Solidarity Off the Field, Too
Yesterday I wrote about the 12 members of the Major League Baseball Players Association who have come out in active support of the Employee Free Choice Act. That was an important reminder of some of the very prominent union members in this country, and it reminded me to go back a couple weeks to a story about a union member in another sport: Tom Brady.
Brady’s teammates have elected him an alternate representative in the NFL Players Association. Brady’s teammate and player representative Adalius Thomas explained the significance of the move:
“Very rarely do you see quarterbacks be that,’’ said Thomas. “So I think that says a lot about what his teammates think, and how important it is to him, some of the issues that may be going on with the union. I think it definitely adds power to it because of his status in the league and the respect he has from owners to coaches as well as players.’’
Acting as a proxy for his fellow players is not something Brady takes lightly.
“You’re a part of the meetings. You have a voice for whatever issues that may come up,’’ said Brady. “There are certainly a lot of them. The players obviously don’t want to see a lockout. We want to keep working, but if the owners lock us out, we’ve got to be informed. Hopefully, it doesn’t come to that, but it’s not really in the players’ control.’’
Brady also expressed solidarity extending beyond his team—solidarity that any union member should be able to understand:
“We’re only as strong as each other, whether it’s me or Drew Brees or Vrabel, or [Larry] Izzo,’’ said Brady. “We’re all in this together.’’
