Summary
Overview
This Freakonomics Radio episode explores the dramatic decline in NFL running back salaries and value over the past two decades. Economist Roland Fryer teams up with Stephen Dubner to investigate why running backs, once among the highest-paid and most revered players, now rank 15th in average salary despite the NFL's explosive revenue growth. Through interviews with former running backs, agents, and analytics experts, the episode reveals how rule changes, analytics revolution, collective bargaining agreements, and market forces transformed football into a pass-first game.
The Running Back's Fall from Glory
The episode opens by establishing the shocking disparity in how running backs are valued today versus their historical prominence. Thirty years ago, running backs ranked second in average salary behind only quarterbacks. Today they rank 15th, despite NFL revenues more than doubling. This sets up the central mystery: how did the position that produced childhood heroes like Tony Dorsett, Barry Sanders, and Franco Harris become so devalued in the modern game?
- The NFL is largely built around the forward pass, with quarterbacks and receivers as the stars
- Running backs ranked second in salary 30 years ago, now rank 15th
- Average starting quarterback salary is $30 million vs $7 million for running backs
" If you go back 30 years and take the average salary of the top players by position, running backs ranked second, just behind quarterbacks. This year, running backs ranked 15th. "
Roland Fryer's Investigation Begins
Harvard economist Roland Fryer, a former Pop Warner football star who dreamed of NFL glory, explains his personal connection to the research. He describes being a number one draft pick in youth football and his love for the running back position, then pivoting to his economist perspective on why his curiosity was piqued by the position's declining value despite unchanged player quality.
- Fryer started playing football at age five and was always a number one draft pick in youth leagues
- His coaches praised his talent for 'running to the light' - finding gaps intuitively
- Fryer verified that running backs as a share of total team spending has declined significantly
" I'd give it away in a second if I could have been an NFL player, right? "
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