players saying they aren’t role models is factual. But that is what puts butts in the seats if that’s what they are going to sell. So they are lying through their teeth to even themselves on that topic.
wy69