Quote Originally Posted by gueli View Post
The problem with the rookie contract thing- most people who play in the nfl play for 5 or less seasons. The players 'sacrifice' their bodies during this time. and the nfl contracts are not worth the paper they are written on.
Average years of service for a NFL player is just over 3 years. Players who retire now get lifetime health benefits if they play 4 years. That number is not a coincidence .

Quote Originally Posted by Ian View Post
Yeah, but I think (although I may be wrong) that a portion of the money they're planning on saving from the reduced rookie salaries is going towards taking better care of ex-players so maybe you'd still be able to get some money even if you only played a few seasons, got hurt, and had to retire.
The stipulation that the owners want to put in for that, though, is only for players who retired after 1993. The owners say that this is because players after that date are the ones who made the NFL take off . So players like Wilbert Montgomery , Tommy MacDonald, or Chuck Bednarik (get well soon, Concrete Charlie) would not get that money.