A Leave Of Absence Or A Leave Of Their Senses? They Can Afford It
So what do you give the successful sports superstar who has everything? The answer, it appears, is time off.
Call it the Colin Kaepernick effect, for the former QB who took a stand against the NFL by embracing radical politics. Underwritten by a lucrative NIKE stipend, he’s been able to forsake much of his prime to lecture America on its perceived evils.
Some have less dramatic reasons for taking a hiatus. Los Angeles Dodger pitcher David Price, who was a Blue Jay for a short time, has decided that he will not play the 2020 MLB season— or whatever passes for a season in this year of Covid panic. Price, whose two children are under the age of 4, issued a brief statement on his decision.
“After considerable thought and discussion with my family and the Dodgers, I have decided it is in the best interest of my health and my family’s health for me to not play this season. I will miss my teammates and will be cheering for them throughout the season and on to a World Series victory. I’m sorry I won’t be playing for you this year, but look forward to representing you next year.”
Price is one of the more thoughtful and grounded athletes you’ll meet, so this decision has not been a frivolous one. And while his two children are statistically in no danger from Covid, and the national death rate (despite what the cringing media say) is rapidly declining, he’s entitled to take what steps he deems necessary to support his family. He forgoes about $11.8 million of the $32 million salary he would have made in a 162-game season— and loses service time towards his pension.
But Price has made $200 million in his career with Tampa, Detroit, Toronto, Boston and the Dodgers. Unless he’s been spectacularly profligate he never has to work another day in his life. So he has the resources to make this decision.
Do does 34-year-old veteran outfielder Ian Desmond who’s giving up $5,555,556 for the prorated share of his $15 million salary, part of his $70 million, five-year contract ."The COVID-19 pandemic has made this baseball season one that is a risk I am not comfortable taking,” he says. Desmond, another grounded athlete, also cited the #BLM controversy as another reason for pulling the plug.
They’re part of a group that sees how Atlanta’s Freddie Freeman— who played for Team Canada in the World Baseball Championships— has been hit with the high fever and chills of Covid (though not hospitalized) and say, “Not for me”. (Freeman’s veteran teammate Nick Markakis announced Monday he won’t play the 2020 season because of Covid.) You may disagree, but they’ve earned the right— and the financial security— to make that call.
They represent a new trend in pro sports. Athletes who’ve become as rich as Saudi sheiks while playing sports who don’t want to wear out their bodies by playing contact sports into their thirties. (Kansas City Chiefs QB Pat Mahomes, who just won the Super Bowl, has signed a $400-million dollar contract with the team.) Honestly, if you were making US$35, 40, 50 million a year playing in the NBA, MLB or NFL, would you not want to call your shots? If you could be golfing with a Hollywood star instead of sweating out a workout in Florida’s scorching sun what would you do?
In discussions with people in the sport representation business this comfort zone has become a significant factor for elite athletes. Who needs playing intense pro sports in the middle of the summer when you have a beautiful 6000-foot cottage in Muskoka or a beach house in the Caymans? Let the rank-and-file play out the gerrymandered schedules. They’ll watch it on TV then come back next season. Maybe.
As Desmond (who’s bi-racial) suggested, he’s also upset about the racial turmoil in America this summer and wants to be with his four kids through the controversies. Listening to the torment in the NBA over race, might we soon see elite players— a la Kaepernick— just chuck it instead of playing what they see as a market system stacked against them?
(En passant, Kaepernick was trumped this summer by another QB who does want to play in 2020. Former NFL MVP Cam Newton took a bargain-basement deal in New England to replace Tom Brady with the Patriots. Kaepernick, who was 3-16 in his last two years as a starter in San Francisco, reportedly wanted $20 million and a starter’s job before lowering himself to playing again. Although pleasing NIKE seems his principal goal these days.)
There will be more like them in all the sports, guys who want to set their own calendar. There will also be those who blew their fortunes on the proverbial vintage wine and luxury cars who may want to say something political or dodge Covid— but cannot because they need the money. The agents/ financial advisors we spoke to say there is a cohort of athletes below the superstar level who’ll accept most anything— including eight weeks in Edmonton— to replenish their finances.
But with rules and CBAs changing every day, they’re in limbo, waiting for clarification and perhaps a spot left open by a “conscientious objector”. So they’ll join with the rookies and the journeymen players in tapping the motherlode for as long as it exists. Even if it means being cooped up in a hotel for two months, away from friends and family.
Meanwhile, the fabulously rich athletes will comport themselves in whatever fashion seems appropriate. Why? Because they can.
Bruce Dowbiggin @dowbboy is the editor of Not The Public Broadcaster (http://www.notthepublicbroadcaster.com). The best-selling author of Cap In Hand is also a regular contributor to Sirius XM Canada Talks Ch. 167. A two-time winner of the Gemini Award as Canada's top television sports broadcaster, his next book Personal Account with Tony Comper will be available on BruceDowbigginBooks.ca this fall.