Wall Of Text Warning
The National Football League Players Association released a report card today, grading all 32 teams, A+ to F- (yes, F-minus, and there were more than a few of those) in eight categories.
1,300 NFLPA members were polled about their current teams, with them giving letter grades on the treatment of their families, nutritional services, the weight room, the strength staff, the training room, the training staff, the physical locker room facilities, and travel considerations.
Some high and low lights:
Family Treatment:
A+: Only Dallas gets the full marks.
A: CAR and MIN get A's.
on the other end of the scale:
F: ARI, CIN, JAX, and WSH get F's. No F-'s.
Nutrition:
A: Four teams get A's: DAL, GB, PHI, MIA.
F: The Chargers got an F, but three teams got worse!
F-: New Orleans, Arizona, and Cincinnati get F-'s. If Arizona could get worse, they would -- they actually charge on-site food against the player's salary, especially off-season!
Weight Rooms:
A+: Four. DAL, MIA, the Raiders, and BUF
A: Four more, three in the NFC North. MIN, GB, CHI and HOU.
One grade below a D, and it's an F- for Arizona.
Strength Coach:
A+: Nine teams got full marks from their players: DAL, MIA, Raiders, BUF, MIN, PHI, WSH, LAR, and CLE
Seven got A's, 11 got A-'s, meaning, of the 32 teams, only 5 got a B+ or lower: NYG (B+), NE (B+), NYJ (B), ATL (D-), BAL (F-). Baltimore's grade does not surprise me.
Training Room:
A+: Miami, Minnesota, and Chicago
A: Las Vegas
F-: Three. WSH, ARI, and the Chargers.
Training Staff:
A+: Eight full marks. MIA, MIN, NYG, HOU, IND, CAR, PHI and the Rams
Six A's, seven A-'s.
D-: The champs! A D-, the lowest grade, scored by the Chiefs!
Locker Room:
A+: Four. MIA, MIN, DAL, and the Raiders.
A: CHI, NO, BAL
A-: BUF, SEA
F: ARI
F-: WSH
Travel:
A+: Three. Raiders, NO, HOU.
A: MIA, MIN, BAL, GB, DET
A-: SF, NYG, ATL
F: Four teams. IND, TEN, TB, and KC.
F-: WSH
And here are the NFLPA rankings, alphabetical order:
ATL: 23rd. Too cramped, and the strength coaches suck (D-). They do think owner Arthur Blank is going to try to make them better.
ARI: 31st (yes, one team actually did worse). If there is worthy of an NFLPA grievance, three F-'s and two F's, plus no confidence in the owner to improve, should be worthy of one.
BAL: 17th. Understaffed training room, no individualized strength plan. I do wonder if the former is part of Lamar Jackson's injury issues the last couple of years. At least the F- in strength coach has been fired.
BUF: 9th. Only two weaknesses are a C in nutrition (nutritionist double-dips with the Sabres) and a D+ in travel considerations (not enough room to spread out, and some players probably not happy that the Bills are one of the six teams which have young players have roommates).
CAR: 12th. A D in nutrition (not half the players believe there's enough food for everyone in the cafeteria) stops them from being much higher.
CIN: 27th. Facilities and resources SUCK. The manpower, including the coaches, is well-respected. No dinner, no vitamins, no supplements. No outlets for charging, the hot tubs are too small... Another NFL grievance?
CHI: 13th, with nutrition (timing and quality), treatment of families, and travel as the weaknesses.
DET: 15th, with a D- in nutrition (not enough food nor options) and a D+ in the training room (too small, no steam room) the main impediments.
DEN: 20th, D in nutrition, and D+ in family treatment and the locker room.
DAL: 5th. Understaffed training room, and you'd think Jerreh would get his players first-class seats to and from games in the air!
GB: 6th. Understaffed training room, and, to no one's surprise, the team does think the Lambeau locker room needs modernization.
HOU: 4th, surprisingly. No grade below a B, and the NFLPA gave special positive mention to their travel philosophy -- veterans can stay in their homes for home games and training camp, no roommates...
IND: 16th, right in the middle. Nutrition a D, and an F in travel (no first-class seats for players, roommates for younger players).
JAX: 28th, and a damned well needed league grievance: Rats in the locker room and in the laundry!!! Wives have had to breastfeed their children on the floor in the public restrooms of the stadium.
KC: Perhaps as a testament to the belief the players are getting too much, the "dynasty" Chiefs rank 29th of the 32 teams. Two D+'s, two D-'s, and an F. The D- for the training staff fears retaliation for reporting injuries and a lack of care when they do get hurt.
Raiders: 3rd, with a lot of other teams' players looking at Vegas' facilities as a model they should imitate. No grade below a B.
Chargers: 30th, and is it any surprise? The bastard brother to the Rams draws two D-'s, an F (NONE of the players think there's enough cafeteria room), and an F- (no hot tub, no cold tub, no steam room).
Rams: 25th. Like the Chargers, they still haven't gotten to permanent digs yet in LA for at least the practices and training. Two D+'s, two D's.
MIA: #2. Only gripe is they'd like a better post-game gathering area for their families (C+, with five A+'s and two A's). That's the only thing which gets them beaten by...
MIN: The winners. The #1 graded team. Four A+'s, three A's, one A-. Nothing below that -- if there was one thing that could've gotten them graded down, it was a head trainer who some players had problems with -- he's moved on.
NO: 10th, and would be much higher without the F- in nutrition (does not provide three meals, food is ranked 29th in the league). Otherwise, an A+, two A's, two A-'s, a B+, and a B.
Giants: 8th. Lots of solid B+'s (five of them), no grade lower than one B.
Jets: 19th. Nothing terrible (Everything in the C-range, give or take), but seen as an inefficient franchise. (Which leads to stuff like the Buttfumble and a few other things...)
NE: Probably another believed example of "champions believe the players have too much". 24th in the card. Nothing obliquely terrible, but a D+ and a D... Stuff needs to be renovated, in most players' opinions.
PIT: 22nd, with two D-'s (second-to-last in postgame gathering facilities for the family, no sauna).
PHI: 14th. C- in the training facilities, way too small.
SF: 7th, and would be higher if the training room was worth a damn (C+)
SEA: 11th. Travel the worst of it with a C. No first-class seats unless SOME road wins... You'd think there'd be more of that with some of the trips they have to take.
TB: If there's one case for Tom Brady to retire, it's a 26th ranking in this report card. F in travel (no first-class seats, roomies required), D+ for families (no daycare, no family room).
WSH: The last team on the list is also the last-placed team. Dan Snyder has this team ranked DFL, 32nd on the report card. An A+ for the strength coaches and a C+ in the weight room. After that, no grade higher than D+, an F, and three F-'s (worst-staffed training room in the league, tubs way too small, so is the locker room, travel is a bear). NFLPA, grievance this owner. NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anyone who wants to think your team cares about it's players, read this and know better.
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