If you’re a sports fan like myself, then you’d know the amount of times you’ve heard a player get in trouble for driving under the influence is endless. Players seem to always get in their own way because of bad decisions or being flat-out undisciplined. Thankfully, the NFL Players Union with the help of Uber, have partnered up to prevent drunk driving with free cab service. The popular taxi hailing company will be available for those players not in the best of shape to drive themselves home.
NFL Players Association boss, DeMaurice Smith, called driving under the influence a top player safety issue. Smith believes the Uber partnership brings a valuable alternative to such a growing problem with league players.
“We know that discipline certainly plays a part in changing behavior. But we really wanted to start this look at trying to do a better job by treating this as a public health and public safety [issue],” Smith said. “This partnership with Uber is something we believe meets that.”
So how would this work, you ask? If effectively used, the idea is quite simple as players get the assurance that Uber can pick them up with a limo within 5 minutes (which is standard Uber marketing mumbo-jumbo). Each player will get a $200 gift card toward Uber rides. The hope is for this new service to help lower the risk of players driving cocked out of their minds.
Admittedly, the NFLPA should get a hat-tip for its ambitious crack at dealing with a problem a portion of players seem to have trouble with. However Uber isn’t available in every small town (seemingly where all these players run into trouble), so much of the responsibility still lays with the players.