Browns running back Nick Chubb participated in last night’s Zoom call for running backs. At training camp on Sunday, he was asked by reporters about the situation.
“Right now, there’s really nothing we can do,” Chubb said, via ESPN.com. “We’re kind of handcuffed with the situation. We’re the only position that our production hurts us the most. If we go out there and run 2,000 yards with so many carries, the next year they’re going to say, you’re probably worn down. It’s tough. . . . It hurts us at the end of the day.”
That’s why the best solution would be to create a fund that pay all running backs (especially those under their rookie contracts) for playing time, carries, receptions, yards, and touchdowns.
At the running back position specifically, the NFL isn’t a “what have you done for me lately?” league. It’s “what are you doing for me today, and what can I expect you to do for me tomorrow?”
So Chubb is right. If a quarterback throws for 5,000 yards, there’s no reason to think he’ll never do it again. For running backs, there’s a physical toll that creating a 2,000-yard season, one that makes it harder to ever repeat the achievement.
The challenge becomes getting the union to quit talking about foolish ideas like faking injuries and to embrace the importance of pushing for a league-wide fund that would reward running backs for what they do, while they are doing it. Will the NFL Players Association take up that cause? And will the NFL listen?
Again, the first step for running backs would be to come together collectively and declare now their intention to boycott the voluntary offseason program in 2024. That’s the play, and it’s hiding in plain sight. Tell the NFL, “Good luck running OTAs with no running backs,” and get every running back to go along.
If that won’t get the league’s attention, nothing will.
