Vikings Dock Pay To Attend Funeral
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Well this is disappointing to see, the Minnesota Vikings docked the one game pay of Troy Williamson because he missed the game to attend his grandmother’s funeral. In other words he was docked 25,588 dollars for missing 60 minutes of game time. Coach Brad Childress told the twin cities area media that “the decision was on a “business principle” of the Vikings organization.” He pointed to Reggie Wayne of the Indianapolis Colts and Pat Williams of the Vikings who played shortly after the deaths of their relatives.
While teams are businesses, there is more to this story:
Williamson’s agent, David Canter, revealed last week that his client’s older brother was injured in an automobile accident in September and that he has been hospitalized in Georgia, where he has been in and out of a coma. He said Williamson, who has been able to spend only a little time visiting his brother, has been battling through the ordeal of “a grieving and healing” process and that his family is his first priority.
Give the man a break. You won the game; what do you have to complain about? And if he had played how do they know he would have performed well? The answer: they don’t.
[tags]football, Viking, Minnesota, Troy Williamson, Death, penalty[/tags]
5 Comments
Tom Farley
November 9th, 2007
at 8:10am
The Vikings are my favorite team, but that’s not really important. I agree with you that Mr. Willamson’s case is an unusual one. There should always be enough flexibility in any organization to decide these things on a case by case basis. The hard fast rules don’t always apply. In this case, I would make the exception and give him the pay anyway.
However, I’ve heard that the “rules of compensation” for these professional athletes is well known by them before they sign on. They know they’re going to take a hit if they miss practices or games. That’s part of the reason their paychecks are so astronomically high. I believe he gets around the “average” paycheck for an NFL player. If we use your number above to figure just the regular season games (16), that’s $409,408.00. That’s a huge sum of money! I think if he decides to miss a few games, he’ll still meet his personal budget.
I wish I had that kind of flexibility in my budget! While I agree with you, I can’t feel to sorry for Mr. Willamson regarding his paycheck. I applaud his dedication to family. I feel sorry for him for his personal problems. I hope his brother comes through without any long term damage.
Kelly
November 9th, 2007
at 9:43am
I am so disgusted by this news. I just called the Vikings office to see if there was an email address I could send a note too, and they don’t even have that! I am so disgusted by this. The Vikings wonder why they have minimal fan support, why no one will support a new stadium, all of that. They make poor personnel decisions, they lose, and now they show themselves to be the greedy, corporate losers they are by charging a young man over $25,000 for tending to his grieving family. Nice, Vikes! That’s real classy. I will never purchase a ticket to any Vikings event, and I doubt I will even go if it’s free! I’m very disappointed by this.
Edmund Hunt
November 9th, 2007
at 12:24pm
This kind of inhumane “business” decision is why corporations can never be trusted to do the right thing just because it is the right thing. While football is a game, corporate football is a cut throat, ruthless enterprise that exists only to make money. Like the WWF, if it uses people up and shortens their lifespans, that’s their problem.
The Mafia uses the same excuse for murder, prostitution, drug dealing, etc. It’s just business.
Rick Hogan
November 9th, 2007
at 4:42pm
So what, are we supposed to feel sorry for some multi-millionaire athlete because he didn’t get paid for a game he didn’t play in? Boo-hoo!
Rick
Jessie
November 20th, 2007
at 5:16am
Jessie…
Man i just love your blog, keep the cool posts comin…..