Does a striking football player let his teammates down? That question came up recently, and I’ve taken a crack at answering it. To come up with a reasonable answer, I’ve tried to imagine that I’m a valuable player on an outstanding professional football team, the reigning Super Bowl champion, no less, and I’ve further assumed I’m making something like a cool $20 million a year as a defensive tackle. (I almost broke my noggin with those ridiculous assumptions, but I tried to be creative.) I made one final assumption: I’m now in the last year of a 4-year contract worth $80 million, so I’ve been in the bucks for a while.

It was even more difficult for me  to assume that I’m not happy with that $20 million bundle of chicken feed. But I pretended I was unhappy. Why? Because another defensive tackle on another team, probably the best tackle in the league, is making more than I am.

Continuing my little game, I filled in more blanks. I have not reported to camp for pre-season drills. I have not shown up for any team practices, and I have not been with the team for any of its pre-season games. And I won’t be playing in the opening game against the Detroit Lions tonight, on September 7.

Now I’m trying to imagine how my teammates might feel about all of this.

As many of you realized, I was pretending to be a character in what is a real-life situation. Chris Jones of the Kansas City Chiefs is in the position I imagined I was in, and he seems to be firmly entrenched (see here). Naturally, I don’t know what motives are directing Jones’s behavior, but I’m convinced he’s off base when he talks about how his teammates, those hoping to return to the Super Bowl this season, feel about his prolonged absence.

When Jones was asked whether he might be letting his teammates down, he responded, “How have I let them down? It’s just like when you’re at your job, and you ask for an extension — you ask for a raise.”

 “Who are you letting down for asking your boss for a raise?” he continued.

Well, I’ve thought about that question. Here are a couple of things for you to consider, Mr. Jones. When asking the boss for a raise, please consider that one usually doesn’t quit working while asking for more money. Beyond that, if the person asking for a raise is involved in a vital team project, wouldn’t that person’s absence be hurting other members of his team?

To be more specific, Mr. Jones, your teammates on the Kansas Chiefs are vying for another trip to the Super Bowl, and a weakness in their defensive line could lead to the loss of one or more games that might otherwise be won if you were playing. Such unfortunate losses would reduce the Chiefs’s seasonal record and possibly prevent your teammates from reaching their goal this year.

So, Mr. Jones, please understand that your prolonged absence is indeed letting your teammates on the Kansas City Chiefs down, and, of course, letting all Chiefs fans down as well. Would you please negotiate the extension of your contract with those considerations in mind? Please consider your teammates and fans.

Addendum September 8, 2023

Some of you likely know that Chris Jones sat in a private box high above Arrowhead Stadium last night as the Kansas City Chiefs lost, 21 to 20, to the Detroit Lions. I wonder whether Mr. Jones saw any Chiefs player wave up at him during the game, as if to say, “We’re with you as you hold out for more money, Chris. You’re looking all cool and relaxed up there, Man, while we’re working our butts off.  We know you’re making more money than most of us down here are, and we sure could use your help, Brother. But no worries. We’ve got your back.”

Do you think anything close to that happened?