Foote Not Happy About Owners Forcing Employees to Take Time Off

After reading in a Detroit newspaper that the Lions are forcing employees to take unpaid furloughs because of the lockout, linebacker Larry Foote became anry. A number of teams have done the same thing this year.

Foote told Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “That’s ridiculous. We all know through this lockout owners aren’t losing money, they’re making money. They pay us $1,000 a week just to work out. Roster bonuses haven’t been paid.”

They also don’t have to pay health insurance, contribute to the pension fund, pay for medical issues, pay for lunches during the spring workouts and much more.

“To lay people off to save money,” Foote exclaimed. “I don’t know who they’re trying to fool. How the heck are they laying people off? I don’t get that part. That ain’t right right there. That’s affecting people’s lives; they’re not making millions of dollars, many of them are going check to check.

“It’s the first time I actually got mad when I read that the other day. They’re going too far. That’s ridiculous now. The owners are starting to make themselves look like the big companies that move people outside the country. I’m not talking about the Rooneys, I know what they’re cut from.”