Deion Sanders is a Hall of Famer and was a colorful quote as a player but restraint, well, I never saw much of it. Deion made it a point to be outrageous.
Yet, what Deion told WCNN, via SportsRadioInterviews.com, I couldn’t disagree.
“Everybody around them (are) ‘yes men’,” Sanders said. “You gotta start hiring ‘no man’. Somebody is going to tell you no. Someone who is going to tell the truth and a lot of these guys don’t.”
An entourage for a NFL player is a sight to see, from bodyguards, trainers, agents, handlers, blah, blah. What Sanders said made sense and is necessary.
Consider this: Sports Illustrated recently reported that 78 percent of NFL players are either bankrupt or are in severe financial distress two years after retiring.
It’s clear the owners don’t care. With the average playing career less than four years, a NFL player is a commodity to be used, then discarded and forgotten.
It’s also clear that it’s the rare agent who can restrain a player from being the fool, investing poorly or otherwise put the breaks on I’m-23-and-I-got-the-world-wrapped-around-my-finger.
Both owners and agents would do themselves a big favor by taking care of the players. The second-best advertisement for pro football is an ex-player who contributes to society, rather than one who appears on a police blotter or files bankruptcy.
The best advertisement, of course, is the current player who doesn’t appear on a police blotter or files for bankruptcy.
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