Those poor NFL wage slaves

LeBron James says NFL owners are "old white men" with a slave mentality. I think LeBron James is letting slip a large craving for attention. Nobody forces anybody to play in the NFL. NFL players are well aware of the physical ramifications of pro football – the high possibility of brain damage and crippling injury. They are also aware of the financial ramifications and have not been slow to cash in. They enrich high-powered lawyers who find ways to make them ever more money. Taking advantage of still other ramifications, they father kids all across the fruited plain.

No slave ever dreamed of such a life. Anyone making millions of dollars is no slave, and anyone paying someone else millions of dollars to play a game hardly has a slave mentality. It's a hard-nosed business mindset on both sides. Nothing more, nothing less. LeBron James is just looking for a way to complain because he's black and feels responsible to lead the chorus – sadly, yet another ramification of pro sports today, where a full-grown man can't just enjoy his success but has to whine about how unfair life is. Put a cork in it, LeBron. You sound not only ungrateful, but out of touch with reality. A guy a few years ago quit pro football specifically because he wanted to be able to walk and think when he got older. Nothing stops other NFL players from doing the same thing – except their own dreams, their own greed, their own love of the game that pays them so well. All responsible people work for a living – but precious few make what those pitiful NFL slaves get from their slave masters. Photo credit: Keith Allison (cropped).