You’re Kerry Collins/Trent Dilfer. Someone comes up to pay you to throw the Super Bowl.
He offers you a way to do it where the play couldn’t be spotted, you would never be caught by your teammates, fans, or coaches, no one could come out of the woodwork and finger you, and you were sure to get your money. I know those are a lot of assumption, but for the sake of argument, assume there would be no personal consequences.
Would you do it? Knowing how much a Super Bowl win means to you, your teammates, and the fans. Knowing how hard you and the team worked to get there. Knowing about all the fans expectations and enthusiam to win the big one…
Would the money be enough to pass over the integrity and all that?
I would have to say there is no freaking way. These guys all ready make millions of dollars a year, and have been for some time. They work their entire careers to get to this point. This is not the 1919 Black Sox where the players were grossly underpaid and treated poorly. The amount of money that could be paid to them will pale in comparison to the contracts they will be able to negotiate, the endorsements, and after retirement, the lecture circut.
No shit, I’d think to even get these guys to consider it you’d have to be talking about $50 million+. These guys are already filthy rich, and have long careers ahead to make more money. Much of that potential is riding on this game too.
So I’d say no way, they all know neither team is really looking like a dynasty, and can’t safely assume they’ll ever have another shot. Considering that they are probably playing in the biggest game of their lives, its impossible to imagine anything would get them to toss the game.
I know you said it was impossible for them to get caught, but in reality the risk of throwing the game is so grossly greater than the benefit, short of owning a small pacific island, you’ll never find a guy who’d consider it.
You betray your teammates, coaches, the organization you work for. All of whom have no idea that you’d be a Judas. I don’t know too many people who can deal with that.
You’ve worked six months to get this far. Probably been injured at least once during the season. And you stand to make a significant amount of money as it is if you win.
Maybe if you don’t have a conscience. But if you do, all the money in the world isn’t going to be enough to buy you a new one.
Also, I would hope that no matter how much money is involved, that most athletes would have trouble deliberately losing. We’re talking about men (or women) that have competed at extraordinarily high levels for decades, for most of their lives. I don’t think that deliberately losing would be an easy thing for them to do, no matter how much money was involved.
I’d bribe the centers. They don’t make the money the QB does, and a couple of botched transfers…
Dilfer doesn't make the big bucks. He's a FA after this year, and the Ravens may not want him back. Think Collins was getting $5 M per. Thought scandalous when he signed it. Not bad now.
Won't happen. The kind of money it would take for a straight out bribe would be too hard to hide. Need blackmail. Like a picture of one of these guys in bed with a dead girl or a live boy.
Anyone familiar with what happened to Hansie Cronje (the South African cricket captain who was banned for match-fixing last year) would know this one is a no-brainer. As Cronje found out the hard way, if you get caught, you don’t get to keep your bribe money–your assets will be seized once you are charged with a crime.
And match-fixing, or throwing, is a crime in the US. The 1919 White Sox and 1950’s City University match-fixing scandals provide ample precedent. I suspect that anyone caught trying to fix the Super Bowl would be in for a particularly lengthy jail sentence.
However, here’s an interesting twists on the original question: would it make any difference if you were 95% sure that your team was going to lose anyway?
There is a reason I made that assumption. Whenever I asked the question before, everyone answered “I wouldn’t want to get caught”, not about the integrity of the game, your team, etc.
Thanks Duke. If you hadn’t mentioned it, I would have.
The whole issue of match fixing in the cricket world is far from over. Tonight’s sports news bulletin in Australia was dominated by the ongoing saga with Australia’s most talented batsman, and the allegations that he was involved in similar activites with an Indian bookmaker.
We have not heard the last of this by a long shot.
Duke,
Weren’t the Black SOx acquitted? I know they were banned from baseball, but every so often a Joe Jackson for the HOF fan points out he was found not guilty.
Maybe a Lizzie Borden story ? (she was acquitted, too)
I don’t think there is a player in NFL who would do this, if there is, he’s nuts. Although you hear so much about players’ demanding more money, etc., it is their competitive spirit that drives them more so than riches.
Don’t believe me? As opposed to the OP, how many NFL players do you think would jump at the chance to give up their salary for a year in order to win the Super Bowl? I would suggest that the number is quite high.
(Re-reading the OP, I guess it refers to what would I do. I wouldn’t even consider throwing the game. I would be more than happy to give up a year’s salary just to play football for a year, however.)
Let’s see: if I’m Trent Dilfer or Kerry Collins, and I help my team win the game, all I need to do is hand over my financial affairs to a competent money manager, and once my playing days are over, I’ll live a very comfortable life without ever having to work again. More money is always welcome, but still, how much do you need?
But if I’m one of those guys, this may be my only chance to walk away as the QB of a winning Super Bowl team. That experience is not replaceable, not fungible. It doesn’t matter whether I get found out or not; I’m just not giving that up. If I win, the exultation of that moment will stay with me, to some extent, the rest of my life. You can’t buy that.
Oh, football players. I’ve heard about this ‘pro football’ thing. It’s like college football except they don’t ever graduate and the plays are boring and they’re still at it long after new year’s day.
Steve Waugh is Australia’s most talented test batsmen.
Michael Bevan is Australia’s most talented One Day batsmen.
Mark Waugh’s test avergae is 42, which means Steve Waugh, Michael Slater, Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist all have better averages.
As for the one day game?
I have no idea what Mark Waugh’s average is here, but I know that Michael Bevan and Ricky Ponting both have better averages then he does.
Did you see Mark Waugh’s form on the recent New Zealand tour? Almost every paper in the country was calling for him to be dropped from the team, or to retire. The pathetic West Indian team this summer have made him look better then what he is, wait until we start playing decent teams again.
If Mark Waugh gets booted from the Aussie team today for not answering the ICC’s questions, it will be for the good of the nation. He is past his peak, he is a has been. Sack him, and bring in someone better like Simon Katich or Darren Lehmann.