First of all, I want everyone to know that I’m all for owners of businesses making as much money as they can make. Private businesses employ most of the countries workers and I believe we should be thankful to business owners for taking the risks involved in establishing a business.
Anybody who has been an entrepreneur knows that it’s not an easy thing to do. I respect the NFL owners from that perspective. Many of them have laid everything on the line to get to financial position they’re in. Most of them are very wealthy people because they did what it took to amass millions until they were billionaires.
Still I think we need to stepback and assess where we’re at in these battle between NFL owners and NFL players. The NFL isn’t like other businesses because the NFL draft and other aspects of the NFL owner/player relationships violate U.S. anti-trust laws.
Anybody who knows anything about the laws governing monopolies in the U.S. knows that the NFL draft which takes away a player’s right to work for whoever and wherever they want isn’t in line with the U.S. Constitution. violates U.S. anti-trust legislation. When a football player comes out of college or for that matter before he goes to college he has the right to work for any business that is willing to hire him.
When young accountants, attorneys, doctors graduate from school they have the choice to work for any company in any part of the country that is willing to hire them. This is the freedom that the U.S. constitution gives us. On the other hand a young football player must go to the team which drafts him which is a violation of his constitutional rights.
Through the Collective Bargaining Agreement, NFL players agree to relinquish those rights. They don’t give them up for no reason, 
they give them up for a promise the NFL owners will honor the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
The fact that the NFL owners signed a CBA in 2006 yet went on to violate it by scheming with the television networks to lockout the players, I can’t sympathize with them.
I don’t think U.S. District Court Judge David Doty is going to sympathize with them. What is about Doty and his siding with the players that the owners don’t understand? He’s ruled against them every time they’ve come into his courtroom.
He not only sided with the players concerning the $4 billion dollar war chest, which the owners were going to acquire from the networks he talked about the owners damaging the players with their violation of the CBA they had signed in 2006.
How much are damages when you’re talking about a $9 billion dollar-a-year business? If I was an NFL owner I wouldn’t want to know.
How could the owners be foolish enough to have meetings on putting together a lockout, yet not believe the Judge was going to find out about it? This was foolish and wiser heads should have prevailed but they didn’t. I’m starting to think that some of the owners aren’t good business people.
Now they have hired highly regarded attorney David Boies to represent them. He’s supposed to be a great attorney, but I think he’s got a bad case with a bad client. He may be a great attorney but remember he lost the election vote case when he represented former Vice-President Al Gore against former President George Bush.
The owners cry that they’re hurting financially because of the CBA which they signed in 2006, yet they’re not willing to open their books. They’re asking the players to trust them. Here you have a group of owners who have already proven that they’re not trustworthy, yet they want the players to give back money without seeing the books.
DeMaurice Smith would have been fired on the spot for giving money back to the owners without seeing the books. Some players are uneducated but not all of them.
Understand that the NFL is making more money that it ever has, yet with a straight face the owners say they’re hurting financially. Don’t forget that the NFL isn’t like other businesses, if they aren’t protected from anti-trust laws, their empires could be in trouble.
I think it’s foolish to put all of that on the line.
The players need to learn “The Golden Rule”. No, not that one. The owners (who have the gold), “rule”.
It seems to me that most players want to make enough money so they will never have to work after their careers are over. I would too. However, if they don’t, they will have to go to work just like the rest of us.
walken, how dare you!? That’s despicable! You want to take away their god given right to retire in their late thirties with enough money to live like millionaires till they die? You want them to have to work jobs in their forties just to make ends meet!? What kind of sick person are you!?
I’m sorry to tell you this Cobb, but the reality of 80-90% of what you say is not true, or misleading. First of all this little Pit-bull lawyer who calls himself De has no background(understanding of sports or the CBA) & how it operates. He’s been admidtedly stashing away money for over twice as long as the owners not in case of, but for an obviously planned lockout. His obvious status of not operating in good faith since just before taking the job, through stashing money in book proceeds, that’s been deliberately planned and orchestrated by De LAWYER not only incriminates him, but shows his defraudulant and misrepresentative actions towards the NFL, gov’t operated mediation and the people of the Unites States. It’s said that you were fooled by a lawyer from DC, who states he didn’t even do much talking Friday afternoonob when given an offer by the NFL
Face it, the players wanted to decertify all along… the owners offered to split the billions in the bank and they balked…players and owners are greedy and it shows…however, the owners should be making $$$ more than the players…the salaries, especially the rookie salaries are out of control and need to be fixed. Paying a player $15million per year is ludicrous no matter what position. This is why the draft is so important, build in the draft, add depth then when players get greedy asking for more than their worth on the market, say goodbye and show them the door. That would be my philosophy as an owner.
Says publicly that the players were doing the talking instead. The NFL could offer him practically anything in the world, but his deceiving plans are well documented & known way b4 the NFL put away some money as well, but lawyers do what lawyers do. There’s absolutely no merits to what your saying. Why don’t you show your Profits for the last 10 yrs. to everyone right now to show a little truth to what you are saying. It’s no big you say; right? And about the draft nobody’s forcing people to join an org. known as the NFL, it’s free will, even more so than a waitress at Hooters. And trust me,if you obviously aren’t aware, but not everybody gets a job related to there major in College like you seem to think.
Amazing Bdawk, the fact that you write relatively clearly belies your misunderstanding. one CANNOT be exempt from antitrust laws, then do what the owners are trying to do. If they want to be JUST LIKE other business owners, then they need to follow the same rules, give back the 6 billion in public funds they’ve used since 1990, and allow their employees to be as free as the rest of the working public. Otherwise, prove their financial point through their books since the CBA calls for a percentage split of the contracts the OWNERS are supposed to negotiate in good faith.
If you had a little pizza shop, found your employees were stashing away money 4 a strike 2 yrs. down the road, what would you plan on for income during that time, if you were legally forced to only use those employees. Your answer is even a year after the facts you would never consider protecting your family financially 4 a few months; that would cause trust issues with your employees. Realllly makes sense there.
rastadoc, Ya that makes a lot of sense Owners not operating in good faith. Tell me about all the wonderful benefits to them by locking the gates to their business, when they’ve actually been trying the opposite. But if you read you’ll learn that the attorney is the 1 planning this for over 2 yrs. now. No matter what the owners were willing to do.
So, let me make this clear. The owners want more money for stadiums and marketing for the NFL. How can this benefit the palyers when they’re no longer playing?…The owners want more money that maximizes their profits…..Now if players get some sort of long term stock in these investments then it’s fair but until then owners should be responsible for their own stadiums. They are billionaires. Lurie was a millionaire before buying the Eagles with outside investor’s help. Now he’s a billionaire..Owners should sacrifice more because they benefit long term.
As if the Owners had a choice… The NFLPA goal was to de-certify the Union and take it to litigation for about 2 years now… Not sure why many are surprised or pissed..
The PLAYERS walked away from negotiations–not the owners. Yeah, I know you used to be an ex-player–but please, how about some balanced views here. You acto like the owners didn’t give the players anything, gave them a take it or leave it offer and then pulled it from them–when it was ptently clear the union has been planning for a decertification from the beginning. How else do you explain that within HOURS, there was a 58 page document filed in a federal court–Brady vs the NFL–please, Mr Cobb, don’t insult our intelligence. What would you have given if the owners offered you medical benefits for life? Or guaranteed up to 1M your salary the year AFTER you suffered an injury?
Songsrme2–There has not been a new stadium approved since 2005. Tell the fans of the Vikings they don’t need a new stadium after the snow caved in their roof; the 49ers and Chargers have been wishing for a new stadium for years. It isn’t only about the present players, it’s about future players and the growth of the NFL.
Opps! Different judge hearing the TRO request. Now the players are gambling they can wait 2-3 years before a legal case runs it’s course without their pet judge. Think the union is taking them down a bad road, but who cares – the lawyers will be making money. Should have explored the owners offer and get back to work.