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Created by The Core DJ's Jul 6, 2014 at 4:18pm. Last updated by The Core DJ's Jul 6, 2014.

Do Players Have The Right To Protect Their Careers?

I have to admit when it comes to athletes, I like toughness. Especially when it comes to football players. As a matter of fact, my all time favorite tough guy is former strong safety for the 49ers Ronnie Lott.

This man went and had part of his finger cut off during a game, just so he could finish the game. Wow right? There’s not a player in the league today who would cut his finger off just to finish a game. Though I respect him for that I have to admit he must’ve been out of his damn mind.

True he showed toughness, loyalty, and dedication to his team that day, and for many more seasons. Unfortunately the 49ers ended up rewarding him in the form of an eventual trade to the Raiders. Nothing tells a player how much a team appreciates them like trading him to another team.

This is an example of why I understand when players are hurt and sit out of practices and games. Yesterday Jacksonville Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio called out defensive tackle Jon Henderson for pulling himself out of practice due to a shoulder injury. An injury, which is being called a minor shoulder bruise.

I’m not mad at any player that chooses to protect themselves and their careers. The NFL is the only professional league in sports where your contracts are not guaranteed. A team can go in and restructure your contract at any time and that’s one reason why some players have holdouts. They want to make sure their deals have guaranteed money so that if all else fails they know their getting that guaranteed money.

In Henderson’s case the NFL season is 17 weeks plus of hard hitting physical play, and if this man chooses to sit out in an off season practice in order to keep his body fresh for the season, his coach should be fine with that. Especially since Henderson’s no slouch. He’s a two time pro bowler that goes hard every down once the season starts.

As a coach you would think you’d want one of your best players fresh for the season, after all it worked for Michael Strahan the year the Giants won the superbowl. But that’s not the case because Coach Del Rio is worried about his job. The Jags didn’t exactly follow up their 2007-2008-season performance last year, and because of that he’s on the hot seat.

So it’s ok for him to worry about his career, but the player can’t do the same? In the words of Martin Payne, “Man Please”. If the season was already underway then I’d have the coach’s back on this, but it’s off-season. I know some people probably disagree considering that these players are being paid millions of dollars, but that’s one reason I side with the players.

That’s a million dollar shoulder and I think he reserves the right to protect it. If a player doesn’t feel like his body is up to par then let them rest it, as long as they show up and go hard on Sunday then let it ride. It’s no different than what Shaq does in the NBA. He knows his body and he paces himself to go hard in the playoffs, again just like Strahan did a few years ago.

Unfortunately some players are soft and pampered and look for special treatment, and that makes the players who are legitimately hurt look bad a lot of the time. Football is hands down the toughest sport on a person body and unfortunately for coaches you can’t gage who’s trying to get by and who’s actually hurt.

Coach Del Rio was wrong to publicly call Henderson out but he was right in saying “what he does, that’s up to him”. If Henderson doesn’t produce when the season starts then reward the guys that were practicing and give them a chance, otherwise wait and see if Henderson can still get it in, and we’ll judge him then.

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