Deion Sanders told us 25 years ago that it "Must Be the Money" that makes things move. But on Friday, Prime Time decided to remind today's NFL players that the business of sports "will go on without" despite a pandemic.
"All Players OPTING out in all sports PLEASE BELIEVE the game will go on without u. This is a business & don’t u EVER forget that," Sanders tweeted.
NFL players have been voicing their concerns regarding COVID-19 procedures and the way the league has been handling the virus since before training camp began. This has led to several players opting out of their contracts in order to protect themselves and their loved ones from the virus. Star players like Odell Beckham Jr. have gone on record claiming that the safety and health of the players is more important than any financial gain the NFL would see by moving forward with the season.
"Obviously with everything that’s going on, it doesn’t make sense why we’re trying to do this. I can understand basketball was already in the playoffs. ... Hooping is different than playing an eleven-on-eleven contact sport where there’s 80 people in a locker room," Beckham explained to the Wall Street Journal.
"We’re not ready for football season," he continued. "So why are we trying to push forward? It’s obviously for their money. And that bothers me because there’s always been this—and I hate saying it like that—but the owners’ [attitude is], ‘Oh we own you guys,’ and just kind of that unfairness going on that they don’t see us as human."
While these concerns are valid, the NFL seems focused on moving on with the year with the deadline to opt out of the 2020-21 season passing on Thursday. This prompted Sanders to explain that there are only a few things needed to conduct a football game.
"There’s NO ONE that’s bigger than the game itself," Prime continued in his tweet. "Only the ref,umps & officials are that important that u can’t play without them. NOT YOU! #Truth."
Sanders faced a wave of backlash for his comments:
In Sanders' defense, history has arguably proven him right. In 1987, the NFL Players Association went on strike for weeks four through six. Instead of halting the season, the NFL found replacement players to supplement the rosters and swayed big-name players to cross the picket lines to end the holdout.
