Rams Cut Foles: Someone Owes Society $6million
It was President Dwight D Eisenhower who coined the term military-industrial complex.
His concern was those two sectors had become so intertwined that it had become a power unto itself.
Among other things, it had permeated virtually every region in the country to the point that its bloated spending habits became crucially intertwined with the local economy.
The political influence this carried on jobs was such that it became literally impossible to cut military spending, even if the Pentagon itself wanted to do so.
Think of Nick Foles as the NFL's Lockheed F35 Lightning II.
Dude won the right place, right time lottery two seasons ago, when then-Eagles coach Chip Kelly had seen enough of the former Arizona Wildcat when the Chipster coached Oregon to design a makeshift offense on Foles' strengths:
That, of course, put Foles on the known-quantity treadmill, endemic in all pro sports where that bar is set 'way too low.
It's the industry's version of the military-industrial complex conundrum:
- Collective bargaining has rightly guaranteed that teams spend a fair portion of their revenues on the players;
- Teams must dole out the dosh on somebody; so
- They splash the cash on known quantities, no matter how small the sample size.
Obviously, it's a set-for-life sort of treadmill:
However, that part about Kelly and makeshift was all-to-accurate.
It's no surprise he unloaded Foles, knowing the league's defenses would figure him out in due course. That was a bummer for the Rams, who weren't as quick on the uptake.
As a result, it was no surprise that the Rams went for CalBear Jared Goff in this spring's draft.
So Foles, mega-cash in hand, read the writing on the wall.
That's what's incredible: the Rams knew they weren't gonna keep Foles prior to the draft, and they didn't seem to give a damn about forking out another $6million to him by waiting until after the roster bonus kicked in.
Welcome to the 1%ers Club, dude.
So, while the NFL stiffs charities and pays crumbs to its minions, incredibly tone-deaf deals like Foles' continue to be standard operating procedure in pro sports.
The irony, of course, is the crazy money is coming from hard-working fans, via tickets, merchandising, cable television bills, and tax levies for new stadiums.
Just think what else that hard-earned money could do.
President Eisenhower saw the warning signs. He just didn't realize it was communicable.