Tough Financial Times for NFL Players

Times are tough all over.  Unemployment is up.  Wages are stagnating.  And if you've got an uncertain labor situation, things are looking worse by the day -- especially if you're an NFL player.

The NFL Players Association is telling its underpaid serfs to start putting some money away.

There's a possibility of a lockout in 2011 and nobody wants to see poor, malnourished NFL superstars wandering the streets begging for meager scraps.  The sight of one of those mega-rich superstars having to trade in his silver spoons for a plastic spork at the soup kitchen would bring a tear to even the most harden cynic's eye.

The 25/25 campaign urges players to put 25 percent of their income in savings this year and next.  By encouraging their burgeoning money managers to squirrel their dough away, the PA hopes to avoid any telethons in the future.

Poor Albert Haynesworth.  If he follows those guidelines, he's not going to have the $10 million-$15 million he was expecting to have next season.  Everyone's favorite head-stomping reckless driver will only have $7.5 million or so.  Think about how many fewer houses and cars that'll buy!  Sadness all around.

So if you're watching an NFL game next season, and you notice the linemen look hungrier and leaner, well, they probably are.

If you're standing in the parking lot waiting for autographs with your kids, and the team's star cornerback blows by you in a lowly Audi A6 instead of the Porsche, you'll have a handy life lesson about struggle and sacrifice for your children.

Let these noble sportsmen be a lesson and a guide.  Not only are they role models on the field, now they can be our guides off the field in these tough financial times.