I do... and I think they have every right to be upset with what he said. He's the boss, and the players are his employees. He's made a statement concerning all the players in the NFL, and most importantly those that are on the team he owns. If you're at work, and you do your job, and abide by the bosses wishes (i.e. not kneeling), would you take exception if he made negative sweeping generalization, to a third party, of his worker's performance, that included you? Does one simply say "well, he wasn't talking about me," and move on? That's one reason why I could see players being upset.
The next reason is fairly obvious. I think we can agree that "thugs" belong in jail or prison, right? It's not huge leap of the imagination for players across the league to see his "prisoner" comment as coming from the same place of ignorance. You can find plenty of sources that refer to players a "thugs," despite the general population being more "thuggish." I can see the players resenting this often repeated belief (i.e. Richard Sherman). It was a very unfortunate choice of words that were chosen, so I'm glad he apologized....kinda.
[True thugs belong dead (see: The Raj, 1835 - 1870). If one insists on taking every word literally, the thuggees were ruthlessly stamped out over 100 years ago. And I still see this as arguing from both sides of an issue. You cannot use the lower conviction rate for NFL players as evidence of their moral superiority to the general population while arguing that a lower conviction rate is evidence of 'privilege' and greater resources influencing court verdicts under other circumstances. If the courts respond to 'privilege' and high priced lawyers, it likely is in a color-blind way (see: Ray Lewis (previously referenced)). I live in a city which revolves around a college football powerhouse, and I can tell you with absolute certainty that the expectation of privilege and exceptionalism reaches full flower therein, but starts even earlier in the high school powerhouses that feed the NCAA machine (Moeller comes to mind)]
The last reason, is the dynamic it portrays between the owner and the players. He is not a warden, they are not prisoners, and the NFL isn't a prison. The owners aren't giving away jobs in the NFL out of the kindness of their hearts, they need and actively seek to employ the best athletes in the game. It's a one hand washes the other relationship. They both make millions off of each other. This particular owner's comment betrays that relationship.
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