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The yearly survey from the NFLPA of players grading the teams they play for is out and there were some interesting responses this year.
From NFL owners being loved by some and hated by others to teams absolutely despising certain parts of their team, there was plenty of information we could garner from this survey.
Here are a few big takeaways that we got from the NFL Player Team report cards:
1. Miami Dolphins Players LOVE The Team
The Miami Dolphins were the only team in the survey that got straight A’s across the board. The only aspects of the team that got so much as an A- were the training staff and family treatment.
Dolphins owner Stephen Ross himself got an A+ as an owner. The Minnesota Vikings are the only other team to get such a grade and only eight others got an A- or better.
Whatever Ross is doing down in the Sunshine State, he has the teams singing his praises to the high heavens.
2. The Washington Commanders New Ownership Did Not Instantly Fix Everything
Washington Commanders fans celebrated the departure of Dan Snyder harder than Munchkin Land celebrated the Wicked Witch getting crushed by Dorothy’s house. But judging by the grades, the new ownership group of Josh Harris, Magic Johnson, et al hasn’t been able to undo all of the rot that had been building within the organization for the better part of 25 years.
The Commanders graded a C or worse in eight of the 11 categories and received an F or F- on five of them.
The owners themselves got a respectable B grade, which could indicate that there’s at least confidence that big changes are coming.
3. Super Bowls Can’t Buy Happiness – Or Love For The Owners
The Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers have won a combined four of the last five Super Bowls. But their owners both ranked in the bottom-five, with Chiefs owner Clark Hunt ranking as the worst of them all as the only owner to get an F- on the survey.
Kansas City graded a C+ or worse in every single category except their head coach – who got an A+.
The Buccaneers got significantly more love in many categories, grading as a B- or better in six categories. But the Glazer family got a D- as owners (a rating that Manchester United fans might find generous).
4. NFL Players Really Don’t Like How Their Families Are Treated
NFL teams do a lot to convince fans that they treat their players and fans like family. But judging by the survey results, it appears that most NFL teams are really dropping the ball when their families stop by.
20 teams graded “Treatment of Families” with a C or lower and six teams gave them an F or F-. No other category comes close to getting that many low grades.
5. Do The Atlanta Falcons Even Lift?
This might be a minor nitpick, but the Atlanta Falcons were the only NFL team to grade its Strength Coaches lower than a C-, giving it the lowest score of an F-.
If the strength and conditioning team is getting a score that low by people who spend a significant portion of their days working out, something must be (or must have been) dreadfully wrong in the Falcons’ weight room.
Maybe that score will change in 2024 now that the team has overhauled their strength staff under new head coach Raheem Morris.
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What were your biggest takeaways?