Will Owners Not Lock Out After All?
January 19th, 2011
Joe doesn’t give play by play on the legal mess of the potential NFL lockout of players on these here pages. But Joe is paying attention, and lawyer turned NFL guru Mike Florio, of ProFootballTalk.com, delivers easy-to-understand coverage of the situation.
Yesterday, Florio churned out what seems to be a plausible scenario: the owners won’t lock out the players in March and, subsequently, will pain them into a corner.
Last year, lawyer David Cornwell was the first to suggest that the NFL’s plan won’t be to launch a work stoppage. Instead, Cornwell explained that the league will declare an impasse in the talks and impose on the players the terms of the last, best offer made by management. The players, who have been accusing the NFL of trying to take football away from the fans, would then have to decide whether to accept the rules or to go on strike, which would amount to the players taking football away from the fans.
Joe finds this very exciting from a Bucs fan perspective. Joe’s not sure the player’s have the stomach and the unity to go on strike, which means a better chance of football continuing uninterrupted.
Look, Joe just wants to to see the football season run smoothly. The rich guys on all sides should be able to figure out how to carve up the many billions and take care of the players left disabled by the game.
At noon today, Florio will interview NFL chief labor attorney Rob Batterman on his Internet radio show. It can be accessed at ProFootballTalk.com. Surely, this possible tactic by owners will be explored.
January 19th, 2011 at 12:19 pm
“The rich guys on all sides should be able to figure out how to carve up the many billions and take care of the players left disabled by the game.” – Joe
Well said.
I find it insulting that this situation has gotten this far…
January 19th, 2011 at 1:09 pm
hgo and joe, i’m right there with you. while these multimillionares fight over how many more millions of dollars each side should get the fans are wondering if they can afford to go out and buy their favorite players jersey. it’s sickening to me.
January 19th, 2011 at 1:27 pm
I’m with the players on this one.
If the owners would give up on this ridiculous idea of an 18 game season the deal would be done in a week.
January 19th, 2011 at 1:58 pm
It’s gonna be a long and boring offseason until the draft. With free agency not going to happen, news will have to be literally invented for the next 3 months.
January 19th, 2011 at 2:11 pm
Great, so all this means is that the players will strike since the owners are trying to be cute.
I would be a little less angry if it was a strike as opposed to a lockout because rich owners trying to get richer pisses me off more than players trying to get a little extra.
January 19th, 2011 at 2:12 pm
If the union chooses to strike instead, then the owners would be allowed to hire “scabs” or “line crossers”. I would watch them play. It doesn’t really matter whose name is on the back of the jersies because we would cheer/complain either way. The “heroes” of yesterday have been replaced and so will the players of today.
Look at the Bucs, they were able to field a bunch of rookies and win, so Buc fans are much more prepared for days like this.
January 19th, 2011 at 2:18 pm
… and then the players asked, “why did you take a billion dollars out of our pockets when you are making more now than ever before already.” The owners promptly smiled and said, “because we felt like it…”
… and then the players take the offer because they couldn’t otherwise afford the $20 million dollar mortgage for the home now only worth $10 million on the crashed market. At this point, Jerry Jones looks at Al Davis and says, “I guess you were right Al, they did take the deal.” Al Davis smiles a toothless smile and groans, “Pay up Jimmy, the usual bet…” So, Jones promptly pulls out a one dollar bill and hands it to him.
January 19th, 2011 at 2:30 pm
Joe,
Off-topic but i just read something on PR that totally blew my mind. They claim that Wash leaving was his choice and he was offered a multi year contract but wanted to pursue other opportunities.
WTF?!?! Please tell me that isn’t true. Anyone who offered him a new contract seriously loses respect from me. I am shocked, speechless.
January 19th, 2011 at 2:37 pm
As much as I would love to see football all the time, I certainly understand the players concern of an 18 game schedule. The beat the sh!t out of their bodies in this sport and I think the owners are being a little selfish in that regard.
I agree that the rich are fighting with the rich on whom gets the last nickel is disturbing. I do think their should be a rookie cap with 3 yr contract limits (renegotiable after 2yrs) with proven vets getting paid accordingly. Any projected savings with a rookie cap in place needs to be redirected to retired player benefits. This can’t be that hard…I would love to sit in the room with them.
No, I’m not an attorney, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night!
January 19th, 2011 at 2:38 pm
Joe said: “Joe finds this very exciting from a Bucs fan perspective. Joe’s not sure the player’s have the stomach and the unity to go on strike.”
I don’t think the majority of these guys have the money put away to be able to afford a work stoppage
January 19th, 2011 at 2:40 pm
Gary, if that is true: “They claim that Wash leaving was his choice and he was offered a multi year contract but wanted to pursue other opportunities.”
Then it is obvious that he knew that he couldn’t succeed in a hybrid defense that was being called by Raheem with all those funky 3 man fronts and no linebacking help. This was pointed out time and time again by Steve White in his bull rush articles. Go back and read them. From a defensive line perspective, if you are the coach of the line, then it is obvious that you are at a disadvantage in 3 man fronts that aren’t backed by 4 linebackers. Kind of hard to succeed with 3 lineman and a cover-2 linebacking group against 5 o-linemen, a TE and a FB. Kind of hard to stop the run.
January 19th, 2011 at 2:44 pm
CreamsiclePasties:
Actually, it’s when their women start biatching about how they can no longer go to the country club, night clubs, credit cards cut off, etc., is what gets to the players. 🙂
January 19th, 2011 at 2:59 pm
Guest…It is probably more like he does not see any growth potential, since the HC calls the defense.
January 19th, 2011 at 3:29 pm
From my perspective, I am 100% behind the owners and have been from the beginning.
First, I hate unions, primarily because they are mostly corrupt and tend to service their leadership needs before their members. They spend mega dollars, taken from dues paid by members to fund PAC’s when the money could be spent for better things. They also promote laziness and undeserved entitlement.
Second, I hate lawyers, they all lie, and they will bleed you dry if you give them the slightest chance. They are the epitome of everything that is wrong with this country. They are the crux of the problem along with Insurance companies and regulators.
Third, why shouldn’t a business owner be able to make all the profit he can, when his employees are well taken care of and provides a good product that people want and are willing to pay for? Employees should not dictate how an owner runs his company unless it is employee owned.
Many professions take a physical toll on workers, mental too. What makes NFL player alumni any more deserving than anyone else in society? They say that players years ago were making peanuts compared to players now. That is true, but back then they were earning more than most everyone else in society. Again I say, what makes them so special? They are a bunch or primadonna mental midgets to think they deserve the power to cripple any business or bring it to it’s knees. I say, bust the Union, screw them if they don’t like the deal and hire SCABS. The players can either leave the Union and take the very fair high paying jobs the owners offer or stick it. DE Smith is a real POS out for his own political gain, contrary to the lies he conceives.
The following states have a Right to Work law:
Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming.
If you notice, the NFC South is in good shape and could pull this off without a hitch. Smart people live in the south. They always have and they always will.
January 19th, 2011 at 3:54 pm
Sorry, that was all BS.
January 19th, 2011 at 4:27 pm
The players might strike! That would be awesome. The Bucs should hire BucYou as the scab QB and I’ll be his left tackle to keep him “protected”.
January 19th, 2011 at 6:02 pm
what if all tha current NFL players invest money saved and start a new league with tha players owning tha league they play in?
January 19th, 2011 at 6:47 pm
tha truth is… :
Not much point in owning a league with limited income and a ton of overhead.
January 19th, 2011 at 6:51 pm
simple to understand…..players come and go in short cycles…
owners arrive and stay for generations…
the players eat of the owners hands…
same as every other workplace…
January 19th, 2011 at 6:54 pm
Actually, in my opinion, since the NFL career is so short on average, especially compared to baseball and basketball, the players are at a huge disadvantage by threatening a strike.
If the owners really were smart, they could take the poision pill for just 2 years and go with replacements, new rookies out of the draft, and by year 3, the relative competition and quality of the product will be back to 80-90% of what it is now. The NFL is primarily a young man’s game. In that two year time frame, the players union would not only have folded, but many players would have decided to come back to the NFL after seeing the rookie teams start taking shape. No other major sport could do this, because youth and athletisicm is of more value in the NFL vs experience. That’s why the Bucs were able to field young WR’s, HB’s and a QB, with young o-lineman as back-ups and prove that they could hang. Heck, even in baseball the Twins, Marlins and Devil Rays have gotten away with competing with young guys.
So, it wouldn’t take that long to truely move on away from the union. The first year obviously would be the worst, but after the draft the next year, the 2nd year would be less painful. And the 3rd year, the quality of the product would be approaching 80-90 percent. And by the 3rd year, the players would have already approached teams and given in to non-unionized contracts… probably even by the second year once they saw how serious it was. Football really is about young players.
January 19th, 2011 at 7:06 pm
I think that we as Bucs fans should SUPPORT the players in striking. That way the owners will have to form teams from the draft and practice squads – let all the current NFL players watch.
Raheem has proven that he can get the most from inexperienced players right? So in this case the Bucs would be at an advantage.
January 19th, 2011 at 7:29 pm
NFL has already said no scab teams Mr. Lucky.
January 19th, 2011 at 7:59 pm
Guest#27, I like your scenario. It makes a lot of sense.
It’s hard to walk away from the money. I think that is where the young players are right now. The first and second year players in the NFL are loving life the way it is.
January 19th, 2011 at 8:58 pm
Stick to 4 pre-season games, but charge halfprice because they are exhibition after all. Stick to the 16 game schedule & take care of the retired players.
January 19th, 2011 at 9:11 pm
Interesting news out of Los Angeles today. Two groups fighting for the right to build an NFL stadium. One group won’t start construction until they have a firm commitment from a team. The Interesting news is the other Group. AEG is offering to pay for the stadium, and will procede without a firm commitment from a team. They said there are two teams that lack local fan support. Wonder which two?
January 19th, 2011 at 10:43 pm
I think the Jaguars are for sure one of those teams, but hopefully it’s not us Capt.Tim!
Plus, is that Jerry Jones talking to Mr. Glazer in the picture?
January 20th, 2011 at 2:38 am
Sure looks like him. He needs another face lift.