NFL is a monopoly, not a free market, so I'm sure Bodhi would understand how market forces are not the same as simply skilled labor switching jobs. The draft is there to distribute talent fairly across the league, not cater to one player feeling he is more important than the game. As a Bama fan that is something we have always stressed-TEAM over individual selfishness.
As for Elway, a lot of people hated him for years for how he handled his draft. It is only lately after he won the sympathy vote for getting a ring in his twilight years that people actually started to like him.
for the record i don't really care about eli one way or another. but i don't like players dictating to the NFL where they should go and I hate rookie holdouts... but thats a different topic.
To expand on your point ...
It's more like captialism from an entertainment, big-picture perspective. The NFL is competing with other entities for exposure and the money from potential customers (fans). Certainly having games on Monday, Thursday and Saturday, in addition to Sunday (and Sunday night), is designed to do this, as well as crowd out rivals. Also, having a bye week and spreading out the season a little longer does the same thing. How will a fan spend their finite resourses? On baseball, football, basketball, etc.? Will they buy the NFL network? Will they attend games? Buy jerseys? Etc.
Within the NFL it's not a free market; it's a club. The League sets rules to benefit all members of the club (more money) as much as possible. The League decides how many teams can participate, how much money can be spent on players, how many players can be on a team, minimum age limitations for players, how to divide up revenues, etc. I was rooting for the Patriots, because, even with all the attempts by the League to equalize all teams -- keeping fan interest going as long as possible -- they were just plain better decision-makers than everyone else (at least for the first 18 games).
Now, certainly within that framework free agency has allowed more "free market" elements to benefit the best players (and their agents). Or, if you sign with the Redskins, you can be well past your prime and unable to play and still get a eight-figure signing bonus (see Deion Sanders).
