Cris Collinsworth on the CBA - sees 9-10 game season & possible armageddon with the NFL as you know it

[g-dawg]

Peter King's MMQB - Collinsworth on NFL Labor Unrest

A smart arbiter looks at the labor endgame. And it's not pretty

I want to start today with a guy who can be a fair referee to both players and owners. He was a player, a very good one, and now he's close to lots of players, and to key people on both sides. He's part jock, part lawyer, part E.F. Hutton. And one great color man. And he has a thoughtful, plaintive wail for everyone in this labor mess:

"Is this really what we want -- judges determining so much about the future of the National Football League?'' Cris Collinsworth said over the weekend. "We've got the greatest game in the world here in a time of incredible wealth, and we're in a position where that very possibly can be changed forever here very soon. And I'm just asking: Why?''

The other day, I noticed Collinsworth had written on his website, footballpros.com, and tweeted that his best guess for the start of the NFL season was early November. Then there'd be a nine- or 10-game regular season, then the same number of playoff games. So I reached out to him to see what he meant.

This disclaimer right up front: I've known Collinsworth since 1984, when I covered him on the Bengals in Cincinnati. Now I work with Collinsworth and consider him a friend. We've beaten each other up on many topics over the years, but that's why I like him. I can tell him he's nuts, and usually he likes it; we did it a lot at HBO and then NBC before he left the studio and went into the play-by-play booth. But I understand if you're sitting there thinking I'm not going to be impartial or I'm going to paint Collinsworth in a good way. I am -- but that's because what he's saying makes a lot of sense.

Collinsworth's point is an interesting one. He thinks the appeals court will side with the owners and the current lockout will stay in place. If it does, neither side will be supremely motivated to move; the owners will figure they've already made a strong offer (the March 11 offer) and will wait for the players to budge. But the players, on a tremendous streak in the courts right now, will figure they've made sound arguments in front of a mediator in Washington and judges in Minneapolis, and even if the lockout stays legal, their antitrust case will have a good chance in the Eighth Circuit.

And the players won't blink until they start missing paychecks. Collinsworth saw it twice as a player, in 1982 and 1987. "The only thing I'm absolutely certain of,'' he told me, "is that there will be players broke by the middle of September. There will be pressure to make a deal. But there will be pressure by owners too. They've got payments to make too -- stadium mortgages.''

Collinsworth gives them three or four weeks to make a deal. Then a week of free agency, signing undrafted college players and unsigned veterans. Two weeks of camp. One preseason game. Then the season starts, either on Oct. 30 or Nov. 6.

But if that scenario doesn't happen, and if the two sides stay in a cold war, what happens if, say, a season is missed? Here's where it gets hairy, and where we have to start wondering which way the game will go. In Brady v. the NFL, the players argue for a new way of doing football business. Longtime players' attorney Jeffrey Kessler would like to see the draft abolished; in fact, as Daniel Kaplan of Sports Business Journal has reported, Kessler would like to see no player-acquisition rules. No draft. Free agency for every unsigned player. What would the NFL look like if every player and every team were allowed to make its own business decisions that would, of course, be in the best interests of each?

Say the TV contracts were abolished and teams could make their own deals. "If the Cowboys could sell their rights, maybe they'd get $500 million a year, and maybe the Bengals would get $50 [million],'' he said.

Say Peyton Manning could sign anywhere. Could some owners field super teams and some field Kansas City Royal-type teams?

Say there was no draft. It's every player for himself. Collinsworth isn't even sure that's the worst thing. Nor am I. But it'd certainly be revolutionary.

And say drug-testing was abolished.

How many doors do you want to open?

"It's possible the structure of the game could change forever,'' he said. "Now, game after game after game, week after week after week, goes down to the wire. The pro game could become like college football -- 55-14 most games, with four or five tremendous games of national interest every year. Now we have that many every week.''

There's no guarantee Collinsworth's right. I remember the late George Young, the Giants' longtime GM, railing against free agency for years as the '80s ended and a free market was inevitable. "We're not like baseball,'' he said. "You can't just plug in a guard the way you plug in a second baseman. Guards can have much different responsibilities depending on what team they're on.''

True. But it worked out fine. Free agency's been a boon. And not only hasn't it hurt the competitive balance of the game, but also it's given the league another hot-stove month of the offseason when football's in the headlines. Traditionally, the combine's big for the last two weeks of February, free agency big for March, the draft for April, offseason workouts for six weeks in May and June, and then training camps begin at the end of July.

So I'm not sure the death of the draft would be the death of competitive balance. Teams would figure it out the same way they figured out how to replenish the roster when losing unsigned vets.

But if players take this all the way in the courts, and win, and change the game forever, what would stop Jerry Jones and Dan Snyder from becoming the Steinbrenners and John Henry? (If baseball had a franchise player designation, Adrian Gonzalez would be a Padre for life, not tearing up the American League for Boston right now.) There'd be nothing to stop Jones, with a monster TV network, from having a $250-million payroll. Similar to baseball, the bottom-feeder NFL teams would struggle. Dallas might have five minimum-salary special-teamers. Cincinnati might have 20, and some might start.

The question is: Would that make the game better?

Collinsworth, at times in our conversation, sounded like he sounds when he gets strident -- like he's throttling the microphone and would do anything to make you see his point.

"God, I just wish I could get through to somebody,'' he said. "You know how when you're talking to your kids, and you know positively what the right thing to do is, and you also know they're going to do something else, and there's nothing you can do about it? That's how I feel now. And, God, is it painful to watch.

"The game's so good. The players are making money. The owners are making money. The commissioner's got some good safety initiatives going. The networks are thrilled. The fans are thrilled. The game's never been better. It's time to quit sugarcoating this thing and really start thinking about what the NFL really might look like at the end of the process.''

[freebird310]

Kill em all ..let god sort em out ......

[paulitik]

Chris Collinsworth is the most negative human being on earth. I can't stand the guy.

I'll take this as a sign that the CBA will be done this afternoon.

Edited May 16, 2011 by paulitik

[g-dawg]

Gosh, I think these labor negotiations, or lack thereof, has gone about as badly as it can go.

While myself, as well as most of you guys just want NFL football in 2011, my bigger concern than just missing a few games in 2011 is the change of the entire structure of the NFL through the "Anti-Trust" litigation in the federal judicial courts.

Arguing over $1 billion dollars is going to seem like "chicken feed" if DeMaurice Smith is successful in his "anti-trust" efforts.

Imagine:

No more NFL Draft

No more NFL Revenue Sharing

No more NFL Salary Cap

No more Restricted Free Agency

Some of you may not see the "big deal" in this, but trust me it would be a HUGE deal. Certain teams (Dallas Cowboys, Washington Redskins to name two) have such large advantages from stadium deals, licensing deals, fanbase, etc., etc. that - without the structure of the current NFL system - they would have the potential to be like the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox by outspending their competitors by a "2-to-1" or "3-to-1" margin.

With no NFL draft, the NFL would resemble college football where an NFL team could sign the equivalent of 5 1st round-equvalent NFL draft picks every year - the college students could go wherever they wanted.

A team like the Atlanta Falcons would have a hard time with a smaller fanbase, older stadium and limited revenue potential. As rich as Arthur Blank is, he would not be able to compete on close to a level playing field with Jerry Jones and Daniel Snyder.

Dang this is BAD!!!

What's worse is I think the "anti-trust" strategy is what Dee Smith wants to pursue and he would have no problems destroying current NFL structure.

While many current and future NFL players would benefit from a new system, I believe more would lose out - in simple terms regarding NFL players, "the rich would get richer and the poor would get poorer". Normally I'm a "free market" kind of guy in business - but it would really change the NFL - if I was a Cowboys fan I might like the new change - but I'm not!

UGGGGGHHHH!!!

[birds_till_death]

I'm glad someone else came out and said the exact same thing the commisioner said in a letter to fans awhile back. Let's see if collingsworth is villified by those claiming goodell is solely using scare tactics and dramatizations.

Anyone educated on this siutation (regardless of who you want to win), cannot argue the truth of this artical or the commissioner's letter.

If the players eventually win out in court, it will fundamentally and drastically change the league as we know it and as we have grown to love it. Some might be in favor of that system, but a hefty majority would not. I've been in many arguments on this board alone with those who, while we disagree completley on who is right in this argument or who is at fault, still agree that it would end the greatness of the sport if the players get what they are asking for in the anti-trust lawsuit.

[paulitik]

None of this matters, the world is ending on Saturday anyway. (Anybody seen those RVs driving around? They are all over DC)

The owners painted themselves into this corner when 30 of the owners happily signed the previous CBA, then decided to go nuclear 3 years ago to get themselves out of their own stupidity.

The ONLY way to stop this is for the Owners to drop the appeal, but they don't want to because some of them don't want to the NFL to win.

You guys can blame Smith, and make him out to be the devil all you want. The fact is the incompetence, stupidiity, and unpreparedness of Roger Goodell and his team in New York will be what brought the NFL down. This is playing right into what Jerry Jones and Dan Snyder want.

[d#d#d#]

Who cares what they do. If they really want to send the NFL to the cellars over a few dollars, let them. Every week this goes on, the worse itll be for them.

[birds_till_death]

And, this scenario in my opinion is much worse than baseball.

In baseball, there is still a draft and a very extensive farm system for teams to develop players and talent, trade prospects, and build up very high quality youth. How else would the nationals ended up with the phenom Strasburg, or the braves with Chipper back in the day. While MLB caters to a big free agency market, it is possible for teams such as the braves to have a much lower payroll and compete through spending heavily on a top notch farm system.

the NFL, has no such system in place. The players careers are shorter and there is no farm system to develop raw talent.

We saw a similiar situation in basketball. Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, and Kyle Bosch all chose Miami b/c they thought that talent pool would sway them towards a championship.

you would have first round players, top five draft picks, elite athletes orchestrate trying to go together to the team with the money that would give them the greatest chance of a championship. (this part is my speculation, but there is enough evidence of this happening frequently in sports. Even Tony G said he only accepted the trade here b/c he though we had a chance of winning. Without the current system in place, the gap between the teams that can win and those that cannot will grow further and further apart).

[Sun Tzu 7]

I've mentioned that this whole anti-trust thing could have been what some of the owners of the more profitable franchises have wanted this whole time. They don't want to share their profits with the lower revenue teams... and the players have been playing right into their hands.

Teams like Buffalo and Jacksonville would have a hard time competing in this environment.

We would have a tough time and we're in the biggest market of all the NFC South teams.

We would

[g-dawg]

None of this matters, the world is ending on Saturday anyway. (Anybody seen those RVs driving around? They are all over DC)

The owners painted themselves into this corner when 30 of the owners happily signed the previous CBA, then decided to go nuclear 3 years ago to get themselves out of their own stupidity.

The ONLY way to stop this is for the Owners to drop the appeal, but they don't want to because some of them don't want to the NFL to win.

You guys can blame Smith, and make him out to be the devil all you want. The fact is the incompetence, stupidiity, and unpreparedness of Roger Goodell and his team in New York will be what brought the NFL down. This is playing right into what Jerry Jones and Dan Snyder want.

I'm not going to villify the owners nor the players - they are both to blame - its not as one-sided as you make it, paully. I think its fair to say that owners deserve more than 50% of the blame, but you giving the players a total "pass" is not accurate either.

The owners are not going to "fall on the sword" - i don't see that happening - although it would not bother me if they did. If games are missed, it will hurt the players more than the owners - at that point, if DeeSmith and the players win in courts or whatever - it will be a hollow-victory because if players miss 4-6 game checks, i doubt any "gains" that the players make in the victory will offset that lost income.

So, talk about how stupid the owners are all you want - and maybe they are - but the players will not win either. Honestly, if we miss games, I want the owners and the players to equally feel the pain.

I think both sides are greedy. Paully, you keep blaming the owners for making a bad deal three years ago - and I think most agree including myself - well, this was their only remedy considering the players would not play ball with renegotiating the deal.

I have been optimistic for the last six months that something was going to get done.

On March 11th when the "artificial deadline" was set, I really think if DeMaurice Smith and the NFLPA would have communicated more with the owners on their "bottom-line" to get a deal done - this would have been completed 2 months ago. To me, Dee Smith was not willing to settle for any changes at all unless the owners "opened their books". I just think players could have gotten 70-80% of what they wanted if they would have had a different negotiator than DeMaurice Smith. Now I think if this "anti-ttrust plays out and players win in court, I think players will get 120% of some things that they wanted and lose out tremendously in other ways.

In the end, the players will lose more than they gain.

In the end, the fans will lose.

In the end, Arthur Blank, Falcons, Packers, Steelers, 20 other NFL teams will lose

In the end, Jerry Jones(Dallas), Daniel Snyder(Wash.), NYG, NYJ, Chicago will win

In the end, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and Tom Brady will win

In the end, the mid-level, starting but not star NFL starters and reserves will lose

[g-dawg]

I've mentioned that this whole anti-trust thing could have been what some of the owners of the more profitable franchises have wanted this whole time. They don't want to share their profits with the lower revenue teams... and the players have been playing right into their hands.

Teams like Buffalo and Jacksonville would have a hard time competing in this environment.

We would have a tough time and we're in the biggest market of all the NFC South teams.

We would

agreed. well said Sun Tzu -

to those thinking "Falcons have Arthur Blank, and Arthur is a billionaire who loves to get players and wants a winner, this would be good for Atlanta"

You would be DEAD WRONG....Arthur & Falcons can compete in current NFL structure because revenue streams to the teams is fairly close because of NFL revenue sharing - without that the big market/money teams would dominate the revenues and Arthur would not be able to compete w/ Jerry Jones - while now he can.

[FalconFanSince1970]

The Yankees have won a grand total of ONE of the last ten World Series Championships. Even with all of uncle Steinbrenner's loot. They lost two to the Diamondbacks and Marlins during that span.

If all these radical changes come to fruition as Collinsworth predicts, we will still have a competitive league, just like MLB has.

The current structure hasn't helped the Bengals, Falcons, Panties, Jags and Bills of the league win a championship. Snyder has spent hella free agent money before. What did that get him? Nothing. You still gotta play the game. Payrolls don't win championships.

[g-dawg]

The Yankees have won a grand total of ONE of the last ten World Series Championships. Even with all of uncle Steinbrenner's loot. They lost two to the Diamondbacks and Marlins during that span.

If all these radical changes come to fruition as Collinsworth predicts, we will still have a competitive league, just like the MLB has.

The current structure hasn't helped the Bengals, Falcons, Panties, Jags and Bills of the league win a championship.

to some degree I agree w/ you - but not totally.

When was the last time the Kansas City Royals went to the playoffs? 1978? George Brett..LMAO-that was your error FFS1970

You will have teams come up - like Florida Marlins - and catch lightning in a bottle, maybe win a SuperBowl - and then get dismantled the next year - happened twice in baseball w/ Marlins.

Look at Tampa Devil Rays - they were "on the verge" of World Series, then there best player - Carl Crawford is unrestricted free agent - no franchise tags - and he's gone...

Yankees are in playoffs most years - so are Red Sox.

What about when Aaron Rogers hits free agency in 1-2 years? Do you think the Packers could match the Cowboys offer?

What about the New York Jets? How would it be if there was no 2011 NFL draft, and the NY Jets sign Von Miller, A.J. Green and Julio Jones?

Imagine the Titans Chris Johnson being an UFA after this year and having a "LeBron-type" TV show to announce which team he would play for.....

How ya like dem' apples?

[vafalconfan]

So I'm not sure the death of the draft would be the death of competitive balance. Teams would figure it out the same way they figured out how to replenish the roster when losing unsigned vets.

I read this before from another source that some player lawyers wanted this and it made me shutter. If they kill the draft they kill the pro game in my opinion. The NFL turns into major league baseball and Jerry Jones is the new Steinbrenner.

[Ryan Turner Overdrive]

None of this matters, the world is ending on Saturday anyway. (Anybody seen those RVs driving around? They are all over DC)

The owners painted themselves into this corner when 30 of the owners happily signed the previous CBA, then decided to go nuclear 3 years ago to get themselves out of their own stupidity.

The ONLY way to stop this is for the Owners to drop the appeal, but they don't want to because some of them don't want to the NFL to win.

You guys can blame Smith, and make him out to be the devil all you want. The fact is the incompetence, stupidiity, and unpreparedness of Roger Goodell and his team in New York will be what brought the NFL down. This is playing right into what Jerry Jones and Dan Snyder want.

Players, not owners.

Edited May 16, 2011 by Ryan Turner Overdrive

[paulitik]

@G-Dawg,

I'm not giving the players a pass. If there was ever a real offer on the table maybe I would be more on them. A lot of us on the boards saw the NFL's little propaganda press release showing they gave up the 18 game schedule and bought it hook, line, sinker. Any deal the NFL offers the players is going to look good to a used car salesman killing some downtime on TATF. (My dad was a used car salesman, that's not a slight on used car salesmen)

The owners locked the players out. A lockout was totally unnecessary. This could all be negotiated on the sidelines while the 2011 Falcons hammered their way to the Super Bowl.

That single action is why they deserve all the blame. Instead of spending the last 3 years preparing for negotiations, making their case for their demands, they planned for a lockout. When they sent Goodell out to speak to the players on the issues of the CBA, he wasn't even able to tell the players what the owners wanted. That's ridiculous, and that tells me they are either stupid, or they always intended to lock the players out and squeeze as crappy of a deal out of them as they could. I think it's both.

Decertification never would have even happened if the owners weren't so dead set on locking them out. The Doty case absolutely proved it. The behavior of Owners like Richardson and the lack of owner representation in the final negotiations pretty much showed the owners always intended this. You don't kick the can for 3 years, stash a $4 billion rainy day fund away if you're not serious about what you are threatening.

I don't like a lot of what the NFLPA is asking for, and I think a lot of it is empty threats, just like the 18 game season was for the owners. That said, I don't blame the players for going for the throat. Of all the professional sports leagues save the WNBA and MLS, even with the great deal they got on the last CBA, they have it the worst of all of them. They don't make as much money, their career span averages 3-5 years, it usually take 3 years for a low round draftee to get to the ability to prove he's a starter. Even if they get the big payday the contracts aren't guaranteed. If I were a player, I'd be wanting more of the pie as well. And the thing is, they weren't even asking for more of the pie. The owners were and couldn't show them the justification why.

If the lockout was overturned, and an agreement not made, and the players started talking Strike, I would have serious issues with that. I understood why the players struck in the 80s, but don't see any reason for it now. So if the playing field is leveled by the courts and the Players want to keep the anti-trust thing going, then I'll definitely be on the player's arses, and cursing De Smith's name.

I'm sorry, but the free-market, capitalistic, ownership class rules don't apply when it comes to the NFL. Roger Goodell even called the NFL and NFLPA a partnership when he talked to the Season Ticket Holders. These teams affect so many people, cities, and other businesses that it should be mandatory that the books be opened. No owner in the NFL got rich by the Football industry, and if they don't like it SELL.

If it were up to me, I'd Green Bay the whole league. Give the teams to the municipalities or states and continue with Socialist model that has worked so well for the NFL in the first place.

[g-dawg]

I'm glad someone else came out and said the exact same thing the commisioner said in a letter to fans awhile back. Let's see if collingsworth is villified by those claiming goodell is solely using scare tactics and dramatizations.

Anyone educated on this siutation (regardless of who you want to win), cannot argue the truth of this artical or the commissioner's letter.

If the players eventually win out in court, it will fundamentally and drastically change the league as we know it and as we have grown to love it. Some might be in favor of that system, but a hefty majority would not. I've been in many arguments on this board alone with those who, while we disagree completley on who is right in this argument or who is at fault, still agree that it would end the greatness of the sport if the players get what they are asking for in the anti-trust lawsuit.

agree w/ everything here and there is more bad than this....

next up would be high school players wanting to go straight to the NFL. More leachy sports agents telling 19 & 20 year old kids "I can get you a $70 million contract to play for the Dallas Cowboys".....it would also further water down college football. I think that one would lead to the other....in other words, nfl changes would probably lead to college changes.....

[g-dawg]

let's all just move to Canada and become Toronto Argounaut fans. :unsure:

[Tandy]

Well, I don't know about the rest of the league - but I wouldn't mind seeing the roster the Seattle Seahawks will have.

[since68andcounting]

Once upon a time there was a goose in a small village. And it laid wonderful golden eggs. Every day the townspeople went out to see dozens of golden eggs underneath the goose. The townspeople shared them and profited greatly.

The goose became famous. People from neighboring towns came to watch, and the goose didn't disappoint. The more people that showed, the more eggs the goose laid. The townspeople were amazed at this magical goose and thankful for their great fortunes in having it arrive at their village. By now they were becoming very wealthy.

But everything has a natural limit. And soon no matter how much it tried the magical goose just couldn't keep up with the increasing demands of the townspeople for more and more golden eggs. They began to poke at the goose, which worked for awhile. Each time they poked and prodded, more eggs came out. But it was clear very soon that these actions were making the goose sick.

After a while, the townspeople began to argue about who owned the right to the majority of the now short supply of golden eggs. A dispute broke out between the breeder/keeper's family, and the stable manager's family as to who ultimately controlled the goose. The stablekeepers shut the doors and refused to allow any visitors in to see the goose, even locking the keeper's family out. This only made things worse for the now very sickly magical goose.

A few more months passed and the highly prized "prime egg laying" season passed with no visitors from neighboring towns. This greatly hurt all the other townspeople who made their living selling food and souveniers to the once plentiful visitors. The goose was sicker than ever, now in critical condition. The stable managers panicked and let the keepers back in to try to save the dying magical goose. But it was too late.

The keepers and stable managers were in shock. What had they done? They searched the village repeatedly and tried to find other magical gooses, but none were the same, and none ever came close to attaining the popularity of the long lost goose. The village struggled and perservered, and after many years began to scrape things together again and get back on its feet.

But there was never another goose like the magical golden egg laying goose. And the old folks in the neighboring towns would tell their children and grandchildren amazing stories about their travels to the village during the days of the golden goose. Stories filled with tales of great parties, cookouts, and multitudes of cheering people. And if you looked closely as the old folks spoke, you could see the tiny, almost imperceptable tears falling from the corner of their eyes.

[g-dawg]

Pauly, read your post above - will never agree totally with your views but you have logic behind some of your posts and "every now and then" I concede a point to you.

at this point, like an argument with the ol' wife - at the end of the day it really does not matter who is "right" or who is "wrong".

The owners are married to the players and the players are married to the owners. Right now both are screaming at each other "I'm right"...."No, you're wrong, I'm right".....

it doesn't matter - work it freakin' out - you are where you are and this is where the owners and players are.

BOTH sides are gonna have to step up - or this will head for "divorce court"(federal courts)......

and we all know who the winners are in divorce court - the lawyers......

[paulitik]

let's all just move to Canada and become Toronto Argounaut fans. :unsure:

What's Vancouver's team? That's where I'm heading if I have to go to Canada.

[g-dawg]

Once upon a time there was a goose in a small village. And it laid wonderful golden eggs. Every day the townspeople went out to see dozens of golden eggs underneath the goose. The townspeople shared them and profited greatly.

The goose became famous. People from neighboring towns came to watch, and the goose didn't disappoint. The more people that showed, the more eggs the goose laid. The townspeople were amazed at this magical goose and thankful for their great fortunes in having it arrive at their village. By now they were becoming very wealthy.

But everything has a natural limit. And soon no matter how much it tried the magical goose just couldn't keep up with the increasing demands of the townspeople for more and more golden eggs. They began to poke at the goose, which worked for awhile. Each time they poked and prodded, more eggs came out. But it was clear very soon that these actions were making the goose sick.

After a while, the townspeople began to argue about who owned the right to the majority of the now short supply of golden eggs. A dispute broke out between the breeder/keeper's family, and the stable manager's family as to who ultimately controlled the goose. The stablekeepers shut the doors and refused to allow any visitors in to see the goose, even locking the keeper's family out. This only made things worse for the now very sickly magical goose.

A few more months passed and the highly prized "prime egg laying" season passed with no visitors from neighboring towns. This greatly hurt all the other townspeople who made their living selling food and souveniers to the once plentiful visitors. The goose was sicker than ever, now in critical condition. The stable managers panicked and let the keepers back in to try to save the dying magical goose. But it was too late.

The keepers and stable managers were in shock. What had they done? They searched the village repeatedly and tried to find other magical gooses, but none were the same, and none ever came close to attaining the popularity of the long lost goose. The village struggled and perservered, and after many years began to scrape things together again and get back on its feet.

But there was never another goose like the magical golden egg laying goose. And the old folks in the neighboring towns would tell their children and grandchildren amazing stories about their travels to the village during the days of the golden goose. Stories filled with tales of great parties, cookouts, and multitudes of cheering people. And if you looked closely as the old folks spoke, you could see the tiny, almost imperceptable tears falling from the corner of their eyes.

DeMaurice Smith and Roger Goodell are killing the Golden Goose......mainly the arrshole lawyer though!

[paulitik]

Pauly, read your post above - will never agree totally with your views but you have logic behind some of your posts and "every now and then" I concede a point to you.

at this point, like an argument with the ol' wife - at the end of the day it really does not matter who is "right" or who is "wrong".

The owners are married to the players and the players are married to the owners. Right now both are screaming at each other "I'm right"...."No, you're wrong, I'm right".....

it doesn't matter - work it freakin' out - you are where you are and this is where the owners and players are.

BOTH sides are gonna have to step up - or this will head for "divorce court"(federal courts)......

and we all know who the winners are in divorce court - the lawyers......

I can agree with that.

[RHEC]

Gosh, I think these labor negotiations, or lack thereof, has gone about as badly as it can go.

While myself, as well as most of you guys just want NFL football in 2011, my bigger concern than just missing a few games in 2011 is the change of the entire structure of the NFL through the "Anti-Trust" litigation in the federal judicial courts.

Arguing over $1 billion dollars is going to seem like "chicken feed" if DeMaurice Smith is successful in his "anti-trust" efforts.

Imagine:

No more NFL Draft

No more NFL Revenue Sharing

No more NFL Salary Cap

No more Restricted Free Agency

Some of you may not see the "big deal" in this, but trust me it would be a HUGE deal. Certain teams (Dallas Cowboys, Washington Redskins to name two) have such large advantages from stadium deals, licensing deals, fanbase, etc., etc. that - without the structure of the current NFL system - they would have the potential to be like the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox by outspending their competitors by a "2-to-1" or "3-to-1" margin.

With no NFL draft, the NFL would resemble college football where an NFL team could sign the equivalent of 5 1st round-equvalent NFL draft picks every year - the college students could go wherever they wanted.

A team like the Atlanta Falcons would have a hard time with a smaller fanbase, older stadium and limited revenue potential. As rich as Arthur Blank is, he would not be able to compete on close to a level playing field with Jerry Jones and Daniel Snyder.

Dang this is BAD!!!

What's worse is I think the "anti-trust" strategy is what Dee Smith wants to pursue and he would have no problems destroying current NFL structure.

While many current and future NFL players would benefit from a new system, I believe more would lose out - in simple terms regarding NFL players, "the rich would get richer and the poor would get poorer". Normally I'm a "free market" kind of guy in business - but it would really change the NFL - if I was a Cowboys fan I might like the new change - but I'm not!

UGGGGGHHHH!!!

It would destroy the NFL.