Being a running back in the NFL is the worst job in all of sports

Pay your star running backs already!

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There are plenty of bad jobs in sports, like being Bryson DeChambeau’s caddie, or being the poor play-by-play guy that gets teamed up with Chris Webber on NBA telecasts, or being any of the football players who have to call Antonio Brown a teammate.

But none of them are worse than being a running back in the NFL. OK, maybe I stretched a little too far on those comparisons, but whatever. My point still stands: Being a running back in the NFL stinks.

I say this because look at what’s going on in Dallas with Ezekiel Elliott and in Carson, Calif. (let’s cool it with calling the Chargers an LA team) with Melvin Gordon. Two stud running backs are holding out because they’re nearing the end of their first deals and want some more money that they clearly deserve.

And what does this get them? Well, for Elliott, he had to hear Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who has proven to be great at making money but to be laughably bad at being the GM of a NFL team, say “Zeke who?” when asked about his star running back.

Now that is just cold and dumb, even if it is just billionaire Jerry trying to have a little fun.

Jerry Jones = Not a funny person. (AP Photo/Josie Lepe) ORG XMIT: FXN

All NFL players should always hold out for more money if they believe they are worth it, but especially running backs. Think about the damage these guys take on each game, carrying the ball upwards to 20 times a contest plus making some catches, too. They put their bodies and brains on the line every single game knowing full well of the long-term health risks that come with doing so.

The shelf life of a NFL running back is not long. Most go through their rookie deals, then maybe get a good second deal, and then they find themselves signing one-day contracts to retire as a member of the team that once kind of cared about them during their careers.

We’re at a time where teams think they can just get away without their star running back. Newsflash – they can’t. Sure, the Steelers plugged in James Conner (who made his first Pro Bowl last season) when Le’Veon Bell held out all year and life just went on in Pittsburgh. But they didn’t even make the playoffs.

Which is rough for those star running backs who aren’t getting paid nearly what they deserve. Imagine you were working as a pizza delivery guy at some big chain pizza place. Your boss loved you, thought you did great at dominating the delivery game. Then one day you looked around, saw your car was getting dinged up a bit, more mileage was being put on it then you really wanted, and so you stepped back and asked for a little more cash from those bosses that loved you.

Instead of giving you the cash, though, and paying you what you were worth, they just ignored you and let Kyle and the car his dad paid for take over your gig. Sure, Kyle wasn’t as good as you were at making deliveries but he was serviceable and still helped the place make a profit.

You’d hate Kyle and the pizza place for screwing you over. And rightfully so.

Come on, Dallas Cowboys. Come on, Carson Chargers. Forget about Kyle and pay your star running backs. They are great at what they do and you won’t really win anything significant without them.

You got the money, too. So spend it. You cheap you-know-what’s.

Monday’$ big winner: The 30 golfer$ who woke up and realized they are in the Tour Champion$hip

(AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

The PGA Tour season comes to an end this week at the Tour Championship in Atlanta. With only 30 players in the field, there is no cut and everybody is guaranteed to make a ton of money. The winner gets $15 million, the top 5 all get over 2.5 million, which is more than any tournament winner got this season, and the dude who finishes in last gets $395,000. Now that is great news to start the week! Seriously, I’m so bummed I didn’t qualify for the Tour Championship this year. Life is painful sometimes. Oh, and speaking of golf – here’s how I’d fix the slow play problem. So easy and it gets the fans involved.

Quick hits: Chicken sandwich wars, fantasy football punishments, Jimmy Garoppolo is just like us… and more!

Popeyes

– Fast food places that make decent chicken sandwiches are going at it on Twitter, which is sad to see. Sure, there are lots of fun sports jokes being made in this battle, but it’s still rough to live through a chicken sandwich war. Not good for any of us, really. Also, let’s all be honest here for a second – Chick-fil-A is a widely overrated place that is only really famous because people love getting it at the Atlanta airport and then tweeting about getting it at the Atlanta airport. Big whoop. We all know burgers are better.

– Our close personal friend Charles Curtis found seven fantasy football punishments that would make you not want to finish last in your league and yeah, these are some pretty creative/awesome ways to punish your buddy for being pathetic at fantasy football.

– Jimmy Garoppolo had a night to forget Monday against the Broncos. Like, he was as bad as we would have been. Thankfully for 49ers fans it’s only the preseason but still, he’s getting paid a lot of money and this is the year for him to prove that he’s worth it.

– The Lakes are reportedly interested in Dwight Howard (LOL). Here are 18 other players they should be interested in, instead.

– Tom Brady broke down the best passes of his career and proved that he has a really, really good memory.

– UFC legend Daniel Cormier apologized to his family and fans for his loss to Stipe Mioic at UFC 241. DC doesn’t need to apologize for anything, though. He’s one of the best to ever step inside the Octagon and he’s one hell of a man outside of it, as well.

(Follow Andy Nesbitt on Twitter at @anezbitt. It might change your life.)