Re: Troy Williamson docked paycheck to attend grandmother\'s funeral
 

it's a business decision, but doesn't make it any less stupid for PR reasons and just for some [censored] courtesy...

Re: Troy Williamson docked paycheck to attend grandmother\'s funeral
 

[ QUOTE ]
Childress cited the cases of two players, Minnesota defensive tackle Pat Williams and Indianapolis wide receiver Reggie Wayne, who appeared in games shortly after the deaths of family members.

[/ QUOTE ]

Conveniently left out Tony Dungy missing a game after his son's death.

Re: Troy Williamson docked paycheck to attend grandmother\'s funeral
 

Which Vikings strategy is going to get the most and best out of your players? Not just the player who is going through the ordeal but also his teammates who want to feel they are being treated with some amount of dignity and respect:

Vikings Strategy 1:
Dear Troy,
We understand you are going through a difficult time but we do expect you to make it for the game. If you are unable to attend because you are still grieving then we will be forced to dock your pay by 1/16 of the season or $25.6k.

Vikings Strategy 2:

Dear Troy,
We respect your situation and understand that you are a player who has passion for the game and wouldn't want to miss a game if you could help it.
We understand your pain and you have our deepest sympathies.
Take as long as you need for this tragedy in your life and there is no pressure to return to the football field until you feel you are absolutely ready.

Re: Troy Williamson docked paycheck to attend grandmother\'s funeral
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Who cares if he was docked pay, he makes millions, he can afford it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Even if this was true (which it isn't), it's an awful argument.

[/ QUOTE ]

???

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't know exactly what "???" means, but 1) he isn't being paid millions by the Vikings and 2) I don't see how making X amount of money makes it any more OK to dock pay than if he made X-Y amount of money.

[/ QUOTE ]

The second part of your statement I wasn't disagreeing with, just the part about it not being true that he gets paid millions. What gives you that idea? It is way off. Just because his base salary is less then a million doesn't mean his total salary is. For instance, last year his base salary was $350,000 and the Vikings payed him close to $10 million after bonuses, incentives, etc.

Re: Troy Williamson docked paycheck to attend grandmother\'s funeral
 

[ QUOTE ]
The second part of your statement I wasn't disagreeing with, just the part about it not being true that he gets paid millions. What gives you that idea? It is way off. Just because his base salary is less then a million doesn't mean his total salary is. For instance, last year his base salary was $350,000 and the Vikings payed him close to $10 million after bonuses, incentives, etc.

[/ QUOTE ]

I was just going with what someone in the thread said. Guess I was wrong, apologies.

Re: Troy Williamson docked paycheck to attend grandmother\'s funeral
 

I was talking to my roommate about this earlier.

Granted, missing Troy Williamson doesn't hurt nearly as much considering that the entire Viking team wears #28.

If I were running the league, as any other business, I would have to give each player at least one "personal day" where they could miss a game and still be paid due to family emergency, birth/death, whatever. There is no good reason why these guys should be able to get used up the way they do and have to choose between being at the birth of their children, or in Williamson's case, the funeral of, essentially, his mother.

I do understand the product and its reliance on its stars. I also understand that in this league, there are 16 weekends and playoffs, meaning you're "working" in the sense of game checks, for less than half the year.

In other words, I understand this is a business. Childress is a moron and the more he does to piss off Minnesota, the sooner he's gone. I hope the appeal gets Williamson paid, but I also have to say I respect that he's just going about his business. He basically said he didn't care if they took his checks for the rest of the year, he was going. As well he should.

Re: Troy Williamson docked paycheck to attend grandmother\'s funeral
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
if my mother dies, almost anybody could take a week off

[/ QUOTE ]

If your taking a week off usually you are taking a weeks vacation time or you are not getting paid for that week.

[/ QUOTE ]

Every full-time job I've held had a written bereavement leave policy. Each gave 5 days off for immediate family, with no effect on vacation days.

Re: Troy Williamson docked paycheck to attend grandmother\'s funeral
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Shouldn't he get some sort of bereavement pay?

[/ QUOTE ]

Maybe his agent should've thought of that when working out the deals of his contract. It's just business.

I'd miss a game for a funeral. Care less if they docked my pay. In fact, I did do that when I was working at one time. I never got paid to go to a funeral.

b

[/ QUOTE ]

Was it a close member of your family? I don't think this would be an issue if it was his aunt that he met twice.

[/ QUOTE ]

It would still be an issue if he went to a funeral of that aunt and they docked him. It shouldn't be an issue regardless of who it is. If your contract is to play 'x' number of games, and you don't you lose that money for that game. Big whoop, ya move on.

Again, they could put a stipulation in there for these types of circumstance, but didn't. Oh well.

I don't see what the big deal is.

b

Re: Troy Williamson docked paycheck to attend grandmother\'s funeral
 

[ QUOTE ]
Whether the Vikings CAN get away with doing this or not has nothing to do with whether they SHOULD.
It's a classless move to treat your own player that way. It's horrible PR and makes them look really awful to potential free-agents.

They should want their players to feel like they are being treated with class. He hasn't just bothered this particular player or given their own team a bad name.
Think of all this guy's teammates who have talked about this amongst themselves a bit too I would guess. They all feel like their own team is a bunch of tight-wad pricks and many of them are probably angered enough about them docking a player's pay for this that they too end up thinking, "man, if I get the chance I wouldn't mind playing for a team that treats its players fairly."

[/ QUOTE ]

Of course, the other side of the 'class and integrity' issue are those players that sign a contract then hold out later on instead of just honoring the contract they signed.

b

Re: Troy Williamson docked paycheck to attend grandmother\'s funeral
 

I'm glad she's dead always getting drunk and beating the crap out of us kids the only reason I went was to dance on her grave.

Re: Troy Williamson docked paycheck to attend grandmother\'s funeral
 

Stupid but I think this is a way to "get back" some of the $$$ they wasted on him w/ the #7 pick.

Re: Troy Williamson docked paycheck to attend grandmother\'s funeral
 

Also, as Sean Salisbury said on ESPN or w/e if this is Peterson or another superstar he dosnt get fined.

Chilldress is done after this year so this wont even matter much.

Re: Troy Williamson docked paycheck to attend grandmother\'s funeral
 

Exactly.
If this is an important player to them then they very possibly don't take the same action.

Re: Troy Williamson docked paycheck to attend grandmother\'s funeral
 

[ QUOTE ]
Also, as Sean Salisbury said on ESPN or w/e if this is Peterson or another superstar he dosnt get fined.


[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
Exactly.
If this is an important player to them then they very possibly don't take the same action.

[/ QUOTE ]

You guys are missing the point IMO because you only have a few Pro Bowlers on your rosters and to be a good team you need solid contributions from a lot of late-round draft picks and bargain basement free agents, not just your superstars. If I'm a free agent looking to sign a contract for 500K a year I'm not likely to come to Minnesota when they treat their lesser players like [censored].

Re: Troy Williamson docked paycheck to attend grandmother\'s funeral
 

the players make so much money as it is, who cares if he misses a paycheck

Re: Troy Williamson docked paycheck to attend grandmother\'s funeral
 

Should players not be paid if they cannot play due to illness or injury? After all they did not play.

Re: Troy Williamson docked paycheck to attend grandmother\'s funeral
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Also, as Sean Salisbury said on ESPN or w/e if this is Peterson or another superstar he dosnt get fined.


[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
Exactly.
If this is an important player to them then they very possibly don't take the same action.

[/ QUOTE ]

You guys are missing the point IMO because you only have a few Pro Bowlers on your rosters and to be a good team you need solid contributions from a lot of late-round draft picks and bargain basement free agents, not just your superstars. If I'm a free agent looking to sign a contract for 500K a year I'm not likely to come to Minnesota when they treat their lesser players like [censored].

[/ QUOTE ]


Billy, I'm not disagreeing with you. I think it is wrong for them to do that.
Additionally, I can't help but think about race on a matter such as this.

Re: Troy Williamson docked paycheck to attend grandmother\'s funeral
 

Look we're all glad she's gone lets just move on.

Re: Troy Williamson docked paycheck to attend grandmother\'s funeral
 

[ QUOTE ]
the players make so much money as it is, who cares if he misses a paycheck

[/ QUOTE ]

Irrelevant comment maker, party of one.

Re: Troy Williamson docked paycheck to attend grandmother\'s funeral
 

What are the chances that the Vikings would take the same COA if Adrian Peterson attends a funeral for a death in the family?

Yeah...thought so.

Re: Troy Williamson docked paycheck to attend grandmother\'s funeral
 

If it's Adrian Peterson missing a game for the same reason, I doubt the Vikings fine him.

Re: Troy Williamson docked paycheck to attend grandmother\'s funeral
 

That is just sick.
The Vikings should have handled it differently. They should have cancelled the game for one thing and worried about rescheduling once Troy was able to attend.
Another thing is, they shouldn't dock him any pay just because he missed the game he's supposed to be playing in! Come on, if showing up to work is required to make an agreed upon sum of money, that's not the world I want to live in. They should have paid him his money because he would have played if he could. Why don't they handle all of his expenses too? The Vikings should pick up the tab for everything; airplane tickets, hotels, food, cremation services, etc.
If somebody close to you dies then the whole world should stop and you should be treated extra special, not how the Vikings treated Troy. I can't even write anything else, I'm so disgusted!

Re: Troy Williamson docked paycheck to attend grandmother\'s funeral
 

[ QUOTE ]
the players make so much money as it is, who cares if he misses a paycheck

[/ QUOTE ]

Many players do not make that much money considering how short their careers are. Many players only have a three or four year window where they are making a few million.

Re: Troy Williamson docked paycheck to attend grandmother\'s funeral
 

[ QUOTE ]
That is just sick.
The Vikings should have handled it differently. They should have cancelled the game for one thing and worried about rescheduling once Troy was able to attend.
Another thing is, they shouldn't dock him any pay just because he missed the game he's supposed to be playing in! Come on, if showing up to work is required to make an agreed upon sum of money, that's not the world I want to live in. They should have paid him his money because he would have played if he could. Why don't they handle all of his expenses too? The Vikings should pick up the tab for everything; airplane tickets, hotels, food, cremation services, etc.
If somebody close to you dies then the whole world should stop and you should be treated extra special, not how the Vikings treated Troy. I can't even write anything else, I'm so disgusted!

[/ QUOTE ]

Either:

a) This is a level.
b) You don't understand things, or
c) You have no soul.

Re: Troy Williamson docked paycheck to attend grandmother\'s funeral
 

"They should have cancelled the game for one thing and worried about rescheduling once Troy was able to attend. "


This is ridiculous.

Re: Troy Williamson docked paycheck to attend grandmother\'s funeral
 

[ QUOTE ]
That is just sick.
The Vikings should have handled it differently. They should have cancelled the game for one thing and worried about rescheduling once Troy was able to attend.
Another thing is, they shouldn't dock him any pay just because he missed the game he's supposed to be playing in! Come on, if showing up to work is required to make an agreed upon sum of money, that's not the world I want to live in. They should have paid him his money because he would have played if he could. Why don't they handle all of his expenses too? The Vikings should pick up the tab for everything; airplane tickets, hotels, food, cremation services, etc.
If somebody close to you dies then the whole world should stop and you should be treated extra special, not how the Vikings treated Troy. I can't even write anything else, I'm so disgusted!

[/ QUOTE ]

If this isn't a level, then you, sir, are retarded.

Any "normal" job in this country gives its employees vacation time, and especially paid bereavement leave in most. The guy is asking for one week to go to the funeral of the woman who raised him. If you really believe what you just wrote, you are one cold sumbitch.

Re: Troy Williamson docked paycheck to attend grandmother\'s funeral
 

NFL player is not in any way a "normal" job.

Re: Troy Williamson docked paycheck to attend grandmother\'s funeral
 

[ QUOTE ]
NFL player is not in any way a "normal" job.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, obviously. I'm just saying, these guys are normal human beings who happen to have extraordinary athletic talent.

Let's look at it this way. If this was Childress's call, do you think he's going to give up his own game check because his mom died and he had to go to the funeral?

Just because this isn't a "normal" job doesn't mean they shouldn't have the same opportunities to be normal humans when something more important than some game happens.

Re: Troy Williamson docked paycheck to attend grandmother\'s funeral
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
NFL player is not in any way a "normal" job.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, obviously. I'm just saying, these guys are normal human beings who happen to have extraordinary athletic talent.

Let's look at it this way. If this was Childress's call, do you think he's going to give up his own game check because his mom died and he had to go to the funeral?

Just because this isn't a "normal" job doesn't mean they shouldn't have the same opportunities to be normal humans when something more important than some game happens.

[/ QUOTE ]

Whatta joke. They most certainly have the the same opportunities. In fact, they have a helluva lot more opportunities than the 'normal' person.

They can be normal human beings when something more important than the game happens. It's called life, no matter what your occupation. Some things in life have consequences. And no, they certainly don't have 'normal' jobs.

As far as I'm concerned, these players are contractors. They signed a contract. Bereavement pay wasn't in the contract. So you suck it up. Why is it that they pay their agents to handle their contracts?

Childress may not have made an issue out of it and just went to the funeral, accepted the consequential loss of income and not said anything about it. Why isn't that an option?

b

Re: Troy Williamson docked paycheck to attend grandmother\'s funeral
 

[ QUOTE ]
That is just sick.
The Vikings should have handled it differently. They should have cancelled the game for one thing and worried about rescheduling once Troy was able to attend.
Another thing is, they shouldn't dock him any pay just because he missed the game he's supposed to be playing in! Come on, if showing up to work is required to make an agreed upon sum of money, that's not the world I want to live in. They should have paid him his money because he would have played if he could. Why don't they handle all of his expenses too? The Vikings should pick up the tab for everything; airplane tickets, hotels, food, cremation services, etc.
If somebody close to you dies then the whole world should stop and you should be treated extra special, not how the Vikings treated Troy. I can't even write anything else, I'm so disgusted!

[/ QUOTE ]

LOL!

This is great.

b

Re: Troy Williamson docked paycheck to attend grandmother\'s funeral
 

Vikings changed their minds and are giving Williamson his paycheck. Williamson said he will donate it to charity in honor of his grandmother.

I'll give Childress some credit here. He met with some veterans on the team, who I assume told him he [censored] up. He admitted he was wrong, saying, "I think the important thing is everybody grieves differently. That's the thing that I learned, or we learned, in this. In the end, it's not important to be right, but to get it right."

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3103651

Re: Troy Williamson docked paycheck to attend grandmother\'s funeral
 

is it proper internet forum protocol to let people know it was a level? or is it better to let everyone go, "OMG HE CAN'T BE SERIOUS WTF?!?!?"

Re: Troy Williamson docked paycheck to attend grandmother\'s funeral
 

The Vikings admitted they f'd up and are paying Williamson his money. Williamson in turn is donating that money to charity for his grandmother. Wow.

Re: Troy Williamson docked paycheck to attend grandmother\'s funeral
 

According to the broadcast today Williamson didn't contact the team for 10 days.

Re: Troy Williamson docked paycheck to attend grandmother\'s funeral
 

i wouldn't if they wasn't gonna pay me my moneh, either.

Re: Troy Williamson docked paycheck to attend grandmother\'s funeral
 

[ QUOTE ]
According to the broadcast today Williamson didn't contact the team for 10 days.

[/ QUOTE ]

dumb move on his part

Re: Troy Williamson docked paycheck to attend grandmother\'s funeral
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
According to the broadcast today Williamson didn't contact the team for 10 days.

[/ QUOTE ]

dumb move on his part

[/ QUOTE ]

well they called his bluff so to speak

might be results orientated... but turned out it wasn't dumb

Re: Troy Williamson docked paycheck to attend grandmother\'s funeral
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
According to the broadcast today Williamson didn't contact the team for 10 days.

[/ QUOTE ]

dumb move on his part

[/ QUOTE ]

well they called his bluff so to speak

might be results orientated... but turned out it wasn't dumb

[/ QUOTE ]
He is a fringe NFL player at this point, testing your team's patience is incredibly stupid. He won the battle, not the war.

Re: Troy Williamson docked paycheck to attend grandmother\'s funeral
 

[ QUOTE ]
Who cares if he was docked pay, he makes millions, he can afford it.

[/ QUOTE ]

False.