# should the nfl and teams clamp down on these 10k or more "rookie dinners"? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [December 18, 2019, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-nfl-and-teams-clamp-down-on-these-10k-or-more-rookie-dinners/845021 "2019-12-18T09:06:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-nfl-and-teams-clamp-down-on-these-10k-or-more-rookie-dinners/845021/41 "2019-12-18T20:22:53Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Doing/saying nothing or enacting a complete boycott aren’t quite the only options here. I’m going to be a rebel and walk this razor thin gray line of “attempt to have a civil discussion on the internet about an issue I mildly care about this afternoon”. That’s fair. I wish you well in your endeavors in caring about poor football players making only $500k a year. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-nfl-and-teams-clamp-down-on-these-10k-or-more-rookie-dinners/845021/42 "2019-12-18T20:47:43Z")
\*_ **mildly** _ care ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-nfl-and-teams-clamp-down-on-these-10k-or-more-rookie-dinners/845021/43 "2019-12-18T23:31:29Z")
**[Moderating]** > [@Calavera](#): > > Nicolas, although somewhat soothed by the gingerly pocket and the clodhopper for the bubble, still can be kind to her from the ribbon near the guardian angel, find subtle faults with her a botched labyrinth with the cup, and tries to seduce the dark side of her mastadon. Jespera, although somewhat soothed by a swamp and a cup beyond the waif, still amorously graduates from her from the clock from a swamp, teach her a taxidermist with a cup related to a clock, and gives lectures on morality to the dark side of her looking glass. What the heck is this supposed to be, a really bad random text generator? Please explain. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2019, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-nfl-and-teams-clamp-down-on-these-10k-or-more-rookie-dinners/845021/44 "2019-12-19T14:30:38Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > You can enjoy a sports organization and still criticize aspects of the way it is run. You’re implying that anything other than a boycott is hypocrisy. That’s childish. Sure, you CAN. Just like you can complain about the low wages and poor treatment of workers by Walmart and still shop there. ---
**Author:** ![Isosleepy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/isosleepy/32/479_2.png) [@Isosleepy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isosleepy)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2019, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-nfl-and-teams-clamp-down-on-these-10k-or-more-rookie-dinners/845021/45 "2019-12-19T15:55:39Z")
The point missed, deliberately or otherwise, is that it isn’t 500k a year, it is that it is 500 k _for_ a year. Or 2 or three, but certainly not a lifetime, or even anything remotely resembling a normal career. Most of these guys, making 500 k in some few of their years, make considerably less post those years, to the point that their average is likely below 100k/year equivalent. At which point, it is entirely appropriate to have sympathy. (If you felt that sympathy for people making 500k, even routinely, is unwarranted - something that frankly puzzles me ) Also, there’s this: “welcome to the NFL - here’s a 10 k dinner tab” as an introduction to the life, then followed by finger wagging and tsk tsk-ing over the extravagances the player subsequently engages in. If you’re gonna make 2 million over your NFL career, you should live as if you make 80-100k/year. But that’s hard to do in the middle of this type of nonsense. Last, but most important, of course: hazing is repugnant. It has some place, arguably and perhaps, in certain settings, but not in any job. There is immense power disparity between most rookies joining a team and marquee players. making this bullying no matter how much the guy makes. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2019, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-nfl-and-teams-clamp-down-on-these-10k-or-more-rookie-dinners/845021/46 "2019-12-19T16:04:28Z")
I also fail to see how hazing benefits team morale at all. If someone is a rookie or free agent, seems to me the team should be doing all it can to make them feel welcome, not haze them. ---
**Author:** ![DKW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dkw/32/3118_2.png) [@DKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DKW)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2019, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-nfl-and-teams-clamp-down-on-these-10k-or-more-rookie-dinners/845021/47 "2019-12-20T07:42:37Z")
I can see the justification for hazing so long as 1. the point is to teach humility, respect, and team spirit, 2. it stays within the team, 3. it never strays into anything illegal or grossly offensive, and 4. it doesn’t cause harm. Carrying bags, fine. Doing the laundry, fine. Serving as a wingman, fine. Even cornball stuff like dancing on a table while everyone else shouts and throws dollar bills (I think I read about this in The Dark Side of the Game) is acceptable, provided of course the table is sufficiently sturdy and big enough that they don’t risk falling off or tripping over each other. Sticking someone with a ten grand dinner bill strikes me as _way_ beyond the pale. And this can’t be blithely brushed off with an “oh, he’s making enough”. What if he was planning to spend it on something nice for himself? What if he’s had to deal with a bankruptcy or financial hardship earlier in life? What if he just really, really hates wasting money? Making the reservation would have been perfectly fine, as would downloading and printing menus, dropping them off, arranging for the rides home, calculating the tip, any number of things he REASONABLY could’ve done to make the night run smoothly. But nobody is entitled to an enormous chunk of someone else’s money whenever he feels like it. But that’s just my take, and I’d rather not make any big judgments before hearing Walker’s side. Who knows, maybe he was just trying to make a big impression and didn’t mind the hit at all. There are players like that, rookie or otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2019, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-nfl-and-teams-clamp-down-on-these-10k-or-more-rookie-dinners/845021/48 "2019-12-20T11:07:24Z")
what struck me is what they ordered… the same time i read the link they had the wagyu beef that someone served on chopped and the chefs said the cut that people were using cost about 350.00 a pound and it was so rich that moat places wouldn’t sell more than 3 oz per person … and someone ordered 40 ozs? and probably ate 3 bites of it … I would have looked at all of it and said "you order it you eat all of it mf’s " even if they barfed it all up later … ---
**Author:** ![russian\_heel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f05b48/32.png) [@russian\_heel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/russian_heel)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-nfl-and-teams-clamp-down-on-these-10k-or-more-rookie-dinners/845021/49 "2019-12-22T04:15:48Z")
The NFL minimum salary is $480,000 so as long as the older players keep it reasonable it shouldn’t be a total hardship. You would hope the veterans would discuss the players salary and pick an appropriate restaurant. That said, it does seem a bit mean for a player making millions to bully a guy who’s making 1/10 their salary to buy them dinner. I also don’t see what this teaches the younger guys, as opposed to making them carry their gear which at least teaches you your place as a rookie. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-nfl-and-teams-clamp-down-on-these-10k-or-more-rookie-dinners/845021/50 "2019-12-22T13:15:00Z")
Baseball does hazing of rookies on a road trip by taking their clothes away and making them wear odd costumes including female characters. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-nfl-and-teams-clamp-down-on-these-10k-or-more-rookie-dinners/845021.md?page=2)