Florio: Tillman Should Play Sunday Even If Wife Goes Into Labor
(WSCR) When Charles Tillman broke the news on 670 The Score that he may not play Sunday if his wife goes into labor, the news didn't quite sit well with one NFL expert.
Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio joined The McNeil and Spiegel Show today and said he wouldn't agree with Tillman's decision to sit out.
"This may not not be the most popular position in the world, but I fall into the 'This is the life we've chosen' category," Florio told The Score's Laurence Holmes and Matt Abbatacola, who were sitting in for McNeil and Spiegel. "There are ways nowadays - there are technologies that you can plan when you're going to have a baby. There are four fairly important months out of the year when you work 16 Sundays and you get paid a lot of money to be available those 16 Sundays. You try to avoid being in a position where you have to make that decision on Sunday that you're getting paid a lot of money to be available to play a football game. It's easy for me to say this because I've never been and never will be in this position, but I think you gotta show up and do your job. Guys who are over seas don't get to fly home if they've got a spouse going into labor, and they get paid a heck of a lot less money.
LISTEN: Mike Florio on The McNeil and Spiegel Show
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"It's the life you've chosen, and the idea that you're going to bail out on your team when the time comes when this is something that could have been planned around when you're getting paid a heck of a lot of money to be available, when you're not injured and you're healthy... I'm just giving that as an example. It's great to be able to say, 'Hey, I'm taking this Sunday off,' even though you only work 16 of them. I don't think there's going to be a lot of sympathy among football fans."
The Bears host the Texans for a pivotal Sunday night matchup against two 7-1 teams.
Florio thinks people around the league will agree with his position, but will be too afraid to speak out.
"There may be some in the media who feel like it's not politically correct to say what everyone is thinking deep down, which is, 'Hey man, you get paid to work 16 days out of the year. These are important events. There's a lot that rides on this. You should show up and play football. If you're wife has a baby on a Saturday or Sunday, well, next time it's time to have a baby, make sure you have it between January and July."
