Friday, July 29, 2005

How to Fix Pro Sports

I just read on ESPN.com that Maurice Clarett signed his contract with the Broncos. For those of you who don't keep up with football, Clarett tried to sue his way into the NFL last year. The NFL has a labor agreement which states that you need to be 2 years removed from HS before you are eligible to play in the NFL. Clarett didn't agree with this and tried to come in after one year. The courts sided with the NFL and because he had hired an agent and declared for the draft the NCAA wouldn't let him play college. So for a year he sat out, waiting to come to the NFL.

Fast forward to this past spring. In the late 3rd round the Denver Broncos selected him. The broncos have a history of taking running backs and making them great. It's not really the back that does well but the system. It just plain works for RB's. So this is a dream come true for a person like clarett. He's probably last on the totem poll for RBs but he will probably get a shot because of the system.

He signs the contract yesterday. Contracts are decided on where you were drafted. For his spot, he would have gotten between 400-500 k signing bonus (guaranteed) and 4 years at around 300 k per year. Chump change in the NFL really. Clarett really feels that he is a first round talent and that he was shafted by the NFL. So the contract he signs is different. He signs an incentive laden contract upwards of 7 million. So his salary will probably be the league minimum. If he rushes for 1000 yards he gets 1 million extra. X number of touchdowns, another million..you get the idea.

Here is why I think this is great: In sports (as well as society), we reward for past accomplishments. The whole point of a resume is to show what you've done in the past and to justify why you should be hired at X rate. But if employers were to hire people not on a salary or hourly but by how well they do their job, things would be a lot better. The people who work harder and are more efficient will reap the benefits immediately, and the employer will have a solid employee. The people who are lazy and doing things like reading/posting blogs at work will get paid less.

wait..maybe this isn't such a good idea..


Shout-outs to: Shayna, Sam, Jill, Leanne, Jeff, Ashley, Bruce, CB and Odgie if you read this far.

8 comments:

  1. Now I just scroll down to read the end. :-) I love you!!!

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  2. It's call working on commission. :) We're going to have to start putting the shout outs in the middle of the blogs...just randomly.

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  3. A)What if you don't do anything that involves sales? For instance I do IT stuff. So the less tech issues that come up I should get paid more (presumably because I've done a good job at preventing problems).

    b) I agree..you all are going to have to start watching out...

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  4. I'll go with the idea in option (A) as long as the fewer Bank of America problems that the offices have...I get paid more because I've educated them properly on the use and care of their accounts.

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  5. Anonymous2:49 PM

    You see, now you're just adding shout-outs to out do your wife...


    But I still appreciate it.

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  6. actually I'm only adding shout-outs to see if people actually read this thing. No one responds to my other posts.

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  7. Is that what I have to do to get a shout out...leave a comment? ;)

    I think it's ridiculous the amount of money paid to pro athletes and actors and other professional entertainers. I mean some of them aren't even that good at what they do and still get paid millions. Ridiculous. And that's all I have to say a/b that...

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  8. love the shout out! you the man!

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