[Albion Wilde]

"Until as recently as the late 1960s, NFL lineman worked construction or loaded trucks in the offseason to pay their bills. Players with a college degree traded on their celebrity status to sell stocks or insurance. (The policy my mother cashed in when my father died was sold to him in the early 1960s by a retired New York Giants player). Many of today’s players, by contrast, live in a world of ostentatious homes, fast cars, and red-carpet celebrity appearances, far from the struggles of those whose support pays their salaries. These players have deemed themselves important enough to impose their political views on ordinary fans watching sports as a respite from life’s daily grind."

Yep. Shut up and play.

[erkelly]

Not only that, but I can remember back when players felt the most important part of their job was to be the kind of (patriotic American) men that the young could and did look up to, as well as to be the decent and honorable Americans that parents wanted their children to admire and grow up to be.