I made the same illusion but it was meant to be an exaggeration. I see what they're saying. Owners make a shit-ton of money of guys like Peterson and Mendenhall's back. Their careers probably won't last 10 years and as soon as they can't do their thing physically anymore they're cast aside like trash while an owner could own their team for 50 years if they wanted and make obscene amounts of coin.
And it's not so simple to just go to school for these guys. A lot of them are dumb because they come from poor southern or innercity families and their schooling sucked. (It's also a reason why they say stupid shit sometimes lol) Being football stars in college they probably were just pushed through and took the easiest classes and didn't graduate and probably couldn't under normal circumstances.
Then you expect these uneducated guys who have no idea what money is really to live their whole lives on money they make in their 20's. I'm not saying this is the case for all NFL players, but for a lot of them it is. It's a shame and it reflects on society more than the league, but they need to fight for the money now while they're able to make it imo.