NFL Players vs. Slaves: A Real Photo Finish

Because at least two current NFL players have compared themselves to slaves, I decided it would be a good idea to give everyone a brief history lesson to make certain the differences between slaves and football players are clear.

Knowing how cruel slavery was, such a comparison irks me. I don't agree that, I, a non African-American, should keep my mouth shut regarding such matters. Slaves were people and I am a person. I refuse to sit by while fellow non-slaves compare themselves to slaves, regardless of skin color.

Slaves were owned by other people. Football players are free.

Young NFL players are not allowed to play for any team they wish but can remain members of their immediate and extended families. Slave families were often broken apart because their owners chose to split them up before shoving them under a "for sale" sign.

Comparing yourself to a slave because you aren't allowed to play for any team you wish is completely and totally repulsive. If football players are slaves, basically every employee in the world is a slave. If a worker in an automobile plant in Nashville tells his superior he'd like to transfer to a plant in West Virginia and the superior responds, "we need you here," can the employee declare his existence is on par with men and women who were repeatedly beaten for subpar labor habits?

When NFL players are upset with the league brass, they sit in their mansions and tweet about it. When some slaves were at the breaking point, often because their families were torn apart, they retaliated by killing their owners.

With the help of a coaching staff, NFL players learn massive playbooks backwards and forwards. In some states, teaching slaves how to read or write was a punishable offense.

Why don't I try to find a few similarities between slaves and NFL players...

They both work outdoors... Actually, NFL players sometimes play in domes and study film under roofs.

Oh well, I tried.

I challenge you, NFL player who compares your plight to the plight of a slave, to read Africans in America: America's Journey through Slavery. After completion, if you still think you're treated equally, I would warn your friends and acquaintances to stand back, because you're a heartless buffoon.