Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Yes. Yes, I do.

Wow, just like in every other social media platform, a guy can't try to have a serious discussion in this forum without being bullied with memes. I get it. It's your playpen. Have fun.

RyanChristiansen wrote:Wow, just like in every other social media platform, a guy can't try to have a serious discussion in this forum without being bullied with memes. I get it. It's your playpen. Have fun.

Sorry, but reading your original post was like reading Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal". It admittedly went over my head.

If someone doesn't agree with your expressed opinion, that person has a right to express his or her dissent. Not sure how you were "bullied," but sorry you feel that way.

After further review, I still do not see how the term "semi-professional" is disrespectful or offensive in an way. Perhaps if you could cite an example of a player expressing his displeasure at being characterized as such it would help.

Yeah, I really don't see any bullying going on. Me and a couple other knuckleheads having a little fun, maybe, but that's about it.

Now I'm gonna have a cold beer.

RyanChristiansen wrote:Didn't "professional" football start out as "club football" in Pennsylvania and Ohio? Didn't some of the early American Professional Football Association (early NFL) teams more resemble clubs than businesses?

Well... The athletic clubs in the 1890s in Western PA got involved in paying players, I think, because competition got the best of them. It really wasn't, in my opinion, in their best interests. It led to the demise of the A.A.A. club - they got kicked out of the A.A.U. All the clubs wanted to be AAU members because without that there wouldn't have been enough teams to play against - they needed to compete against the colleges to have a variety in schedule and good competition. The AAA and PAC couldn't just play each other week after week - they could, but it would have gotten boring. Once you got kicked out of the AAU, you really weren't supposed to play non-AAU teams I don't think - definitely not colleges for sure. The clubs competed in other sports as well - gymnastics, baseball, etc. apparently without paying anyone. So in this case, club was synonymous with amateur which I don't think is what you were looking for. Everyone says professionalism in sports was looked down upon, but for football, in my opinion, it was "cheating" that was looked down on. Not only were baseball and boxing pro sports, but you could be paid for track as well. One track star went to Europe to run in paid races in an article I stumbled on.

By the time pro football moved to Ohio, half the teams (exaggerating) were either named the "Pros" or "Independents" so they didn't seem to be trying to distance themselves from professionalism.

RyanChristiansen wrote:Wow, just like in every other social media platform, a guy can't try to have a serious discussion in this forum without being bullied with memes. I get it. It's your playpen. Have fun.

My comments were not meant as bullying comments. I did not read other comments as being rough, either.

I just don't see the semi-pro term being changed or needing to be changed. I did read every word in this thread. While it may have a negative connotation it is not like "redskin" so it will not go away.