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San Francisco 49ers Quarterback Fined $10k for Defying No Beats Headphones Rule

MagnusVonMagnum said:
I didn't say it wasn't legal. I said it was BS that they're even allowed to put such things in contracts that have nothing to do with football. Do you think they offered another contract without that legal BS in it? NO. It's take or leave it and go find a job somewhere else working at Burger King if you don't like our rules. I'm simply saying it should be about football not headphones, but if there's a buck to be made, hell, they could tell them what breakfast cereal they're allowed to eat if it comes right down to it.
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Football teams make some money from butts in the seats, but the majority from selling advertisements to sponsors (or letting their television partners make those sales). Football teams sell football and a whole lot more. When they're putting on games, or having their employees represent them after games, or during pregame warmups, they want their employees to show the logos of the competitors of their sponsors. It's not that complicated.

That's ignoring the fact that their union also ironed out these points.
 
AppleScruff1 said:
The Players Union agreed to it too, so there are no surprised for anyone involved.

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They freely signed the contract and their union negotiates with the NFL owners for the Collective Bargaining Agreement. No one is a slave. If they don't like the rules, they don't have to play. Free choice.
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It seems like you missed my point. Let's see if I can clarify what I was getting at a bit. ;)

To avoid bringing up religion (where the argument makes the most sense since it's supposedly an eternal sentence), I'll bring up a similar choice found in the ending to the game Half Life instead. When you defeat the final boss in the game, you are presented with a "free choice" of either serving this "employer" the "G-Man" works for or you can choose to fight an impossible battle unarmed (you are thrown to the alien monsters to be torn apart). Yeah, that's some "free choice" there alright. Who the heck chooses death and/or torture over any other alternative? Who chooses to flip burgers over the NFL because of some freaking headphones? No one. That doesn't make it right to be put into that situation in the first place.

In other words, don't tell me they have "free choice" when choice A & B are mutually exclusive. You OBEY or ELSE face a dire alternative. That is how communities/countries/leaders/bosses all take your freedom away (and I don't mean anarchy types of "true" free will but simply things that are no one else's business). If I work for Ford, should I be forced to buy a Ford car myself to drive to work? Should employers have that much control of one's life? It's a paycheck. NFL players play football. Headphones, Cheetos, Pepsi, etc. should have no bearing. The NFL can run all the Bose headphone ads it wants. Telling their players to wear them, however, is a load of crap. Any halfway informed person knows that any deal between the NFL and Bose is purely a profit/pay relationship anyway. It has nothing to do with whether Bose make a "better" headphone than someone else. If Bose is afraid the players might like another brand better, maybe they should improve their product instead of using their money to force a deceitful situation.

Anyone who thinks no one at Pepsi drinks Coke or no one at Coke drinks Pepsi is kidding themselves. Having a job and doing a good job has nothing to do with preference for that brand. It's a job. That's it. Sports teams trade players all the time. Should that person refuse to play for a team based on a name? No, it's all BS. They just want to compete at a professional level and/or make big money. SPORTS is their interest, not headphones. Yet the NFL wants us to "think" that EVERYONE in the NFL prefers BOSE headphones when they're required to wear them or nothing at all by contract? Right. That's the illusion they're pushing. The very idea of trying to artificially make me believe that is an insult to my intelligence.

Shouldn't everyone be outraged at that insult to their intelligence? No, it's perfectly fine, people say. It's a good deal. It's part of their contract. None of those things change the fact it's insulting to everyone's intelligence to try and pretend everyone in the NFL prefers Bose when that's ludicrous. Football players have nothing to do with Bose headphones. What if it wasn't just during games, but when out in public as well? Is there an official cereal of the NFL? Do all players have to eat that cereal as a part of their contract? What about soaps? Deodorants? Toothpaste? Where the hell does it stop? Where does society draw a line in the sand? Does it even draw a line in the sand at all? Unions? Yeah, no one in a union ever abused their power either. :rolleyes: Oh, like being forced to join a union to get the job period? Ah yes, blackmail. That's MUCH better. :rolleyes:

If the Tonight Show had made a deal with with Ford when Jay Leno was on the show (a known car fanatic that loves all kinds of vehicles), would Jay Leno have had to given up all his non-Ford cars or never mentioned them on the air? Possibly. If it was in his contract, after all that he has to only use approved products by approved advertisers, subject to change at any given moment. Put down that Coke, Mr. Leno! We just switched to Pepsi advertisements! What are you eating? For God's sake that is a sandwich from Wendy's! You are only allowed to eat sandwiches from McDonald's! I don't care if you hate them. The network signed an advertising deal with McDonald's and you are required to eat only their sandwiches or else lose your job! :rolleyes:

Yeah, I know, big deal. Just do whatever you're told at all times. Get used to it. It's how the world works. That defense didn't work so well with Nazi death camp guards, though. "We were just following orders. We would have been shot if we disobeyed." Yeah, well now you're going to be hanged instead because you did obey. Hey, isn't free choice just grand? ;)
 
Wow the NFL truly are money grubbing idiots and ONLY care about their bottom line I suppose like every other multi billion dollar corporation. To me they are saying 'So what if they look like women haters, our deal with Bose is worth any of that silly anti lady press crap, besides this is a mans sport, we don't care about women's issue'.
This news actually makes me sick, it has nothing to do with Apple or Bose, it has everything to do with the NFL, I am really beginning to grow a serious hatred for them.
 
MagnusVonMagnum said:
It seems like you missed my point. Let's see if I can clarify what I was getting at a bit. ;)

To avoid bringing up religion (where the argument makes the most sense since it's supposedly an eternal sentence), I'll bring up a similar choice found in the ending to the game Half Life instead. When you defeat the final boss in the game, you are presented with a "free choice" of either serving this "employer" the "G-Man" works for or you can choose to fight an impossible battle unarmed (you are thrown to the alien monsters to be torn apart). Yeah, that's some "free choice" there alright. Who the heck chooses death and/or torture over any other alternative? Who chooses to flip burgers over the NFL because of some freaking headphones? No one. That doesn't make it right to be put into that situation in the first place.

In other words, don't tell me they have "free choice" when choice A & B are mutually exclusive. You OBEY or ELSE face a dire alternative. That is how communities/countries/leaders/bosses all take your freedom away (and I don't mean anarchy types of "true" free will but simply things that are no one else's business). If I work for Ford, should I be forced to buy a Ford car myself to drive to work? Should employers have that much control of one's life? It's a paycheck. NFL players play football. Headphones, Cheetos, Pepsi, etc. should have no bearing. The NFL can run all the Bose headphone ads it wants. Telling their players to wear them, however, is a load of crap. Any halfway informed person knows that any deal between the NFL and Bose is purely a profit/pay relationship anyway. It has nothing to do with whether Bose make a "better" headphone than someone else. If Bose is afraid the players might like another brand better, maybe they should improve their product instead of using their money to force a deceitful situation.

Anyone who thinks no one at Pepsi drinks Coke or no one at Coke drinks Pepsi is kidding themselves. Having a job and doing a good job has nothing to do with preference for that brand. It's a job. That's it. Sports teams trade players all the time. Should that person refuse to play for a team based on a name? No, it's all BS. They just want to compete at a professional level and/or make big money. SPORTS is their interest, not headphones. Yet the NFL wants us to "think" that EVERYONE in the NFL prefers BOSE headphones when they're required to wear them or nothing at all by contract? Right. That's the illusion they're pushing. The very idea of trying to artificially make me believe that is an insult to my intelligence.

Shouldn't everyone be outraged at that insult to their intelligence? No, it's perfectly fine, people say. It's a good deal. It's part of their contract. None of those things change the fact it's insulting to everyone's intelligence to try and pretend everyone in the NFL prefers Bose when that's ludicrous. Football players have nothing to do with Bose headphones. What if it wasn't just during games, but when out in public as well? Is there an official cereal of the NFL? Do all players have to eat that cereal as a part of their contract? What about soaps? Deodorants? Toothpaste? Where the hell does it stop? Where does society draw a line in the sand? Does it even draw a line in the sand at all? Unions? Yeah, no one in a union ever abused their power either. :rolleyes: Oh, like being forced to join a union to get the job period? Ah yes, blackmail. That's MUCH better. :rolleyes:

If the Tonight Show had made a deal with with Ford when Jay Leno was on the show (a known car fanatic that loves all kinds of vehicles), would Jay Leno have had to given up all his non-Ford cars or never mentioned them on the air? Possibly. If it was in his contract, after all that he has to only use approved products by approved advertisers, subject to change at any given moment. Put down that Coke, Mr. Leno! We just switched to Pepsi advertisements! What are you eating? For God's sake that is a sandwich from Wendy's! You are only allowed to eat sandwiches from McDonald's! I don't care if you hate them. The network signed an advertising deal with McDonald's and you are required to eat only their sandwiches or else lose your job! :rolleyes:

Yeah, I know, big deal. Just do whatever you're told at all times. Get used to it. It's how the world works. That defense didn't work so well with Nazi death camp guards, though. "We were just following orders. We would have been shot if we disobeyed." Yeah, well now you're going to be hanged instead because you did obey. Hey, isn't free choice just grand? ;)
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I would guess that most jobs have rules and guidelines. Some have dress codes. Why should I be forced to wear a tie if I prefer to wear a Megadeath t-shirt? Why can't I wear a Microsoft shirt to work at the Apple store? Why can't people work at a bank in their underwear? Why can't a policeman wear a football uniform while on duty? Why should anyone do what they are told?
 
FYI, players are allowed to wear Beats on the field pregame up until they come out again in pads. They wouldn't wear them in their final warmup in pads anyways. So really this "ban" only affects post game press conferences. I doubt this will have any affect on anything considering the small number of players Beats sponsors.
 
This probably just increased Beats sales more than anything else...now they've got the cool, illicit factor going for it. Beats are for the rule breakers...
 
AppleScruff1 said:
I would guess that most jobs have rules and guidelines. Some have dress codes. Why should I be forced to wear a tie if I prefer to wear a Megadeath t-shirt? Why can't I wear a Microsoft shirt to work at the Apple store? Why can't people work at a bank in their underwear? Why can't a policeman wear a football uniform while on duty?
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This isn't a dress code, plain and simple so I have NO IDEA why you're pretending it is. It would be akin to IBM telling its employees that they can ONLY wear Armani brand suits to work or they'll be docked their pay for the week. Businesses have a dress code to present a professional atmosphere, not because they're pushing advertising sponsors on television.

The NFL has a no Beats headphones ban because they want Bose's money and Bose wants everyone to believe Amar Bose is the greatest scientist that ever lived (try reading their literature some time or just watching an ad. In reality, it's overpriced for its performance. I'm not saying Beats is any better, possibly worse, but that is neither here nor there as is the dress code straw man).

Why should anyone do what they are told?
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If you REALLY want to go there as opposed to some rhetorical question, the answer is simple, to get along a a society we need some rules. In reality, the only rules people should need are ones based on mutual self-respect (i.e. your rights end where mine begin and vice versa). But because people don't always respect each other and so we have to have various punishments for crossing those lines. Beyond that, we have a LOT of laws that serve only special interests (i.e. I want everyone to behave THIS way because it's what I/we believe such as Sunday "Blue Laws" preventing liquor sales, etc. that are based on religion and have no right to exist in the U.S. in my opinion. Meanwhile, others like children aren't old enough to make all decisions so they temporarily need guidance as might other groups (mentally challenged, prisoners, etc.)

Beyond that, no one should be telling anyone else what to do, how to behave or what to believe, but as you can easily see any day on the news, that doesn't stop droves and droves of people from trying to do just that including many "terrorists" that want women to cover themselves from head to toe and sell them as property and behead, crucify or otherwise kill anyone who stands in their way or doesn't believe the same garbage they claim to believe. Obviously, that is an extreme, but it's STILL based on the same fundamental belief by people's EGO that they (or some fictional deity they believe in that just happens to agree with them 100%) should dictate what everyone else thinks or does for whatever motive (power, greed, crazy, etc.). HOW they attempt to coerce that behavior varies.

Until society reaches the point where most people can respect each others rights to exist and have different opinions, we will probably quite sadly remain barbarians. Whether its the Koch Brothers trying to force their economic beliefs on me, some Bible Belt group trying to force their literal interpretations of the Bible on me or some cleric in the Middle East that wants me dead because I don't believe what they believe, it's the same fundamental lack of respect for other human beings and their free will that bothers me. Here I see greedy executives using their players as fodder for sponsors that they'll appease at any cost including the rights of their players as simple human beings to listen to whatever headphones they choose while sitting on the bench all so they can make more money.

Like I said, where does it end? Freedoms tend to slowly erode over time, not disappear all at once. Want to play on a swing set? If you're a kid, you might not have that option much longer. Someone has decided because one person died on a swing in the past 50 years, the damn things are just too dangerous! They'll try to get rid of drivers some day under the same pretense of less accidents and let computers drive the car. Yes, that will be a lot of "fun" alright. When you try to sanitize the world of all danger, you kill all the reasons to want to live sooner or later, but these people don't see it that way because one of them lost their child to a swing set and so they're horribly dangerous. The squeakiest wheels get the oil it seems. Why don't they just leave it up to the parents whether their child can use a swing? Oh, that's right. That would be leaving the decision to someone else not their own ego so it's not an option in their brain to do that.
 
MagnusVonMagnum said:
This isn't a dress code, plain and simple so I have NO IDEA why you're pretending it is. It would be akin to IBM telling its employees that they can ONLY wear Armani brand suits to work or they'll be docked their pay for the week. Businesses have a dress code to present a professional atmosphere, not because they're pushing advertising sponsors on television.

The NFL has a no Beats headphones ban because they want Bose's money and Bose wants everyone to believe Amar Bose is the greatest scientist that ever lived (try reading their literature some time or just watching an ad. In reality, it's overpriced for its performance. I'm not saying Beats is any better, possibly worse, but that is neither here nor there as is the dress code straw man).



If you REALLY want to go there as opposed to some rhetorical question, the answer is simple, to get along a a society we need some rules. In reality, the only rules people should need are ones based on mutual self-respect (i.e. your rights end where mine begin and vice versa). But because people don't always respect each other and so we have to have various punishments for crossing those lines. Beyond that, we have a LOT of laws that serve only special interests (i.e. I want everyone to behave THIS way because it's what I/we believe such as Sunday "Blue Laws" preventing liquor sales, etc. that are based on religion and have no right to exist in the U.S. in my opinion. Meanwhile, others like children aren't old enough to make all decisions so they temporarily need guidance as might other groups (mentally challenged, prisoners, etc.)

Beyond that, no one should be telling anyone else what to do, how to behave or what to believe, but as you can easily see any day on the news, that doesn't stop droves and droves of people from trying to do just that including many "terrorists" that want women to cover themselves from head to toe and sell them as property and behead, crucify or otherwise kill anyone who stands in their way or doesn't believe the same garbage they claim to believe. Obviously, that is an extreme, but it's STILL based on the same fundamental belief by people's EGO that they (or some fictional deity they believe in that just happens to agree with them 100%) should dictate what everyone else thinks or does for whatever motive (power, greed, crazy, etc.). HOW they attempt to coerce that behavior varies.

Until society reaches the point where most people can respect each others rights to exist and have different opinions, we will probably quite sadly remain barbarians. Whether its the Koch Brothers trying to force their economic beliefs on me, some Bible Belt group trying to force their literal interpretations of the Bible on me or some cleric in the Middle East that wants me dead because I don't believe what they believe, it's the same fundamental lack of respect for other human beings and their free will that bothers me. Here I see greedy executives using their players as fodder for sponsors that they'll appease at any cost including the rights of their players as simple human beings to listen to whatever headphones they choose while sitting on the bench all so they can make more money.

Like I said, where does it end? Freedoms tend to slowly erode over time, not disappear all at once. Want to play on a swing set? If you're a kid, you might not have that option much longer. Someone has decided because one person died on a swing in the past 50 years, the damn things are just too dangerous! They'll try to get rid of drivers some day under the same pretense of less accidents and let computers drive the car. Yes, that will be a lot of "fun" alright. When you try to sanitize the world of all danger, you kill all the reasons to want to live sooner or later, but these people don't see it that way because one of them lost their child to a swing set and so they're horribly dangerous. The squeakiest wheels get the oil it seems. Why don't they just leave it up to the parents whether their child can use a swing? Oh, that's right. That would be leaving the decision to someone else not their own ego so it's not an option in their brain to do that.
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I'm not pretending anything. I agree with the majority of what you post, but not where this is concerned.

And it's not a Beats ban. It's any non Bose headphone. The only headphone logo that may show is Bose. Showing a Sennheiser logo would be a violation too. It's a business, there are rules, just as there are in the majority of workplaces.
 
AppleScruff1 said:
I would guess that most jobs have rules and guidelines. Some have dress codes. Why should I be forced to wear a tie if I prefer to wear a Megadeath t-shirt? Why can't I wear a Microsoft shirt to work at the Apple store? Why can't people work at a bank in their underwear? Why can't a policeman wear a football uniform while on duty? Why should anyone do what they are told?
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I think all of this is permissible while wearing a magic Apple ring :)
 
MagnusVonMagnum said:
I didn't say it wasn't legal.
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I didn't say you did say it was illegal.


I'm simply saying it should be about football not headphones,
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It's not about headphones, it's about a sponsorship deal (of which Kap has more than one). And athlete's love sponsorship deals because they can make way more money from those than from playing sports. If Kap really wanted to be able to wear any brand headphone at any time he would've have signed a sponsorship deal with Beats which restricts him to just wearing Beats headphones.

but if there's a buck to be made, hell, they could tell them what breakfast cereal they're allowed to eat if it comes right down to it.
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I don't think you understand what's going on. Kap can buy, own, wear and listen to any headphones he wants (well, not really because Kap has a sponsorship deal with Beats). What Kap can't do is have a Beats logo visible during what we could call 'NFL work hours'. During NFL work hours Kap still can wear the headphones he loves (well, is paid to love) he just has to cover up the Beats logo because that's what he told the NFL he would do according to their contract.

tl;dr. The NFL doesn't restrict Kaps ability to wear what he wants, only what logos can be visible at specific times during NFL functions. Kap chose to restrict what headphones he can wear by signing a contract with Beats.
 
Fortimir said:
The only reason this really bothers me is because the NFL is a non-profit.
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That's because the apparent definition of "non-profit" is to make millions and even billions for the owners. That doesn't make a "profit" after all. Neither do the players. It's all for charity. :rolleyes:

They say it's because it' a "trade organization" (the NFL, not the individual teams which do make "profits") but in reality, it's a total crock of CRAP. Baseball pays taxes. The NBA pays taxes. Football wants the taxpayers to pay for their stadiums too. They can't afford their own buildings, after all. They don't make enough money to maintain their facilities. :rolleyes:

So we the tax payers subsidize $10 MILLION a year for the NFL (reminds me of tax breaks for big oil who also doesn't need one penny of it) so the owners and players can make MILLIONS. Managing a set of teams that make profit while making profit for your CEO should not be non-profit status. This isn't an international treaty we're talking about. It makes me want to puke, really. This country is bleeped up. It's time to revoke all tax loopholes and make these fat cats pay their fair percentage. Meanwhile, the players can't even wear what headphones they want to wear because the charity known as the NFL thinks their health donor organization called "BOSE" would be upset about it. :eek:
 
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MagnusVonMagnum said:
That's because the apparent definition of "non-profit" is to make millions and even billions for the owners. That doesn't make a "profit" after all. Neither do the players. It's all for charity. :rolleyes:
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It is just sad that people really think the NFL is a non-profit and doesn't pay taxes. The NFL league office is a non-profit, but none of the teams are. Any money going to the teams through the league office is taxed. Any income the team gets is tax. Yes, they do save some money for the employees at the league office but in the overall scheme of things, it is only a drop in the bucket to the rest of the NFL which is not tax-exempt.
 
bozzykid said:
It is just sad that people really think the NFL is a non-profit and doesn't pay taxes. The NFL league office is a non-profit, but none of the teams are. Any money going to the teams through the league office is taxed. Any income the team gets is tax. Yes, they do save some money for the employees at the league office but in the overall scheme of things, it is only a drop in the bucket to the rest of the NFL which is not tax-exempt.
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What's really SAD is that you didn't read my post where I already mentioned that. That doesn't mean part of the NFL should get tax exempt status when even the CEO is making over $25 MILLION a year in PROFIT. Yes PROFIT. Profit is profit. It's sad some people can't comprehend that.
 
mojolicious said:
The new series of Homeland started showing in the UK last night.

Is Apple the Official Cellphone Partner of the CIA?
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They essentially are of many TV/movie productions.

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doctor-don said:
What company or business tells its employees which brand of suit they have to wear?
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Plenty of those that relate to being in public face and have an image that is part of the company. Sponsorships play a big role and are essentially part of the foundations of all kinds of such businesses.
 
The funniest part is that no one would've known about this if the NFL didn't fine him. But since they did, this story is being published on blogs and beats are getting more publicity than Bose.
 
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