It's back to Indy for players who need a medical re-check — without first-class airfare
The NFL brings several hundred players to Indianapolis for the Scouting Combine. The players, as previously noted, don’t get first-class airfare.
This weekend, the players who need a medical re-check are going back to Indianapolis. Again, the league is buying cheaper plane tickets.
Per a source with knowledge of the situation, players are being booked in coach seats for the return trip to Indy.
Last time around, we heard tales of large bodies being crammed into middle seats. Other players were booked on cheaper connecting flights when direct flights were available.
It's just another reflection of the attitude that the league is doing the players a favor by letting them come to the Combine, and not the other way around. The truth is that, by attending, the players are making it easier for the teams to make better decisions about the use of their draft picks. Although some players benefit from what occurs in Indy, every single team derives an advantage from being able to scrutinize all players in one place.
Moreover, the league can afford to take better care of its job applicants. This isn't some mom-and-pop shop operating on a shoestring budget. This is the NFL, which is earning unprecedented revenues while still obsessing over pinching pennies — whether it's offering buyouts to older (and more expensive) employees to taking a popular NFL Network show dark for months and moving it across the country to a cheaper studio to dumping on-air personalities for no apparent reason.
It's not personal. It's strictly business.
That phrase had one meaning in The Godfather. It applies in this context, too, in a different way.
There's no regard for the person. For the human. For the people affected by decisions that come from taking the path that costs less money.
And it's not a great way to do business.
