‘An Utter Disgrace’: Mike Francesa Blasts NFL, Chargers For Trying to ‘Fleece’ San Diego Before LA Move

Reaction to the Chargers move from San Diego to Los Angeles has, in most quarters, been decidedly negative. From Twitter criticism to egg throwing, fans have made their discontent known in a variety of ways.

And now, the pundits are coming down against the move too. Famed New York sports talk personality Mike Francesa offered his take on Thursday, and he came down hard on the team and the NFL — accusing them of trying to “fleece” San Diego taxpayers into footing the bill for a new stadium, and leaving for LA only after failing to get the money from San Diego. (A ballot measure which would’ve given the Chargers $1.15 billion in public money was voted down this November.)

In particular, Francesa focused on a favorite target of his, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. In a statement released Thursday, Goodell said, “For more than a decade, the San Diego Chargers have worked diligently toward finding a local stadium solution, which all sides agreed was required.”

Francesa took umbrage with a particular word in that statement.

“Let’s be honest,” Francesa said. “When the NFL talks about how hard or diligently they work towards a city, you know what? They should be ashamed of themselves. That they need ever, ever should stand up and expect anybody to feel sorry for them.”

Francesa blasted the league for trying to “bilk cities” out of taxpayer funds at a time when many local government budgets are already stretched very thin.

You don’t need municipalities in this day and age where they can’t even pay for the pensions of their workers in most of these cities. You don’t need them making the NFL richer.

So the idea that the NFL should ever, when they use a stadium 10 to 12 times a season, that they should ever, ever, act like they have the right to dip into a city’s coffers for a dime is a disgrace. It’s an utter disgrace. There should be laws against it. That’s how outrageous it is.

Though he stopped short of using the word extortion, Francesa accused the NFL and the Chargers of actions that certainly come close to meeting that definition.

“What they try to do is teach you how to bilk cities, and threaten cities, and cajole cities out of their tax money. And the bottom line is, those days should be over forever. So good to San Diego for not giving in.”

Listen above, via WFAN.

[featured image via screengrab]

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