NBC’s Florio: By Getting Rich In ‘Anti-American’ NFL Draft, Players Are Victimized

The National Football League instituted the process of drafting college players in 1936, but we’ve just learned from NBC Pro Football Talk’s liberal host Mike Florio that this is an “anti-American” activity. In his book, he makes this outrageous claim. You can play the NFL: Playmakers: This is how it really works, released last month.  

Florio obviously timed the release of the book in hopes of making waves as the NFL’s 2022 draft takes place Thursday to Saturday. He attacks the “un-American” draft in Chapter 2, titled, “At its core, the draft is anti-American.” A former labor lawyer, Florio says in an interview with the Awful Announcing blog: 

This draft is anti-American. This draft restrains mobility and flexibility as well the inherent reality of self determination. It forces men not long removed from being boys to move to places they otherwise would never choose to live, often hundreds if not thousands of miles from the places they’d prefer to start their professional lives.

Only in pro sports are individuals drafted by organizations (in above photo, Alabama’s Rashaan Edwards was drafted by Tennesse in 2018) determining where they will live and work, Florio says. “They just have to submit. They are brainwashed. The players are brainwashed. We just accept that’s the way it is. You can’t push back against it. Well, you can. They just don’t do it often enough.” 

Athletes in football, basketball, hockey and baseball aren’t complaining though. They’re thrilled to learn they’ll get paid millions by living their dreams. Drafts are believed to level the playing field and help win teams. 

Few draftees protested. John Elway, a 1983 draftee, made it clear that he wouldn’t play for Baltimore. The Colts then traded him to Denver. Eli Manning was not keen to be a part of San Diego’s 2004 team, so in 2004, the Chargers sold him to the New York Giants. 

Yet, the NFL draft goes on for the 86th year, and Audacy’s John Healy calls it a “ratings machine for the NFL.” It’s business as usual to the players union and approved through collective bargaining.  

Florio insists the draft is a “blatant antitrust violation. It’s no different than in a given community a kid gets a job after school. You have Burger King, McDonald’s, Subway, Taco Bell and Arby’s, and they decide who is going to get dibs on which kid.” Weak analogy. There is no business that will wage a civil war for minimum wage-earners. 

Florio states that the entire system is contrary to the fundamental principles upon which America was founded.  

Though other businesses and industries don’t draft personnel, Americans often have to change locations to climb the corporate ladder. They are paid well and go to work, just like pro athletes and coaches.  

The first 27 pages of the Florio book are available for reading on Amazon.