LeSean McCoy
Appearances
Freakonomics Radio
620. Why Don’t Running Backs Get Paid Anymore?
And now you're about to get elite money? Think about that. Guys like Josh Jacobs, really good running back, played on bad teams and still played well. And his last year with the Raiders, he said, yo, you know, I led the league in rushing and they didn't offer me a contract. Can you imagine the world where the quarterback leads the league in passing yards and he don't get offered a contract?
Freakonomics Radio
620. Why Don’t Running Backs Get Paid Anymore?
Well, it's tricky because the few quarterbacks in the last five, six years, these guys have been like all pro quarterbacks. Brady, he's still one in there. Stafford's still one in there. Mahomes got three in there. These ain't just regular guys just winning Super Bowls. In 2019, I was blessed to be with the Kansas City Chiefs, and I won a championship with them guys.
Freakonomics Radio
620. Why Don’t Running Backs Get Paid Anymore?
Patrick Mahomes had to come back in the fourth quarter to win that game. But then I look across the field, we're playing the Niners. The whole week, the game preparation was, all we got to do was get the third down. Why is that? Because we want this quarterback that was paid all this money to throw the ball on third down. His name was Jimmy G. That's who that was.
Freakonomics Radio
620. Why Don’t Running Backs Get Paid Anymore?
The brother threw like 40-something passes the whole playoffs, and the undrafted running backs carried them. The quarterback got all the credit for taking to the Super Bowl, and he did the bare minimum. Or we go to New York. A dude like Saquon Barkley can be that good, and you'd rather pay Daniel Jones. How the hell is that fair?
Freakonomics Radio
620. Why Don’t Running Backs Get Paid Anymore?
My favorite player of all time was Barry Sanders. The day that he retired, I remember crying.
Freakonomics Radio
620. Why Don’t Running Backs Get Paid Anymore?
Now, it's a copycat league, right? If the Eagles are going to win the Super Bowl, they want to copycat that. You look at some of the better teams, right? They got good running back play. Like the Packers, are they even a playoff team without Josh Jacobs? I look at the Eagles. I love the Eagles. We got a lot of talent on that team. Are we the same, though, if Saquon Parker's not there?
Freakonomics Radio
620. Why Don’t Running Backs Get Paid Anymore?
Let's look at the Ravens. Lamar Jackson was the MVP last year. This year, they look totally different. What's the difference? Derrick Henry. That's why you see Lamar Jackson throwing the ball better than he's ever thrown before. You play action, like, who do I guard? I feel like the market has to go up because these players are earning these things.
Freakonomics Radio
620. Why Don’t Running Backs Get Paid Anymore?
Well, owners see that because one thing about owners, they want to make their money and they want to win.
Freakonomics Radio
620. Why Don’t Running Backs Get Paid Anymore?
Are we ready? Yeah. One, two, three, four eggs, turkey bacon, never pork, little pancakes, light syrup, OJ, you know.
Freakonomics Radio
620. Why Don’t Running Backs Get Paid Anymore?
My name is LaShawn McCoy. I'm an ex-NFL all-decade running back for the Eagles, the Bills, the Chiefs, and the Bucs. Now I'm on Fox with the facility, five-day-a-week show. Tell me about your early memories of playing running back. So I was about five years old. You're supposed to play at six, but I love the game so much. I lied to them until I was six when I was really five.
Freakonomics Radio
620. Why Don’t Running Backs Get Paid Anymore?
Were y'all hitting at five? I mean, we had pads on. I don't want to call it hitting. We had pads on. Back in the day, man, it was different. When we were hanging out in the neighborhoods, we would call this thing free-for-all. It would be like seven, eight kids, and we would throw the ball. And one dude had to make all eight guys miss.
Freakonomics Radio
620. Why Don’t Running Backs Get Paid Anymore?
It's one of the most unique positions on the field because you're the farthest one back. So you see everything going on. And as a running back, you have a job to do every single play. Wire receivers, they can take a play off. But running backs don't have that because we're either running the ball or we're blocking or we're in the passing routes.
Freakonomics Radio
620. Why Don’t Running Backs Get Paid Anymore?
One part of it is really the skill, natural gifts from God. Another part is studying and learning. And I tell other young backs now is let your natural instincts happen, right? But being a student of the game, right? Learning, like, okay, every defense has a weak point. Your job is really, like, to find that.
Freakonomics Radio
620. Why Don’t Running Backs Get Paid Anymore?
It's unfair because you're telling me that you'd be a great difference maker as a running back. And because I don't play quarterback— I can't get paid the right value for my position. You're telling me that because I don't play quarterback, I got to play elite level every year to get elite money. But the quarterback can play above average for years and one year be pretty good.