No Jokes Here--This is just an Incredibly Tasteless Article
I'm gonna wait a bit to post this so Larry's excellent Easterbrook send-up doesn't get buried, but this is just an incredibly tasteless piece of journalism.
As you may know, Gene Upshaw, the head of the NFLPA players' union died on Wednesday. The next day, Gregg Doyel had this article ready.
You may agree or disagree with Upshaw's policies and opinions*. A lot of people did. Mike Ditka for instance. But I hope you'll agree that publicly excoriating a man for something relatively trivial--like the fact that his policies as NFLPA were slightly conservative--the day after his untimely death is more or less appalling. Read the whole article, if you have a chance. If you don't, I hope these first 4 paragraphs will suffice as an example of the garbage contained beyond
Just ridiculous. "At some point you have to get past the emotions surrounding a man's death and understand what his death means?". Sure. Agreed 100%. But most of us wait till the body's cold
This is going to seem callous, but at some point you have to get past the emotions surrounding a man's death and understand what his death means. And in the case of Gene Upshaw's death, what it means for the NFL is potentially catastrophic.
You think the world was a better place with Gene Upshaw in it? Fine. I'm sure it was. He was a great player, a tough guy, a man of integrity. The world was better with Gene Upshaw in it. That's a nice, happy thought.
Here's a counter thought:
The NFL owners' world was a better place with Gene Upshaw in it ... and in charge of the NFL players union.
With Upshaw gone -- figuratively and, sadly, literally -- the NFL owners' world just took a turn for the terrifying.
*I would elaborate a little more on my personal feelings about the NFLPA but that would be somewhat hypocritical, no? And really quite irrelevant to this post
