Paper chasing makes players play harder

I’ll give you $5 to read this entire column.

Well, no, I won’t, sorry. But for a second… I’ll give you $5 to read this entire column.

Well, no, I won’t, sorry. But for a second there, you had some extra incentive to continue reading, right?

There’s nothing wrong with needing a little extra push to do something, yet it appears the NFL doesn’t agree with that sentiment.

Last week, it was reported the NFL is investigating the Green Bay Packers because players on the Packers allegedly offered money to teammates based on achieving goals the team set before certain games.

This goes against the league’s ruling, which states that players and teams are prohibited from “offering or accepting bonuses to a player for his or his team’s performance against a particular team, a particular opposing player or players, or a particular group of an opposing team.”

It’s one thing to ban gambling on a game, a la Pete Rose, but this seems excessive. Betting on a game could lead to one team purposely tanking to win the money, like the 1919 Chicago White Sox.

When players set goals for teammates and offer monetary rewards for accomplishing these goals, there is nothing less than excellence that could come from this.

Unless of course the goal is to purposely mess up and lose the game, but for the sake of my argument, that never happens in present-day sports.

It’s becoming increasingly clear professional athletes like money.

Athletes have been known to, at times, play their respective sports better when there is a large sum of money on the line.

It’s the reason we have the phrase “contract year,” where a player who is a soon-to-be free agent has a great season in order to earn a large contract in the offseason.

A “contract year” is the reason that someone like Tim Thomas will be more than able to provide for his family.

Sometimes it doesn’t even have to be a whole season.

One great run in the playoffs can earn a player enough for their children’s college tuitions with enough left over to retire at 40 (See: Carlos Beltran and Jerome James).

It’s clear the likelihood of a large payday can bring out the best in athletes, and bringing out the best in as many athletes as possible will make sports infinitely better.

So what’s the problem if players need some extra incentive to perform at their highest level?

Winning isn’t everything.

It used to be, but for most athletes today, it’s not.

And maybe that’s not good for sports, but if the way to make athletes play like they still want to win is to let them make bets with each other, I’m all for it.

What do players obtain for winning? Pride and a ring.

Pride in winning has as much monetary value as pride in losing.

Plus, it’s much easier for athletes to try to stand out above their teams and earn a large contract and buy their own ring than to actually win the ring.

It seems selfish on the players’ part to adopt that line of thinking, but really, the fans are the selfish ones. We want the athletes to go out and win for us.

It brings us joy.

Maybe it brings the players joy, too, but joy can be bought with lots of money, which is achieved through playing as hard as one can.

Performance-based incentives on contracts weren’t created by accident. They work.

But one problem has arisen with players playing for large contracts, and that is once they receive the contract, they no longer try.

It’s a large hole in an otherwise flawless system. Vince Carter has perfected coasting for years until he’s up for a new contract.

Coasting has become a huge problem for players who just signed a large contract. It’s not right, but it’s not a bad idea either.

Wouldn’t a salesperson be more likely to try to sell their product if they were receiving a commission opposed to just an hourly rate?

It’s basically the same thing.

The Packers found the perfect solution to this issue when players bet on game-specific goals.

ESPN reported that the Packers defensive backs offered each defensive lineman $500 if they held the Vikings’ Adrian Peterson to under 100 rushing yards.

The backs also reportedly offered the linemen another $500 if they held the Panthers under 60 rushing yards.

It was a push – Peterson ran for 45 before leaving the game with an injury, but the Panthers ran for 131 yards.

Nothing was reported on whether there was extra money thrown in for causing injury, but it certainly didn’t hurt the linemen’s chances.

That would be wrong, though.

I think if teams aren’t going to start offering game-based incentives, then players and coaches should.

Is a player more likely to go out and hit a home run for the sake of winning, or because if he does he’ll win an iPod Nano?

Well, maybe not a Nano, but definitely a regular iPod.

I salute the Packers.

It’s a groundbreaking moment for sports, and hopefully it catches on. Some people plan on telling their grandchildren stories of their favorite teams winning championships or watching an immortal athlete like Tiger Woods or Lisa Leslie master and dominate their sport.

That’s nice, but I plan on sitting down my grandkids to tell them how the Packers brought competitiveness back to sports.