What can the NFL learn from MLB's struggles to return to play? | Yahoo Sports NFL Podcast
Yahoo Sports senior NFL writers Charles Robinson and Terez Paylor discuss the differences between the NFL's and MLB’s plans to return to play and what the NFL can learn from MLB’s failings.
Video Transcript
[CHEERING]
TEREZ PAYLOR: The Sacramento Kings are exploring a breathalyzer concept to detect COVID-19 I think it's clear, it's going to take like something better than the damn swab that touches your brain.
CHARLES ROBINSON: Yes. That thing's scary.
TEREZ PAYLOR: It'll take something better than that. Here's what I will say. If there's any league financially motivated to get that amount of cutting-edge tests here, it's probably the NFL. And they can get their hands on them. The question is whether or not they should be getting their hands on those types of tests instead of the general public. But yeah.
CHARLES ROBINSON: Given what's going on in Major League Baseball right now, if baseball just completely screws this up, and it there is no baseball season, if you're the NFL, think of the win you can get if you can somehow pull this off and actually have a season, and not go through the acrimony and craziness that baseball's going through.
The NFL, when other leagues falter at something, particularly when other leagues start to struggle in one area or another-- the NFL somehow figures out a way to pull a win out of it.
Now, the one thing that they have struggled at historically-- the social justice movements, players kneeling, that kind of stuff. But I will say this. On the back end, what's happened three years later? They've figured out a way to try and engineer a win, and all of a sudden, you have all these executives saying things they were never willing to say before and all this.
So watching baseball kind of fall on its face in this whole thing, the NFL is learning some kind of lesson through this. They're like, let's not be that. Let's not screw this up.
TEREZ PAYLOR: I have an unpopular opinion about baseball.
CHARLES ROBINSON: Ooh!
TEREZ PAYLOR: I'm OK with them not playing. I love baseball, but I'm not mad at the union and the, quote, "greedy players." The reason that the negotiations are acrimonious is because the baseball players' union actually has juice. They have power. They have standing because the contracts are fully guaranteed.
I'm not going to hate on that. Good for you, guys! It would be better for the players across multiple leagues if their unions were as strong as baseball's. So what you get when you have players with more leverage is the ability to say no, you're trying to screw us, we're not going to do it.
So guess what? Does it suck for the general public? Yeah. Yeah, it does. But I'm not going to be selfish about that. Those guys should do what's best for them. It's business from their end.
CHARLES ROBINSON: Listen, man. Some of these guys remember. Some of these guys who are giving up the season of baseball-- this isn't NFL money. They're guys making $35, $40 million. You're giving up a $40 million, one-year windfall. You never get that $40 million back. There are NFL players who play careers and make $40 million.
TEREZ PAYLOR: That's a good point.
CHARLES ROBINSON: There's baseball players who-- so if these guys are like, nope, we're not going to have it, we're going to-- I'm just like, OK. Well, baseball money's real. Y'all are giving up--
TEREZ PAYLOR: Oh, it is.
CHARLES ROBINSON: A lot of guys are giving up some significant coin to sit out a year.
TEREZ PAYLOR: Wait, are you mad at them? I'm just curious. Are you mad?
CHARLES ROBINSON: No, no, no. No, I'm not. I'm not mad at them. I mean, I'm disappointed that this season-- I'd like to see baseball happen. But also, my thing is that the players are like, no, we're not going to do this. And they're willing to give up that money. I mean, who am I to look at someone who's-- I mean, the average salaries of what baseball is? I mean, there are a lot of there are a ton of guys making $10 million this ear.
And I'm like, yo, if you're willing to forego $10 million, I mean, that is absolutely commitment right there. Because I'm pretty sure I'd be like, yo, get off the field--
TEREZ PAYLOR: Give me the [BLEEP].
[LAUGHTER]
CHARLES ROBINSON: Yes, exactly. I'll sign the waivers. I will play in a space suit in the outfield if I have to. I don't care.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
