"Your team is going to f**k you" - Chris Long explodes on NFL's treatment of players amid collusion scandal

Pablo Torre and Mike Florio reported last month that the NFL urged all 32 teams to cut down guaranteed contracts given to players at the league's executive meeting held in March 2022.

Chris Long, a former NFL defensive end and host of the "Green Light" podcast, addressed the matter of the collusion scandal in Thursday's episode of his podcast. The alleged collusion stems from claims that the NFL and the players' union, NFLPA, hid details of an arbitration agreement from players. Per ESPN, the league allegedly wanted teams to lower guarantees in contracts.

Long strongly cautioned NFL players during the episode that the league is a business and should be treated as such. He said that once the regular season starts, nobody will be interested in the entire matter because football will be the only thing on everyone's mind.

"In the beginning of September, we're going to be watching whoever opens the season, and the whole country is going to be huddled around the TV," Long said (17:04). "And we're not going to give a flying f**k about some information-rich, 61-page document that, quite frankly, is probably over a lot of people's heads—including mine."

Long said the NFL prioritizes business and is solely concerned with increasing revenue:

"And where we are in society and where we are as a league and sports fans and athletes—there's kind of a mirror situation here. Joe Fan walking down the street is going to side with the billionaire over the millionaire. And I think that's reflective of society as well—where suddenly, we side with the corporations, not the people, not the labor forces, not the everyman. We act like we're all about the everyman, but we actually, by default, side with the employer."

Additionally, he encouraged NFL players to prioritize their own needs before thinking about how their choices may impact their teams:

"And I wouldn't call the NFL the oppressor—because I wouldn't call making millions of dollars to play a game being oppressed. That's not it. But it's a business. And players need to be reminded that every time you do something to void your contract, or you get hurt, or you don't play well, and there's a crack in the door where the NFL can f**k you, they're going to f**k you. Your team is going to f**k you.

"And this isn't me saying don't be a team guy or don't appreciate the opportunity you have. But there's an effort, when you're a player, to kind of remind you: 'Hey, protect the shield, man. This game is bigger than you. It's the biggest game in America.'”

Chris Long calls the NFLPA a weak union

According to reports, NFLPA leadership and the NFL came to a confidentiality agreement to withhold the specifics of a 61-page document that showed that league executives urged team owners to cut down guaranteed salaries.

Chris Long lamented in his podcast how the NFLPA, a union he called "weak," kept NFL players in the dark about the whole arrangement:

"And the other thing is this: There are a lot of players who were affected by this and didn't even know it. There are guys that, as of the time of tape with me and Pablo, supposedly were involved in this 61-page document and had not been reached out to by the union.

"So the union didn't even reach out to them and say, 'Hey, here's what happened or here's what's going on.' They were just in the dark, and then they were in the dark some more.”

With the exception of holdouts, all NFL players will return to their team's facilities within the next 10 days. Rookies from the LA Chargers have already reported to training camp, and more will follow in the next few days.