In recent years one of the most interesting NFL offseason events has been the release of the annual NFL Players Association (NFLPA) report cards, where the players give their grades for the teams they play for in a wide range of categories. But after years of making those grades public, it appears we won't be seeing them anymore.
On Friday, the NFL announced that it had won a legal grievance against the NFLPA to censor the results from being made public. While the NFL failed in its effort to get the player survey banned entirely, the wider public will no longer have any idea what the players think about the teams they're playing for.
"Sources: The NFL informed all 32 teams today in a memo that it prevailed in its grievance vs. the NFLPA and its “team report cards.” An arbitrator determined that the NFLPA’s conduct violated the CBA and ordered it to stop making public any future report cards," ESPN's Adam Schefter reported before sharing the memorandum that was released.
"They hate the fans"
NFL fans quickly made it clear that this effort to end the transparency of player grades shows how much they hate being embarrassed and believe there needs to be far more outrage over this.
"I mean we’re all on the same page that this is terrible for the league right? Owners can’t be held accountable for their apathetic working conditions by the public?" one user remarked.
"Billionaires got mad that they were told they were being cheap and not investing in the team/facilities," another mocked.
"What a waste of time and bad look for the owners. The Athletic or Ringer or anyone not afraid of the NFL (sorry ESPN) can just do the same thing and anonymously survey players," a third suggested.
"This is just embarrassing. The public deserves to know which teams are poorly ran such as the Jets."
Perry Knotts/Getty Images
"God forbid owners face the same public scrutiny players get weekly. Rules for thee, golden parachute for me."
Sadly, we're now going to lose one of the few ways to get a true finger on the pulse of NFL players.