INDIANAPOLIS – For the second consecutive yr, the NFL Players Association on Wednesday launched its team-by-team report playing cards, which assess gamers’ working circumstances and environments all through their seasons and offseasons.
The Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings, Green Bay Packers, Philadelphia Eagles and Jacksonville Jaguars rounded out the top 5 in phrases of overall grades.
Meanwhile, for a second straight season, the Washington Commanders obtained the bottom grades in the league whereas the repeat Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs ranked thirty first overall. The Los Angeles Chargers (thirtieth), New England Patriots (twenty ninth) and Pittsburgh Steelers (twenty eighth) spherical out the underside 5.
Team grade classes included their coaching room, coaching employees, weight room, energy coaches, crew journey, head coach and possession. Owners had been graded on gamers’ beliefs their possession teams function with a willingness to take a position in crew amenities.
The survey information was gathered from August to November of the 2023 season. A complete of 1,750 gamers (up from the roughly 1,300 contributors in 2022) took half in the survey. NFLPA leaders mentioned they had been inspired by the rise in participation this yr. Roughly 77 p.c of all NFL gamers took half in the survey. Players had been instructed to grade their groups and from there, the grades had been tallied and ranked.
The Player Team Report Cards are again. Last yr, the report playing cards led to gamers feeling extra knowledgeable about their office & this yr a number of new classes had been added together with Head Coach, Owner + Dietician/Nutritionist.
Take a glance right here: https://t.co/RV0ZNDNb2h. pic.twitter.com/vfEv6A7d2s— NFLPA (@NFLPA) February 28, 2024
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers obtained an F on crew journey largely as a result of gamers with 4 seasons or much less and non-starters must have roommates on highway journeys and are charged $1,750 per player in the event that they want their very own room.
The Chiefs obtained low grades because of frustrations by gamers after possession had promised to improve the out-of-date locker room.
However, for a second consecutive yr, Clark Hunt and Kansas City didn’t make upgrades to the locker room moreover changing the stools gamers got to sit down on in entrance of their lockers with chairs with backs on them. Chiefs gamers had been informed there was no time to adequately improve the crew amenities as a result of their season prolonged into February as a consequence of their Super Bowl run in 2022.
Kansas City tied for first with the Detroit Lions and Vikings in phrases of head-coaching grades. Andy Reid, Dan Campbell and Kevin O’Connell every obtained A-plus grades. The coach to obtain the bottom grade was Josh McDaniels, whom the Las Vegas Raiders fired through the season.
“I would say things have improved and we’re glad that they are,” NFL Players Association president J.C. Tretter, a retired offensive lineman, mentioned. (*3*)
NFLPA leaders hope the report playing cards function a device to make sure accountability and immediate crew homeowners and management groups to supply their gamers with improved amenities, ample diet, medical care, lodging for households and extra.
Lloyd Howell, the NFLPA’s new govt director, spent a lot of final season touring to satisfy with homeowners of all 32 groups and talk about working circumstances. Some of these conversations centered on the findings of final yr’s outcomes. Howell mentioned many house owners are receptive to enhancing circumstances.
“This is not a shaming exercise,” Howell mentioned. “This is really an opportunity to recognize those teams and environments that are doing well — that are doing all the right things. This is players talking about their working conditions and what they like and what they’d like to see improved.”
The findings of the survey, which was performed by a third-party survey service, are fascinating, however curiously sufficient, the union discovered no correlation between successful and dropping and the standard of the grades groups obtained.
This yr, the union added a number of classes, which included possession, head coach, nutritionists and dietitians.
Dolphins proprietor Stephen Ross obtained the best possession grade, whereas Hunt obtained the bottom.
A yr after rating among the many worst groups in the league, the Jaguars opened a brand new crew headquarters. The rat infestation that prompted complaints and low grades in 2023 is not a difficulty. The Cincinnati Bengals ranked among the many worst in phrases of cafeteria grades in 2023 as a result of meals weren’t offered all through the day. A yr later, the crew started providing three meals a day on Wednesdays however nonetheless has a methods to go earlier than gamers really feel adequately cared for.
The Commanders ranked among the many worst overall below Daniel Snyder final season and now have a brand new proprietor in Josh Harris. The possession grade elevated, however the amenities grades improved solely barely, which is comprehensible given the actual fact Harris, who purchased the crew in late July, has had restricted time to execute upgrades.
Meanwhile, the Dallas Cowboys dropped from fifth to twelfth, with frustrations over restricted assets and understaffed coaching employees inflicting the drop in player satisfaction.
One of the best areas of concern for gamers is ample assets and staffing of the coaching rooms. Many groups are short-staffed in this division, and the NFLPA has been engaged in conversations with the NFL in regards to the want for a threshold for the variety of trainers employed by a crew to make sure an ample trainer-to-player ratio that may guarantee gamers obtain ample look after accidents.
The NFL launched an announcement saying the league and the groups “encourage and solicit player feedback to help improve all facets of their NFL experience. We look forward to getting the opportunity to review the union’s questionnaire, and the data supporting it.”
The league added that it invited the union to affix it “in a rigorous and third-party scientific-based survey as we have previously done.”
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(Photo: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
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