One of the financial television channels has a frequent program on different individuals who were caught stealing under the title of “Greed.” There are two entities who may not be breaking the law but they personify the word greed. They are the National Football League and the petroleum industry. The NFL preys on its players and the petroleum industry rips off each and every one of us.

Despite the fact that it hides its financial information, the NFL was estimated to have grossed $11 billion in 2021. They get their money from television, sports products and many other media opportunities. Without the football players who put their lives on the line each game, the NFL would be nothing. For a long period of time, the NFL totally ignored the physical injuries that the players suffered, which shortened their life span. In an out-of-court settlement in 2013, the NFL agreed to set up a $765 million fund for 18,000 damaged players.

Traditional football fans love the game because of the brutality between the players. Like the old-ime gladiators, the players bang and slam into each other and the fans holler with glee. Occasionally a player has been hit so hard that they have to be carried off the field. If that player never returns to the field again because their injury has disabled them, the fans rarely hear anything about how that injured player will live the rest of their life.

Recently, it was reported by the league that player concussions are up 17% this year. The concussion statistic is rarely discussed as the NFL is not happy about anything that makes them look bad. But thanks to the more recent publicity about players continuing on the field with mild concussions, some protocols have been developed that force the coaches to remove the players from the game. In time, some will return and others never return.

I personally know one life story that reflects how the game impacts on the lives of players. I had the honor of knowing Nick Buoniconti, who had been a middle linebacker in both the American Football League and the NFL. He had the distinction of being on two Super Bowl winning teams. His record as a player is one of the most impressive bunch of statistics that you could ever see. Over a period of years, I watched this great athlete deteriorate as a result of being “hit over 1,000 times,” according to Nick. The loss of function was gradual, but eventually he wound up in a wheelchair totally paralyzed prior to his death.

The attitude of the NFL is that they have taken care of “those players” and they have no further obligation. But believe it or not, the 2021 settlement was not enough. The funds have been exhausted. In addition, the new and younger players who are damaged have little or no help going forward and if paralyzed, they will get little attention. Super Bowl is now a finished product, but it is time for the average fan to give some extra thought about how the NFL fails its players.

Greed is not just the way the NFL operates. Big Oil, the people who help fill up your gas tanks, earned  a profit of almost $200 billion in 2022.  Exxon alone grossed $56 billion, which was the highest profit in its history. They have funneled those profits back to their shareholders, which was to be expected. As a reminder, much of those profits came from the gas tank sales and you contributed your hard-earned $5 a gallon to make the shareholders happy. Some of those profits could have been spent to create more production facilities, but if you can create your own shortages, why build more capacity.

Since the oil barons are making record profits, it is fair to ask how much have they spent on reducing air pollution? The worldwide figures are over a trillion dollars, but the domestic spending is small compared to the other countries. The Inflation Production Act passed last year will force more dollars to be spent, but it will be hard to get the industry to pay its fair share to help us breath cleaner air.

I am sure there are other candidates for the most greedy company category. The NFL will lie about how they treat damaged athletes and the oil industry will moan about lost profits during the Covid pandemic, but an informed public will know what the real truth is.