Before being “America’s game,” the NFL was a business, which was made clear to Chargers running back Austin Ekeler after his team decided to let go of head coach Brandon Staley and general manager Tom Telesco.
“This is a business, and this is the business side,” Ekeler said Monday on the Ekeler’s Edge podcast. “It’s the ugly side of football. … You also learn that the business of the NFL is not safe for anyone — it’s straight production, or you get out of there.”
He felt blindsided by the firings of Staley and Telesco. Ekeler, along with his teammates, found out about their departures on social media like the rest of the world.
“There’s anger, there’s confusion, but there’s also a sense of, ‘We gotta make sure we stay together,'” Ekeler said. “As a captain on the team, trying to keep people moving forward. … The game was clearly terrible for us.”
Contrary to popular belief, many players in the NFL are just as uninformed as the average sports fan. Nevertheless, they are the very people directly affected by the business side of the NFL—and it isn’t always in their favor.
“As us players, we don’t know about any of this stuff,” Ekeler said. “They’re not calling us up like, ‘Hey, this is what happened.’ I’m finding out from Instagram and Twitter that Tom and Brandon had been let go. It’s something I’ve never had to deal with in any of my years playing football — where you actually get rid of a coach in the season.”
Ekeler felt particularly let down by Telesco’s exit, someone who he had established a close relationship with since he began his career as an undrafted free agent out of Western Colorado.
“It sucks,” Ekeler said. “Tom’s the reason I’m even here talking to you guys. Tom’s the guy that has the biggest part in setting that 90-man roster. He decided to put me on there No. 3, Austin Ekeler, back in the day a few years ago. My relationship with Tom, over the years, has been pretty tight because of that.
He obviously believed in me again to bring me back for another contract. … No one ever thought it would come down to what we’re going through right now.”
Like any business contract, each party is expected to hold up their end and in the NFL, players are responsible for competing at the level they agreed to perform at.
Unfortunately, this season hasn’t gone well for Ekeler as he has only scored six touchdowns and rushed for 506 yards. In two consecutive previous seasons, the 28-year-old was the touchdown leader.
Although he considered leaving Los Angeles in the offseason after frustrations about being underpaid, Ekeler has a decision to make, whether that be to continue playing or even retire once the season is over.
“This is my last year of the contract here,” the seventh-year running back said. “I have no idea what’s going to happen with me because I still have three games left. … It comes down to what’s the opportunity? I want to have the best opportunity for myself. Does that lie in football, or does that lie somewhere else? Because whatever I put myself in, I’m going to be all-in. It consumes me. I’m talking to my fiancee … do I lean into football? Do I lean into going post-career?
“It really comes down to what’s the situation? How does this look for us? Is it a one-year deal? Is it a two-year deal? What are we trying to do here? Is the money good? … This is going to be real life for me. … So these will be the conversations we will be having with GMs and putting it out there, but if we find a good situation, then absolutely coming back and tearing it up again.”
