How Much Do Players Care About Winning?

[jrb12711]

I was having an interesting conversation with one of few local browns fan I know about the team and the subject of contracts and money came up. He said that players are motivated by the dollar far more than winning and super bowl rings. At first it sounded crazy but it really got me thinking about it. Most of us here have only played high school sports, and some college. Those are the days where winning is the most important thing, playing for the love of the game if you will. But by the time you get to the NFL, that's a man's profession. I argued that you can't succeed in the NFL without the motivation of winning, but how true is that really?

 

Take a guy like Joe Thomas. He's clearly one of if not the best left tackle in the NFL today. He's set to make over $100 million in his career and could retire a Brown if he so wanted to. Outside of blocking, Joe has no say on the outcome of the game. He can block all day for duds like Quinn, Frye, Anderson, Garcia (I think), but if they can't play that's something he can't control. I just wonder for guys like him who play on bad teams if the constant losing really bothers them. Sure they're playing the sport they love, but it's also their job. For an outside example, I work in a department at a university doing all the fun business stuff (purchases, accounting, payroll etc). A faculty member is in hot water recently and has kind of put the department on the radar in a bad way. Don't get me wrong, I take pride where I work and love my department. But at the end of the day I get paid well to do my job and can't control what he did. I'm not going to let that stop me doing my job or demand a transfer.

 

I just wonder if that's how a silent minority of NFL guys feel like. Who cares if they're not playing for rings, as long as they're getting paid well and enjoy where they are at. I know this is off the beaten track but I thought it would be interesting to bring up here for opinions.