When he entered the NFL in 2005 as a rookie, CB Domonique Foxworth came right out of the gate making an impact. With his 7 seasons in the league featuring time with the Denver Broncos, Atlanta Falcons, and Baltimore Ravens, his career of 266 tackles, 54 passes deflected and 8 interceptions left a memorable mark upon his era in the game of football.
Upon being drafted by the Denver Broncos in the 3rd round, Domonique reminisced that the calm of being drafted “was really nice for like an hour; and then afterwards it was like well now it’s time to work because I’m not a 1st round pick– I need to earn my keep. . . ” Perhaps it was with that sentiment that he became the Broncos Player Representative for the NFL Players Association in 2007. Then a year later, he became the young est player to serve as the vice president of the organization.
During this tenure, the NFLPA executive board was negotiating a labor dispute with the team owners who were threatening to lock out the players thereby canceling the 2011 season. Foxworth acknowledged the magnitude of this accomplishment of signing the current Collective Bargaining Agreement.
“It was quite a daunting challenge, but I’m really happy that we made it through and we made it through with a pretty favorable deal and we are seeing the fruits of that now. I’m really proud of what we’ve done.”
3 years into what is a 10 year labor agreement that was maligned at the time of its signing, the former defensive back expressed a feeling that he’d been validated by the benefits from the deal for him and his fellow players. “I think that we made some great advancements in the offseason and player safety and work conditions with reducing it to only 14 padded practices during the season, no 2-a-days during the offseason. . . All those things made great gains for our players.”
Foxworth said “[We] improved the benefits for former players and a little icing on the cake is the salary cap – big jump. . . Not just the cap, but the amount of money spent. I think we may have set some records with the amount of money spent in free agency this year and the amount which was guaranteed. . . I’m really proud of, just all around; the total deal top to bottom is something that I’m proud that I had a part in negotiating.
In 2012, Domonique Foxworth was elected as the president of the NFL Players Association. With the new CBA in place, Foxworth was able to address other issues important to players. When asked what the most pressing issue of his presidential term was, he responded confidently. “ . . . Health and Safety is the biggest one because there are so many unanswered questions. We’re working towards getting some answers to those questions with the research we are doing in conjunction . . . with the Harvard Medical School.”
With his term as president concluding, Foxworth offered this advice to the next leaders of the NFLPA. “ . . . Our players need to continue to push . . . because if you enter in the game now, I think you have more information than you did a few years ago but we need to have answers to those [player health and safety] questions so we can assure our players that they are done playing that they’ll be able to live a happy and healthy and productive lives going forward.”
For more exclusive interviews follow @PlayerInsiders
Related articles across the web
2 Responses to “Exclusive: NFLPA’s Domonique Foxworth Legacy, Leadership and Life After the Game”