Forte & Olsen on fans calling players greedy

Bears' Forte, Olsen on the lockout and fans calling players greedy

By Vaughn McClure, Tribune reporter 4:02 p.m. CDT, July 9, 2011

Talk of the lockout has been monotonous to any Chicago Bear willing to address the matter, so Greg Olsen and Matt Forte took a different approach Saturday.

During a break at Olsen’s celebrity kickball event for breast cancer at Grant Park -- an event that also featured Brian Urlacher and former Bear and ESPN 1000 radio personality Tom Waddle -- Forte asked Olsen about a variety of topics.

And both players had an interesting take on fans that call players "greedy" on Twitter.

"It's unfortunate because I think sometimes a few people spoil the fun for a lot of good people who do care and don't say stupid things," Olsen said. "I typically ignore them unless they really say something stupid then I tweet them to everybody and let everyone jump on them."

Both Olsen and Forte want this lockout resolved more than most because both are hoping for -- and deserving of -- contract extensions.

Watch the above video for more.

vxmcclure@tribune.com

Twitter @vxmcclure23

Although what pro athletes make isn't out of line with what others in entertainment industries make it will always seem out of line to the guy making an average wage. Everytime there's a contract dispute there's all kinds of stuff about players greed but there's seldom anything said of printed about the kind of money that the owners receive just from broadcast revenues alone.

Like it's been said, it's the millionaires fighting it out with the billionaires so how can the average person relate at all to the amounts of money that's involved. If the players bargain hard for just one more percentage point of the revenue share most would call that greedy but how many people are aware that one percentage point is currently equal to $100 million dollars and may be worth as much as $200 million dollars before this new CBA needs to be renegotiated again.

The only way that anyone can truly appreciate what's going on is to look at it on the basis of principals alone and take the dollars invoved out of the equation. No one relates well to sums so large that it's hard to conceive what they're arguing about. There's plenty to go around.

And the Jerry Jonses of the world should think about that b4 they go out and build stadiums that are more a testament to thier egos ... than they are to what the real fans really care about ... which is what happens between the white lines. Maybe then they wouldn't be so concerned about ALL thier bills, and we wouldn't have lockouts. 1 example : How much did u spend on the artwork inside the stadium again Jerry ? Yep, artwork inside a FOOTBALL stadium. There other places for that kind of stuff. Cuz, besides a good field ( ahem Bears ) there are only 3 things real fans want : beer, food, and restrooms.

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Originally Posted by Blue Horse-shoe

And the Jerry Jonses of the world should think about that b4 they go out and build stadiums that are more a testament to thier egos ... than they are to what the real fans really care about ... which is what happens between the white lines. Maybe then they wouldn't be so concerned about ALL thier bills, and we wouldn't have lockouts. 1 example : How much did u spend on the artwork inside the stadium again Jerry ? Yep, artwork inside a FOOTBALL stadium. There other places for that kind of stuff. Cuz, besides a good field ( ahem Bears ) there are only 3 things real fans want : beer, food, and restrooms.

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Jerry Jones is the last person I'd want protecting my interests either as a fan or a player. Jerry Jones does whatever is best for Jerry Jones.

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Originally Posted by soulman

Jerry Jones is the last person I'd want protecting my interests either as a fan or a player. Jerry Jones does whatever is best for Jerry Jones.

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Ya what a jackass, he only did what most fans want out of an owner, built a state of the art stadium out of his own pocket....what a greedy bastard! I might point out that he is also in a city that has enough wealth that he could have held the city hostage to put money into it also. He's also always trying to put a winning team on the field(might not always be successfull, but it's not for lack of trying). I'd take JJ over the Mc's anyday of the week and 1000x's on Sunday.

I have no problems w/the players making as much as they can, more power to 'em, that's capitalism at it's finest; and if my son is lucky enough, he'll join those ranks. But I don't have any dilusion that they care about the long term success of this league in comparisions of the owners, some of which have 100's of millions invested in it. When the players start putting a serious financial stake into the game I'll start taking their opinions on the leagues financial situation more seriously.

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Originally Posted by Riczaj01

Ya what a jackass, he only did what most fans want out of an owner, built a state of the art stadium out of his own pocket....what a greedy bastard! I might point out that he is also in a city that has enough wealth that he could have held the city hostage to put money into it also. He's also always trying to put a winning team on the field(might not always be successfull, but it's not for lack of trying). I'd take JJ over the Mc's anyday of the week and 1000x's on Sunday.

I have no problems w/the players making as much as they can, more power to 'em, that's capitalism at it's finest; and if my son is lucky enough, he'll join those ranks. But I don't have any dilusion that they care about the long term success of this league in comparisions of the owners, some of which have 100's of millions invested in it. When the players start putting a serious financial stake into the game I'll start taking their opinions on the leagues financial situation more seriously.

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You may Ric but I wouldn't. Jerry Jones is a jagoff and has been ever since he bought the team. If it was up to him he'd own the entire league and everything would be done his way. If you'll recall not too many years ago the league had it out with him over selling advertising and the Cowboys name without going through NFL Properties. He said that he wasn't going to share those revenues with anyone.

Jerry Jones has also been one of the most outspoken owners in regards to the small market teams not pulling their weight. He wields a lot of power but I question how much respect he has from the brotherhood of owners. If there is one guy amongst them who pushed this thing to the point of what it has become now it was him so it's only natural that he should be at the forefront of solving a problem that was largely his own creation. I don't give a rats fanny how much money he put up he's an elitist ahole and maybe if he'd let someone else besides himself run his draft then he would be putting winning teams on the field. Jerry Jones thinks he's a God.

As for the players financial stake in the game. I'd say they have plenty at stake especially when many of them can't even walk halfway decent after their careers and quite a few don't even make it past their early 50's before they die from the constant injuries they sustained while playing. I'm sure most of us would like our paychecks to be as hefty as possible can few of us have to risk our health or shorten our lives in that cause. To me that is a significant investment in the profits and the wealth of Jerry Jones and the other NFL owners.

I'm a died in the wool capitalist and I have no problem whatsoever with a man making a profit from his business but I always bargain so that he doesn't make all of it from me. This is about sharing a pile of money so large that it's incomprehensible to most of us that they should be arguing about it at all. Still it seems that "hardliners" like Jerry Jones will always see that it's so.

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Originally Posted by soulman

You may Ric but I wouldn't. Jerry Jones is a jagoff and has been ever since he bought the team. If it was up to him he'd own the entire league and everything would be done his way. If you'll recall not too many years ago the league had it out with him over selling advertising and the Cowboys name without going through NFL Properties. He said that he wasn't going to share those revenues with anyone.

Jerry Jones has also been one of the most outspoken owners in regards to the small market teams not pulling their weight. He wields a lot of power but I question how much respect he has from the brotherhood of owners. If there is one guy amongst them who pushed this thing to the point of what it has become now it was him so it's only natural that he should be at the forefront of solving a problem that was largely his own creation. I don't give a rats fanny how much money he put up he's an elitist ahole and maybe if he'd let someone else besides himself run his draft then he would be putting winning teams on the field. Jerry Jones thinks he's a God.

As for the players financial stake in the game. I'd say they have plenty at stake especially when many of them can't even walk halfway decent after their careers and quite a few don't even make it past their early 50's before they die from the constant injuries they sustained while playing. I'm sure most of us would like our paychecks to be as hefty as possible can few of us have to risk our health or shorten our lives in that cause. To me that is a significant investment in the profits and the wealth of Jerry Jones and the other NFL owners.

I'm a died in the wool capitalist and I have no problem whatsoever with a man making a profit from his business but I always bargain so that he doesn't make all of it from me. This is about sharing a pile of money so large that it's incomprehensible to most of us that they should be arguing about it at all. Still it seems that "hardliners" like Jerry Jones will always see that it's so.

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Yep, he's got big bills ( of his own choosing ) so the agenda became " them slaves need to give back some money ".

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Originally Posted by soulman

You may Ric but I wouldn't. Jerry Jones is a jagoff and has been ever since he bought the team. If it was up to him he'd own the entire league and everything would be done his way. If you'll recall not too many years ago the league had it out with him over selling advertising and the Cowboys name without going through NFL Properties. He said that he wasn't going to share those revenues with anyone.

Jerry Jones has also been one of the most outspoken owners in regards to the small market teams not pulling their weight. He wields a lot of power but I question how much respect he has from the brotherhood of owners. If there is one guy amongst them who pushed this thing to the point of what it has become now it was him so it's only natural that he should be at the forefront of solving a problem that was largely his own creation. I don't give a rats fanny how much money he put up he's an elitist ahole and maybe if he'd let someone else besides himself run his draft then he would be putting winning teams on the field. Jerry Jones thinks he's a God.

As for the players financial stake in the game. I'd say they have plenty at stake especially when many of them can't even walk halfway decent after their careers and quite a few don't even make it past their early 50's before they die from the constant injuries they sustained while playing. I'm sure most of us would like our paychecks to be as hefty as possible can few of us have to risk our health or shorten our lives in that cause. To me that is a significant investment in the profits and the wealth of Jerry Jones and the other NFL owners.

I'm a died in the wool capitalist and I have no problem whatsoever with a man making a profit from his business but I always bargain so that he doesn't make all of it from me. This is about sharing a pile of money so large that it's incomprehensible to most of us that they should be arguing about it at all. Still it seems that "hardliners" like Jerry Jones will always see that it's so.

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JJ is a D Bag, but one that takes care of his team/players and tries to get them to win....That D Bag has 3 SB trophies in my lifetime, the Bears have 2 sb appearances in the same period. And again, he flipped the bill on that stadium, which puts the toilet bowl looking soldier field to shame, which I have no doubt the City of Chicago gladly flipped the bill for which the Mc's mostly profit from.
As for the draft's, he's actually he's putting a lot of the teams daily runnings into his son/other managements hands. And has a whopping 7 losing seasons over the last 20 years and agaub 3 sb titles, 3 more then the Bears and the Mc's, and 2 more appearances, Bears have 12 losing seasons in that same time period btw, last 10 Dallas 5 losing seasons Bears 6. If you would take the Mck's laughable ownership of JJ you have to be a Cubs fan b/c you cannot care about winning.

I'm glad he's stating the smaller markets need to pull their share, stop pocketing his F'n money and put it back into the team/stadium like he does.

The players have no financial stake in this game, they have no interest once they've retired in the games wellfare. And as for their health, they were paid for that risk, rather handsomely. Now go ask the broke as Pro wrestlers who have the same shitty life after retirement w/a fraction of the income if we should feel sorry for the poor NFL players and their lack of income/health. The players are out of them and them alone when it comes to the money of this game...as it should be, they again have no stake in the game...but the Owners have far more at stake then the next 10-20 years. They could lose 100's of millions if the league folded. The players don't lose anything but the rest of the contracts they signed(still got their upfront cash).

Ya He has a lot of self imposed debt, from a building he gave to the city of Dallas and it's fans, when's the last time the players flipped the bill for even a fraction of a stadium, or anything else for the city that supported them?

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Originally Posted by Riczaj01

JJ is a D Bag, but one that takes care of his team/players and tries to get them to win....That D Bag has 3 SB trophies in my lifetime, the Bears have 2 sb appearances in the same period. And again, he flipped the bill on that stadium, which puts the toilet bowl looking soldier field to shame, which I have no doubt the City of Chicago gladly flipped the bill for which the Mc's mostly profit from.
As for the draft's, he's actually he's putting a lot of the teams daily runnings into his son/other managements hands. And has a whopping 7 losing seasons over the last 20 years and agaub 3 sb titles, 3 more then the Bears and the Mc's, and 2 more appearances, Bears have 12 losing seasons in that same time period btw, last 10 Dallas 5 losing seasons Bears 6. If you would take the Mck's laughable ownership of JJ you have to be a Cubs fan b/c you cannot care about winning.

I'm glad he's stating the smaller markets need to pull their share, stop pocketing his F'n money and put it back into the team/stadium like he does.

The players have no financial stake in this game, they have no interest once they've retired in the games wellfare. And as for their health, they were paid for that risk, rather handsomely. Now go ask the broke as Pro wrestlers who have the same shitty life after retirement w/a fraction of the income if we should feel sorry for the poor NFL players and their lack of income/health. The players are out of them and them alone when it comes to the money of this game...as it should be, they again have no stake in the game...but the Owners have far more at stake then the next 10-20 years. They could lose 100's of millions if the league folded. The players don't lose anything but the rest of the contracts they signed(still got their upfront cash).

Ya He has a lot of self imposed debt, from a building he gave to the city of Dallas and it's fans, when's the last time the players flipped the bill for even a fraction of a stadium, or anything else for the city that supported them?

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This is a bullshit argument on so many levels . Nobody put a gun to his head to buy the Cowboys and build the Taj Mahal. And to say that the players have no "stake in the game " is laughable ( unless your whole mindset is about money money money ) which is what it sounds like w/ you. " Hello ?! You play to win the game " - Herman Edwards . That and a whole lot more when it comes to the players. Have a nice day .......

You think any of these players/owners are playing to win for free? Think any of these guys are playing in the NFL for 50k a year? It is all about the money, which is why there is a lockout right now. If the players were here to "win the game" they wouldn't have opted out of the union and filed anti trust suits, and they would have taken less money to be able to "win the game". Your argument is weaker then the govt's approval rating.
Nobody put a gun to his head, but the next time I hear a fanbase screaming to have their taxes raised to help a billionaire build a brand new state of the art stadium, it will be the first time. These old stadiums w/"character" most have shit facilities and no ability to make money for the amount the players are now paid. They need to be rebuilt/torn down. Again, if the Yankees can tear down the house that ruth built, no stadium should be held sacred.