Tom Brady is leading player-led push imploring NFL coaches to look at off season changes
If there is one thing that the 2020 COVID-affected NFL season taught some involved with the NFL is that sometimes less can be more.
Currently, there is a rising tension between the Players Association and the NFL over attendance of players at voluntary off season workouts.
Earlier this week, the NFL sent out a memo to team execs and head coaches that specially called out Broncos defensive tackle Ja'Wuan James, who suffered a season-ending achilles injury working out away from the team facility. Naming specific injuries like that is not a practice that the NFL traditionally has done, so with the threat of a boycott being floated by the player's union, the decision to call out a player like that ruffled some feathers.
Yesterday, the NFLPA fired back with a strongly-worded rebuttal calling the NFL's mentioning of that injury a "gutless scare tactic" to get players to come back to the respective team facilities for workouts.
"This memo is another sign of what they think of you and also affirms that they simply want to control you year-round in any and every way that they can," the memo read, in part.
Now, the face of the league is stepping in to help further the cause of the players.
According to Tom Pelissero, Tom Brady is helping to lead the charge to modernize the NFL off season, and took a passionate stand for it today on an NFLPA call.
On the call, Brady encouraged players to have "very intense negotiations" with coaches on modifying the off season work rules.
Part of Brady's message on that call was the NFL is the only sport with "overly competitive" drills during the off season.
"There's no f*ckin pro baseball player that's throwing 95mph in mid-December," Brady argued on the call, trying to drive home his point on how antiquated the NFL's approach to the off season has been.
The 2020 off season forcing players to prepare virtually was proof that it was possible to have a productive NFL season without the grind that the NFL is asking for players to jump right back into. Guys like Brady want the NFL to learn lessons from the 2020 approach and modernize the off season and the expectations.
Stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.
