Broncos legend lashes out at "moronic" NFLPA for cutting practice time: "We don't have the balls to stand up"
Broncos Super Bowl-winning guard Mark Schlereth has hit out at the NFLPA for cutting practice time to reduce injuries and other potential issues arising out of repeated contact. But the Denver legend said it is counterproductive since the less one practices, the lesser the chance that they will be in shape when the season begins.
Schlereth highlighted:
"With those less reps or the less time in training camp that you have what else you have? You have less OTAs, less actual football work on the field leading up to training camp. So you have less of an opportunity to actually be in 'football shape.'"
Schlereth continued:
"So that even though that there are less time and less repetitions in this camp than there ever have been before, guys are less prepared for football activity than they've ever been in the history of this league."
Mark Schlereth highlights what NFLPA could do instead
After highlighting his reasons for why he believes the lack of practice at football camp, albeit in the name of player welfare by the NFLPA, is counterproductive, Mark Schlereth said what he thought the organization should do. Lambasting the NFLPA, he set that instead of negotiating time out of football and lowering the bar for practice, they should instead demand lifetime insurance.
He advocated,
"Because we as a Players Association are full of morons. And we negotiate work time out of football, we negotiate practice out of football, because we don't have balls enough to stand up to the owners and say, 'No, we want Lifetime Insurance.'"
That is something that the NFLPA might certainly consider in addition to other demands like removing franchise tags and having position-specific rookie contracts. It adds to a growing list of things that current and past players have raised issues with that the organization now has to contend with.
The current collective bargaining agreement is in place until 2030, though. Hence, there is still time until these issues can be brought to the table. It remains to be seen whether the current concerns still retain their urgency by then.