I don't know about you guys, but I love to see former NFL players get riled up about the way things are now in the league, and in particular about the current players and NFLPA. That's due in large part to the fact that today's guys make gazillions of dollars, while back in the '50's and '60's and '70's (and of course, going even further back to the leather helmet days), the players knew they had to have a career after football. Today, at least for those who manage their finances properly, that's not always necessary. So I happily clicked on this article in which former Giants' linebacker Sam Huff blasts Drew Brees for making a canned statement about NFL alumni. But I got more than I bargained for, and so will you. This is a really well-thought-out piece that outlines some of the history of labor disputes in the NFL as well as just the rift between current and former players that exists, and also some historical tidbits about Huff and the Giants. Here is one of my favorite quotes from the article:
"Getting $500 a year (raise) was a big deal from (Giants owner) Wellington (Mara),’’ Huff said. "When I was drafted I went with Wellington to the Ed Sullivan show. He offered me $5.000 (in 1956) and that was so much money, more than my dad ever made in the coal mines (of West Virginia). I told Mr. Mara I can't sign and let me check with my coach Art Lewis. He had played in the NFL. I called Coach Lewis and said here I am in New York and (the Giants) offered me a contract for $5,000. Pappy -- we called him Pappy -- said sign before he changes his mind."
Of course, it's not as good as this venom directed at Brees:
"Drew Brees should keep his mouth shut," Huff said from West Virginia on Thursday. "We (he and his Giants teammates from the 1950s and 1960s) would put a target on his back. I don't understand all this crap. We formed it (the NFLPA). Kyle Rote (the Giants end), he did it and put it all together."
Them's fightin' words, literally.
I'm not much of a video game guy, but I had to put this in the notebook because Giants' wide receiver Hakeem Nicks is a possibility to land on the cover of Madden 12, and he's going against former Jet Danny Woodhead in the next round of the competition.
Leave it to the New York Post to start this bit about LT's pimp with a punch line.
And while there is a labor dispute going on in the NFL,there is no dispute as to who will handle private flights in and out of Newark International Airport during the 2014 Super Bowl, which will be played in New Jersey. I bet you all were on the edge of your collective seat wondering whether or not that was going to happen.