The Minnesota Vikings Organization is Classless

[Logan]

Originally Posted by molson

It's a good question, but I'd imagine the reason we don't know this and that it doesn't come up very often is that most family funerals are planned accordingly (i.e. not on Sunday), when there's an NFL football player in the family.

Kinda like how this one was planned on a Monday?

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by Moss84

I like how the article doesn't state that Troy Williamson was allowed to leave the Vikings for this funeral from Tuesday, October 30th, 2007 until Wednesday, November 7th, 2007.

That's 7 working days for most people and 9 working days for Troy.

How many companies out there compensate an employee full pay for 7 days for funeral leave?

Could the Vikings have saved some embarrassment for $25,000? Sure.

The Vikings don't take a day off on Monday or Tuesday?

[rkmsuf]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

The Vikings don't take a day off on Monday or Tuesday?

you ever see this team play? surely you jest.

[molson]

Originally Posted by Logan

Kinda like how this one was planned on a Monday?

So why doesn't he fly out after the game? If he wants more time with his family, fine, but it's reasonable that he's not paid for his extra time away.

Still a silly move from the Vikings though.

[Logan]

Agree on both counts. I was just pointing out that this funeral didn't take place on Sunday.

[Schmidty]

Man, I don't even remember posting the last few messages from last night. That's kind of scary.

[Galaxy]

What's the union contract state on this issue?

[Galaxy]

Originally Posted by Schmidty

Man, I don't even remember posting the last few messages from last night. That's kind of scary.

You didn't wake up next to Shorty, did you?

[Cringer]

I can't even get home for unpaid time off on halloween when I ask for it, I'm not getting too worked up over this one.

[Schmidty]

There's a bit of difference between Halloween and the death of perhaps the most important person in your life......

[Logan]

Originally Posted by Schmidty

There's a bit of difference between Halloween and the death of perhaps the most important person in your life......

HE ATTENDED THE FUNERAL AND GOT DOCKED PAY FOR THE TIME HE MISSED.

Good lord.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by Galaxy

What's the union contract state on this issue?

Here you go, verbatim. I'll read it in Gene Upshaw's voice:

"If someone important to you dies, you will bend over and take it in the ass from the commissioner. If you don't like that, you will be released and black balled from the league. I have lots of money. I'm an awful player rep. Wasn't I great when I played ball?"

[Cringer]

Originally Posted by Schmidty

There's a bit of difference between Halloween and the death of perhaps the most important person in your life......

Yes there is, so let me put it this way...

I want to go to a funeral, I don't get paid and chances are I don't get the time off without getting shit from my bosses for it first.

The NFL is a job, ok folks? I don't get paid for picking up a load, driving half the way and then saying I am going to a funeral for a couple of days and will deliver the load a later. So why should an NFL player miss the most important part of his job, the whole reason he is being paid, without losing a little money? They get paid to play the games, you miss a game you may miss some money. I am guessing that not too many players around the league are as upset as you guys are.

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by Cringer

Yes there is, so let me put it this way...

I want to go to a funeral, I don't get paid and chances are I don't get the time off without getting shit from my bosses for it first.

The NFL is a job, ok folks? I don't get paid for picking up a load, driving half the way and then saying I am going to a funeral for a couple of days and will deliver the load a later. So why should an NFL player miss the most important part of his job, the whole reason he is being paid, without losing a little money? They get paid to play the games, you miss a game you may miss some money. I am guessing that not too many players around the league are as upset as you guys are.

The Vikings had every right to do it, even though it makes them seem like jerks. The NFL obviously is much different than a company that offers PTO, wher you can take days off to greave in addition to funeral leave, or even a stint on STD.

Cringers example is a good one, since like Williams, Cringer he is essentially a "contractor" and you get paid based on completing a specific task. In this case though, with all the bad publicity this has brought them, saving 25K ranks up there with hiring Les Steckle to replace Bud Grant.

[Crapshoot]

http://vikingsnow.blogspot.com/

They decided to reverse it. Good job - the net effect is that they look like jackasses with no benefit. Childess appears to be one of those people who wants to look like a hard-ass (he cut Marcus Robinson on Christmas Eve last year) - but is just an ass.

[Surtt]

FWIW

From Troy Williamson:

"In light of today’s events, my wife Charity and I have decided to donate that game check to a charitable foundation to be determined at a later date in the memory of my grandmother Celestine. I will not be speaking about this issue any further."

[clintl]

There's a big difference between having the right to do something, and doing the right thing. The Vikings didn't do the right thing.

[Logan]

It was smart for him to go with "charitable foundation" instead of just charity.

[Cringer]

flip floppers!

[molson]

I didn't catch this originally, but the funeral was on a Monday, and then he stayed away the entire week and missed the next Sunday's game.

Isn't that a little much when you have professional responsibilities? If that's now acceptable, we're going to see a lot more players missing time. What if the next guy wants two weeks off, is that gonna fly?

[Cringer]

Originally Posted by molson

I didn't catch this originally, but the funeral was on a Monday, and then he stayed away the entire week and missed the next Sunday's game.

Isn't that a little much when you have professional responsibilities? If that's now acceptable, we're going to see a lot more players missing time. What if the next guy wants two weeks off, is that gonna fly?

If that's the case, then I support the Vikings original decision even more. I had understood it that the funeral was the Monday after the game he missed.

[TargetPractice6]

Originally Posted by molson

I didn't catch this originally, but the funeral was on a Monday, and then he stayed away the entire week and missed the next Sunday's game.

Isn't that a little much when you have professional responsibilities? If that's now acceptable, we're going to see a lot more players missing time. What if the next guy wants two weeks off, is that gonna fly?

If that's the way it went down I don't see how ANYONE can call the Vikings scumbags for this. Throughout this whole thread I was thinking he missed the game the day before the funeral instead of a game SIX DAYS after. My grandmother was one of the most important people in my life too. When she passed I was extremely torn up but only missed two days of high school. Even in times of grief you still have responsibilities.

[molson]

I think I might be mistaken about the funeral, though he was actually gone longer than I thought.

He was gone from Monday until Wednesday the week after, so 9 days. And the funeral was on a Monday, a week after he left.

[Joe]

the announcers on this weeks game said he was away for 10 days and he didn't contact the team to let them know when he'd be back. absolutely nothing with docking his pay for THAT

[ISiddiqui]

Yep.. it appears everyone jumped to conclusions on this one.

[molson]

It would have interesting to see what the reaction would be if this was a better player.

What if Adrian Peterson took off for 9 days and never contacted his team about where he was, or whether he was coming back for the game? Would people still be calling the team classless if he was docked pay?

[larrymcg421]

I'll plead ignorance due to an article that was very unclear on what happened. The initial article in this thread makes it sound muich different than what was later reported. In retrospect, I don't fault the Vikings one bit.

[BYU 14]

As usual things come out before all the facts are in and we react accordingly

He definitely had accountability to let the Team know what was going on, and if he had called and said "Hey, I am really having a hard time dealing with things, I need some more time off" I doubt he would have even been fined.

[Raiders Army]

You don't work, you don't get paid. Nuff siad.

[larrymcg421]

Originally Posted by Raiders Army

You don't work, you don't get paid. Nuff siad.

Or not. I just missed three days off work and got paid for each of them.

[Jas_lov]

The Vikings are classless for treating an employee this way. They are paying for it today by getting shredded by the Packers 27-0. Also, Adrian Peterson left the game with a knee injury.

[molson]

Originally Posted by Raiders Army

You don't work, you don't get paid. Nuff siad.

Everybody has a different deal with their employer. I'm getting paid Thanksgiving week and will be 3,000 miles away from my job.

But no NFL player's employment contract allows him to take off for 9 days without telling anyone, missing a game and about 5 practices in the process.

[Joe]

Originally Posted by Jas_lov

The Vikings are classless for treating an employee this way. They are paying for it today by getting shredded by the Packers 27-0. Also, Adrian Peterson left the game with a knee injury.

LOLz

[Vinatieri for Prez]

Hmmm, for all those who sided with the Vikings, what does it say that the Vikings ended up paying the guy anyways?

I don't think anyone's contesting the team's right to do this, but the PR hit was bad, both internally to other players on the team and externally to the public.

Apparently, Childress slipped it to Jay Glazer that he called Tony Dungy for advice on what to do after the fact. It's bad enough that as a HC you aren't sure what to do here, even worse when you tell the public (through the media) that you are so inept on such a simple issue that you had to get advice from another HC.

As to those who say it's simple, you don't work, you don't get paid, must have missed the class on salaried employees. Salaried employees are paid a straight salary, meaning if you work OT, you don't get anything more. In other words, it's a "you work, you don't get paid" situation. However, the benefit of that is if you miss work, you still get paid. Moreover, many unions who have hourly employees have negotiated paid leave for bereavement. Now, it might not be 10 days, but it may be 2-3 days.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by Vinatieri for Prez

Hmmm, for all those who sided with the Vikings, what does it say that the Vikings ended up paying the guy anyways?

I don't think anyone's contesting the team's right to do this, but the PR hit was bad, both internally to other players on the team and externally to the public.

Apparently, Childress slipped it to Jay Glazer that he called Tony Dungy for advice on what to do after the fact. It's bad enough that as a HC you aren't sure what to do here, even worse when you tell the public (through the media) that you are so inept on such a simple issue that you had to get advice from another HC.

As to those who say it's simple, you don't work, you don't get paid, must have missed the class on salaried employees. Salaried employees are paid a straight salary, meaning if you work OT, you don't get anything more. In other words, it's a "you work, you don't get paid" situation. However, the benefit of that is if you miss work, you still get paid. Moreover, many unions who have hourly employees have negotiated paid leave for bereavement. Now, it might not be 10 days, but it may be 2-3 days.

The bolded part is what's key. No one said he shouldn't have been able to go. His excessive absence is what caused the fine, and that I agreed with.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by Vinatieri for Prez

Apparently, Childress slipped it to Jay Glazer that he called Tony Dungy for advice on what to do after the fact. It's bad enough that as a HC you aren't sure what to do here, even worse when you tell the public (through the media) that you are so inept on such a simple issue that you had to get advice from another HC.

I think that's a bit unfair. Childress is a first year HC and isn't experienced on how to deal with this stuff (nor should he necessarily be expected to). So he goes to one of the most respected HCs in the business to ask advice. Nothing wrong with that.

[larrymcg421]

Originally Posted by Logan

The bolded part is what's key. No one said he shouldn't have been able to go. His excessive absence is what caused the fine, and that I agreed with.

Not sure what thread you're reading, but the excessive absence thing didn't come out until later in the thread. Before that, several people were ascting like bereavement time was some imaginary thing that has never even existed.

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by Jas_lov

The Vikings are classless for treating an employee this way. They are paying for it today by getting shredded by the Packers 27-0. Also, Adrian Peterson left the game with a knee injury.

What they're actually paying for is thinking Brad Childress could be a head coach.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

Not sure what thread you're reading, but the excessive absence thing didn't come out until later in the thread. Before that, several people were ascting like bereavement time was some imaginary thing that has never even existed.

I wasn't talking about the people in this thread. The Vikings fined him because his time off, which involved him missing a game, was excessive. Personally, I thought they were right to fine him as soon as I read that the funeral was on a Monday.

[Surtt]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

I think that's a bit unfair. Childress is a first year HC and isn't experienced on how to deal with this stuff (nor should he necessarily be expected to). So he goes to one of the most respected HCs in the business to ask advice. Nothing wrong with that.

Was last year a mulligan?

As a side note the vikings, who signed Koy Detmer on Tuesday and turned around and released him on Saturday, paid him $42,353.

[Vinatieri for Prez]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

I think that's a bit unfair. Childress is a first year HC and isn't experienced on how to deal with this stuff (nor should he necessarily be expected to). So he goes to one of the most respected HCs in the business to ask advice. Nothing wrong with that.

I think it says a lot that his performance has been so atrocious that it makes you think he's a rookie HC when in fact this is his second year.

[Vinatieri for Prez]

Originally Posted by Logan

I wasn't talking about the people in this thread. The Vikings fined him because his time off, which involved him missing a game, was excessive. Personally, I thought they were right to fine him as soon as I read that the funeral was on a Monday.

I don't think too many are against that. The point of my post was more of whether they should have exercised that right in light of the expected PR hit. The fact they reversed their decision says all you need to know on that point.