The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Domonique Foxworth - The Fight for NFL Players' Rights

Episode Date: February 6, 2023

"You know that there is no limit to the risk that you're taking." Former NFL player Domonique Foxworth discusses the significance of having two Black quarterbacks in the Super Bowl for the first time in history, the hierarchy that exists in the NFL, and the challenges players face when negotiating with owners. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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They both think we're in the end of it. You know what's interesting? It is Black History Month and, and the first day, Tom Brady announces his retirement. Yeah, I mean, and on the day, or the way, leading up to the Super Bowl, right, first two black quarterbacks in the Super Bowl of ever, and we also had, we also had, over the weekend, what I believe to be the blackest moment in playoff history. I don't know if you saw Patrick Mahom's daddy on a sideline, Patrick Levonne, my home's daddy on a side, oh, I loved it.

It sounded so much like my black uncle's It was when you say look was it was male name. Oh, lavon Then you know it's gonna be Oh, yeah, it was it was it was the familiar din of a black uncle. It was it was like a like a leather baseball cap It's the blackest superman. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, yeah. That's so good. That's the dude come over you hide the jury. He said I'm moking on that jump by around. They're just like balls. But it is it's historic two black quarterbacks started for the first time and then what does that mean to you? What does that mean to you? Yeah. I mean I think it represents I hate the word progress but

it does kind of represent some progress I mean there's lots of other things in the NFL and in the world frankly that we need to work towards but one thing that we've had to finally accept is black quarterbacks are perfect leaders, perfect quarterbacks. The problem was that they didn't think they had the intelligence. I think it's it's one about the intelligence and also in the leadership and it's also about y'all like like frankly, it's about what the quarterback represents on a football team is something that white people in America in general were never comfortable with seeing a black person represent that. So it's been great to see not only have so many successful black quarterbacks and we saw even some quarterbacks that are black that aren't good, which is assuring progress too.

We could be just as shit here. I mean, that is progress. But the most like exciting thing about it is the future of the league. The best quarterback that I think any of us have ever seen is Patrick, Mahomes. I think I've never seen anybody be able to do the things he does. Now, of course, you got to be to be great to be great to be great to be great to be great to be great to be great to be great to be great to be great to be great to be great to be great to be great to be great to be great to be great to be great to be great to be great to be great to be great to be great to be great to be great to be great to be great to be great to be great to be great to be great to be great to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be the things he does. Now you gotta, of course you gotta be great over a long period of time. Because there are people who started out the way. I thought what Cam Newton was doing was remarkable.

And then you see what happens. It's interesting because we talk about football and there's a market difference between the way players in the NFL are treated. And the players in the NBA are treated treated treated treated treated the treated the treated treated the the the the treating. And I think primarily it is the ownership. I think that the ownership in the NFL has a decidedly different view of their commodity than the NBA does. Like you would never see an NFL, an NBA owner talk to a major star like NFL. If if somebody talked to LeBron James, like they talk to some of these stars, it would be over. Yeah, I mean, LeBron James has a disproportionate amount of power, but like singling out the

NFL and trust me, I'm not going to be up here defending the NFL, but the NFL exists in our society. And frankly, NFL is no different than any other workplace. And so like the hierarchy that exists in the NFL is like it's going's gonna be blacker at the bottom, and minorities at the bottom, and you go up higher and higher, and there's less risk, there's less danger, there's less injury, there's less pain, but there's more money, there's more success, there's more protection.

And that's like, that's true in the NFL. And frankly, that's true in the NBA. That's, the NBA, their, th. That's, th. That's, th. That's, th. That's, th. That's, th. That's, thrue, thrue, thrue, thrue, thrue, th. T. T. T. T. T. T. That's, th. T, thrue, th. And, there's, there's, there's, there's, there, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there, there, there, there, there, there, there. And, there. And, there, there, there. And, there. And, there. And, there. And, there. And, there. And, there. And, there. And, there, there. And, there. And, there's there's there's there's there's less, there's less, there's less, there's less, there's less, there's less, there's less, there's there's there's there's there's there. it's true in this building sorry and they may not have me back yeah yeah okay not today yeah you know it's interesting because we we watched when I watch what happened to Hamlin on the field I was personally like because I'm I watched football a very long time and I'm sure you've seen a lot of injuries I don't know that I've ever seen anything like that and the way that the players reacted it was it was it was it was hurt. I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I th. th th. th. th. I th. I the th. I th. I th. I the th. I th. I th. I the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. the the the the their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th. tr tr tr tr tr tr true true. true tod today. today. today. today. today. today. today. today. today. today. their their their a lot of injuries. I don't know that I've ever seen anything like that. And the way that the players reacted, it was hurtful. I mean obviously you were sad that somebody was suffering there, but it was such a beautiful human moment because the NFL got to be human. Yeah. The coach was like, we ain't playing this game. And I'm just like, yes you are. Exactly. So you got to see men that just were empathic and just men who were crying and praying. And not because they won and they lost because they were praying for somebody who was in the game. I played a long time. I was in a game where a player got paralyzed on the field and he was

taken off. We waited five minutes, warmed up and played again. I played in a preseason game where a player died in a locker room afterwards. Like I've been around some ugly parts of football, but to your point I've never seen anything. What do you think was different about that? What do you think was different about that? That particular play? His heart stopped on the field. That part, that's it. I mean, but we've seen people. Hell, I passed out doing COVID. So, but there was the way, because I think that people are used to certain types of injuries or

seeing certain types of things, but that scared everybody. Yeah, the reaction from the players really like scared all of us and I think this all goes back to the original conversation that we were having about like American culture and the the their their th.. th. th. th. th. their their th. th. tha tha tha tha tha tha tha tha tha tha thi, thi. thia thia thia thia thia thia' thia' thi. thi. thii. thi. thi. thi. Because thi. Because, because thi, because thi. Because, thi, thi, thi, thi, because thi, thi, thi, th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thi. I'm, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thiiiii you know that there is no limit to the risk that you're taking. Right. But awful things can happen. Why would you do it though? Well you do it because you grow up. So when you were a kid and you want to play football you decide before your like of clear mind and then you show a propensity for it. And tho' thii. th th and th th and thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thin, thin, wo, wo, wo, wo, wo, wo-tha, wo, wo, wo, wo, wo, wo, wo, wo, wo, wo, wo, wo, wo, wo, w, w, w, w, w, w, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, the the they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, that and frankly when I came up we were unaware of the CTE stuff that came out while I was in the league. Would that have changed your mind? I like to think it would but I doubt that it would and to be honest with you I don't

begrudge any of the players now for participating in a game knowing the risk that it takes the thing thin that th th th th thin thin thin thin thin thin thin thin thin thin thin thin thin thin thin thin thin thin the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that thin thin thin. thin. thin. thin thin. thin. thee is things things things things things theeeeean thean thean. theeeean is that that that that that that that that that that the amount of money they can make on the amount of Like health care they can receive the league negotiates for a cap on that, but on the other side the owners the coaches The general managers there's no cap on their success That's up to the players really because there's a sense if if if if NFL players didn't play that shit. thi that shit would be rugby right. thrown. their tho' the the the thi thi thi thi the thi thi the thi the thi the the thi the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the lea, lea lea, lea.ea lea lea lea lea lea lea lea lea lea lea lea the the the the the the the the the the the the the goal is to make you pretend like you don't have a choice. I believe you don't have a choice. You go through some of the finest institutions of higher learning on the face of their. You went to Harvard. You're a very bright man. But to make you believe that you're beholding to a thing because in your mind is the biggest game in town. So I agree, I know somebody went to the new school.

Let me tell you about that. I would say that... Quality callback. Harvard is no new school. Let me tea that. I would say that I get your point and I'm sorry to sound like a broken record but like we all exist in the society and I think the players as a whole Solidarity is power if they stop playing you can get what you want and all of us can get the things that we want if we band together But the challenging thing about negotiating with the owners. It's the same thing that we all face is trying to change a system that's try, th in th in thin to to the th in th in th in the thin th in the thin, the thin., the the thin. thin. the same thin. the same thin. thin. to thin. the same to thin. the same the same the same same same same the same the same the same the same the same. the same. the same. the same. the same. the same. the same. the same. the same the same the same the same the same the same the same th. the same the same the same. the same. the same. the same. the same. the same. the same. the same. the same the same. the same? the same. the same. the same. the same. th. th. thin. thin. thin. th. th. thin. te. te. they. they. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the the the the the the trying to change a system that's entrenched, the people who are already in power in that situation. So if you are to strike, if you're a group of players, to get what you want, that's essentially a war of attrition.

The commanders, the Washington football team, the report is gonna sell for $8 billion. How do players win a war of attrition against them? And then you compound that by the fact, thiii................. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thin, thin, thin, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, th. that's, th. th. th. th. th........ It, th.... It's is, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi. thi. that's a that's a thr. thr-a's a thr-a. thi. that's a thi. that's a that's a that's a thi. thi. thi. from everywhere. No one comes down so rarely, I think it's changing some now, but so rarely do fans come down on the owners when there's an issue. Not at all. Because that's the face that they, or they can't see the face because they have a helmet on.

I think you guys have a tremendous amount of pressure on you externally because if you are an athlete, people aspire to be. And, and the, and their, and their, and their, and their, and their, and their, and their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, thi, their, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, people aspire to be. And there's amount of external pressure that society, from a civic perspective, from a cultural perspective, from activism, perspective. So, and it's really important, because the only time generally they see black people would be running, jumping, singing, and dancing. It really is.

It's the only time we have everybody's rapt attention. And so how do you balance the fact that you are professional? You have commitments, you have to, you're obligated to, but you still have a commitment to making things better for a community. So it's unfair, but that's life. It's unfair that that responsibility falls on black players because it doesn't fall on white players. Like no one has this expectation of white players to do the same thing. But as black players, they all know that that expectation falls on them. But I think Howard Bryant wrote a great book called The Heritage about the history of activism and athletes.

And it's changed. The position of the players and activism has changed. And I think that's incumbent on us as spectators and people who care about it to understand that athletes aren't activists anymore as much as they are like flashlights. Right. They are not entrenched in the fight in the way that say Kareem Abdul Jabbar was, which is fine. So when they get an opportunity and they say, look over at Tyree Nichols, then it's our job to jump in. Because we can't expect them to commit themselves to being the best in the world and then also commit themselves to be on top of the latest reading and the latest like self-preservation. Virtually every skill set that got you on that field will get you on you will make

you a hero on Sunday will make you a target on Monday. If you're big you fast, you're strong and you black on Sunday. On Sunday that's an attribute on the streets of the other of of of it is a detriment. So it is self-preservation. There's one, there's only one standard I have. Do what you can to the best of your ability. Do what you can for as long as you can, for all that you can. And I think that one thing I will say about you even before I got a chance to meet you. I love how area dice you are. I love how thiii most things aren't just black and white. And I love how you don't just depend on your physicality. You have never just depended on that.

But I hated how you play, you said, I'm a term. Nobody would ever put Maryland above Harvard on any resume. I would. But it ain't no new school. Yeah. You see that there's a pretty broad continuing the way the NFL was then it is now. the thi. It is. It is. It is. It is. It is. It is. It is. It is. It is. It is. It is. It is. It is. It is. It is. a pretty broad continuing experience between the way the NFL was than it is now. Are you more hardened or more disappointed by the direction it's going? I think that's a tough question. I think I'm...that's why I'm here, baby. Yeah, I think that it's not about the NFL and I'm guilty of this as much as anybody else as we think of the NFL as a single entity, which, yeah, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the way, the way, the way, the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the, is the, is the, is theanneanneanneanneanfeanneanneanfeanneanneanneanfe, is the, is their their their their the NFL and I'm guilty of this as much as anybody else as we think of the NFL as a single entity, which like yeah, it's an institution but the NFL

is made up of a bunch of different things and the most important entity in the NFL is the players. And so that like gives me optimism because I've never been more impressed, more excited, more invigorated by not only the talent, but the perspective and the engagement of these players. We talked about Patrick Mahomes and how he's the best quarterback in football right now and on a trajectory to be one of the best of all time. He spoke out. He was one of the first faces in that video about Colin Kappernick. And I know that Colin Kapporteurne is not back in the league, but the idea. that is not. that is not. that, that, thinek, thine, thine, thine, thine, thine, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, their, their, their, their, their, thi, is not their, their, their, is not their, is the best, is the best the best the best coom, is the best the best, is not the best, is not the best, is not th. th. th. th. th. th. th, is not the best, is not the best, is not the best, is not the best, is not their, is not their, is not their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their best, this conversation if he wants to, like they, that opportunity is presented to him time and time again and he does not. And that's

an example to everyone else and players like Lamar Jackson who are willing to be outspoken and fight for players right like all of these players and it's not just a black players it's the white players. The league is in so much better place because of the players, and if only the players, like fully understood and appreciated it. But there is a vested interest in making sure you don't realize. Everything you have, you have, because somebody that looked like you sacrificed. That's why you're having. You want to lead the union?

You said yes. No. No. I don't even pay my duty. What would the, you're older now, you're, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, to, to, to, to, to, to, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, been married, you've lived in various places, you've seen the world. What would the adult, you tell the rookie, you're the white-eyed, the white-eyed, the white-eyed, you've been, the white-out kid that walk in Philly, what would you tell you? Have as much fun as you can? Oh no, that's a different conversation. That's fun of when the cameras go off. No, I think the most important thing is to get as many different experiences as possible.

And we are so focused and we're celebrating. I did a bunch of ESP and stuff today, celebrating Tom Brady's career. And his career deserves to be celebrated. It was great. And part of the reason why I was so great was because it appeared to me that nothing else was more important than football to him. And that's fine. If you can be Tom Brady, not everybody can be Tom Brady. And I know that having all these other experiences, the tough thing about being a player in professional sports is your skills aren't applicable anywhere else. So if you don't hit that home run and it just goes back to like the challenge for being a player versus an ownership class. If you are a player and you, and you, and you th, and you th, and you th, and you th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, the th, th, the th, th, th, the league, th. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, the league, the thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th, th, th, th, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi, thi, thi, thin, thin, thi, thi, thi, thi. thi. to, to, to, to to, to to to thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi, thi versus an ownership class. If you are a player and you play three to four years, then the league minimum goes up and you're out of the league and your

experience, I mean, sets you up to be a bouncer, like you are in a tough situation. So like one of the things that I did and I would encourage all the players to get involved in the union as much as possible. That helped open my mind to how many other. And. And, the community. And, the community. And, the community. And, the community. And, the union as much as possible. Like that helped open my mind to how many other opportunities there were out there in the world. Get involved in community things obviously. And also like when you have time, one of the things that we negotiated was for longer offseason. Sure. Use that off season to go do something else.

It'll make you a better football player. It'll make you a better person. I dig talking to you, but I'll say this, I want you to understand this. I truly want you to understand this. And most of the men who are on that football field go to the finest institutions of higher learning in the world. It is not their physical attributes. It is their minds. And when you understand before your mind does. You know you you you're here not because Your your physical you may think that because you hurt yourself you're here, but your mind was ready Yeah, and these maybe I'm just you know, I got the GED so who am I to say? But if you go to college drop by a class every once in a while. You know what I'm saying? It ain't gotta be the new school, but it can be...

I'm Tominique, Dominique Foxwood. Be sure to check out his new podcast and Dominique Foxwood show. Explore more shows from the Daily Show from the Daily Show. Wherever you get your podcast. Watch the Daily Show weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central, and stream full episodes anytime on Fairmount Plus. This has been a Comedy Central podcast.