CURT FLOOD MADE PRO ATHLETES PROFESSIONAL
CURT FLOOD MADE PRO ATHLETES FREE

The hatred that he went through just on a daily basis, I can't relate. But there were two different times and two different eras. I do know what that feels like, I've got to be honest.

CURT FLOOD MADE PRO ATHLETES FREE

Flood felt alone a lot of the time when he was in pursuit of free agency.

'I have an idea of what he went through,' O'Bannon told. But compare him to Flood? O'Bannon treads cautiously.ĭennis Dodd O'Bannon decision signals the end of the collegiate model O'Bannon, the former UCLA basketball star, got a significant win in court Friday when a federal judge ruled the NCAA has violated antitrust law by preventing athletes from being paid off their names, images and likenesses. But his willingness to challenge the long-established system played a major role in obtaining free agency rights for players. Louis Cardinals star, was defeated in court by Major League Baseball when he fought the game's reserve clause. More: O'Bannon news | On CFB: Dennis Dodd | Jeremy Fowler | Jon SolomonĮd O'Bannon has heard the comparisons for five years: He is the Curt Flood of college sports.įlood, the former St. Baseball owes Curt Flood a place in its Hall of Fame.Curt Flood did for MLB players what Ed O'Bannon is trying to do for college athletes.

CURT FLOOD MADE PRO ATHLETES PROFESSIONAL

Ironically, Marvin Miller, who beat baseball continually as union chief, was eventually enshrined in Cooperstown, while Curt Flood, who made Miller’s success possible, was not.Įvery American professional athlete owes Curt Flood a debt of gratitude. He was out of baseball after that and died 14 years ago at the age of 59.

The case eventually reached the Supreme Court, which ruled in baseball’s favor, as Miller predicted.įlood, by then 33, and with a year out of the game, was traded to the hapless Washington Senators for the 1971 season. Marvin Miller, the head of the fledgling baseball players union, told Flood he would fail.īut Flood told Miller that he was fighting for other players and their futures and was content with whatever outcome occurred. However, in the sports world of 1970, Curt Flood became a pariah. In today’s sporting environment where contract holdouts are commonplace and players routinely take control of their situation, Flood would be seen as merely doing business. In a letter to then baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, Flood wrote quote After 12 years in the Major Leagues, I do not feel that I am a piece of property to be bought and sold irrespective of my wishes unquote. He refused the trade and sued Major League Baseball for the right of free movement. That is except for Flood, who, at 31, and nearing the back nine of his career, had had enough. Free agency was, for all intents and purposes, a myth, and players largely went along with the mythology. to make the game inclusive and Curt Flood, because he freed the players. Under what was called the reserve clause, baseball owners essentially had the power to control the movement of players in perpetuity. A captivating look at how center fielder Curt Floods refusal to accept a trade. Louis, a team that had won 87 games to Philadelphia, who lost 99. 285 and collected that seventh Gold Glove, Flood was traded from St. He became an essential part of Cardinal teams that won three National League pennants and two World Series.įollowing the 1969 season, where he hit. In Flood’s case, hits, runs and average don’t even begin to measure heart and courage, commodities that don’t show up in box scores.Īnd because those intangibles don’t fit on a trading card, Curt Flood was passed over last week for entrance in the Baseball Hall of Fame by a committee of Hall of Famers, executives and media members.įlood’s career began in Cincinnati, but he was dealt to St. And in those seasons, Flood played a marvelous center field, earning a Gold Glove, presented for defensive excellence, seven straight times.īut numbers alone don’t tell the complete story. 293, which, while exceptional, is not superlative.įlood played for 15 seasons, more than twice the length of an average career. Curt Flood amassed 1,861 hits and had just 85 home runs for his career. Although Flood lost his case in the Supreme Court in 1972, his decision to challenge Major League Baseball changed the sport, and created a wave of momentum for professional athletes to control. Baseball, more than any other sport, is a game of numbers and there are certain numbers that make players more special than others.

Curt flood made pro athletes