Don’t plan on seeing any NFL football anytime soon. I don’t think there’s a chance the impasse is solved until the parties involved are on the verge of losing some money.
The NFL owners got a victory yesterday, as the three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that their lockout can continue until June 3rd, when they get the chance to argue their case again.
The two judges who agreed to let the lockout continue will also hear the June 3rd case, so the owners are in position to lock the players out for the entire summer.
The players are owners are currently in court-appointed mediation which is getting nothing done. ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio reported yesterday that they’re making progress in the mediation, but it was shot down a short time later yesterday.
NFL fans it looks like we’re headed for a long and drawn out lockout, which will probably back up the season.
I had heard that NFL analyst Cris Collingworth has predicted that the season won’t start until November.
The players are in a tough position because they may have to face the possibility of not playing games this season and therefore not being paid. How long can the players stay together without cracking?
How long can the players resist the urge to attack their leader, DeMaurice Smith? Smith maintained his confidence after the ruling yesterday, saying, “Right now our guys are working out for free, because they dig the game”.
Dee Smith is leading the players down the wrong path. Unless they win in court (unlikely) the players are about to lose out on free agency money, pay checks, and younger cheaper players. If I was a vetern player, I would be pissed – especially if you believe that the deal they will ultimately agree to will look a lot like the one the owners offered on March 11th. What a shame!
They look like an old overseas rock band called DOUCHE AND THE CREW!…… LOOK at them….. No mustache having liers……. Money controls everything……. What ever happpen to hard work and dedication……. What happen to Eat your vitamins and protein and do whats right for hard working citizens……… This is a let down for the fans and the players themselves…… Goodell has ruined the nfl….. He’s making it shorter than Ocho Cinco’s ride on the bull this past weekend….. I just dont understand….. What happen to respect?????? One of the most profitable and popular sports ever is being flushed down toilet as we speak…… I’m with you DixieFan what a shame!!!!!!
My bad Liars!!!!
These Owners are Boners!!!!! Goodell is no different than Donald Trump……. Both have funny hair cuts no mustache and have that 8 year old boy look that loves to kill frogs and set them on fire!!!!!! With a magnifying glass!!!!!!! If the Nfl happens this year????? Goodell is quick enough to take money right back from players for illegal hits that aren’t even that serious!!!!! NFL + NBA = 2 of the same!!!!!! WHY WHY WHY!!!!!!!!!!!
My level of disgust has been the same since this whole situation started. When there WAS football. Pathetic millionairs and billionairs fighting over money. Our money…the ones who support our teams. Get it owners…support.
Sound off J….real talk. I can’t add anything to that.
G, you forgot the best part of the Profootballtalk update- that DSmith tried to say that its the owners who have taken the players to court.
the players have noone to blame for this mess but themselves. THEY allowed this man too do this. Do you still side with Smith G?
for me its 70-30 players are at fault. THEY LEFT THE TABLE!! the owners should pay for the TV $ thing. Otherwise….. time to dump SMITH. the players are gunna crumble sooon.
i have a q for everyone- If i offer you a 1,000 for your boat thats worth 1,500… what would you do?
a) laugh and say no deal unti i get serious.
b) Counter with 2,000
c) throw a tantrum and sue me.
G, have so much I really could say! Just want to point out a couple of things that struck me as interesting.
1) The owners hired the NHL person (Bartman) responsible for for locking out that sports league. Its obvious that they have that model in mind for creating a new “NFL”! The only recourse that the players had was to decertify.
This lockout was going to happen! Keyword “lockout”! Anybody who believes that the owners are not to blame for not playing football is really out of touch.
2) The Houston Astros just sold their team for over 600 million dollars! Every Nfl team is worth more than that! Why is it that as a fan, I’m suppose to want an owner to be protected from himself? As a business person you have to find creative ways to make money! Owners included! If your losing money sell your franchise!
3) Fans please stop comparing your job to the nfl! Lets compare to baseball. Jorge Possada makes 13 million per year. He bats .165! Jeter another example. The list goes on and on! The NFL has a great model! Players get cut! Why shouldn’t they try to protect their short careers!
If the game was losing money I would be all for cutting salary, but to just say the owners are right just because they are the owners just doesn’t sit well with me! When was the last time an owner passed some savings to the fans. Do you honestly believe that if any player makes less money ticket prices will go down? If you do I have a nice bridge that you can buy!
so its clear that the players picked option C and NOW…. they are trying to blame the owners because C didnt work. they said today;
“The NFL’s request for a stay of the lockout that was granted today means no football. The players are in mediation and are working to try to save the 2011 season. The court will hear the full appeal on June 3.”
um- THEY took it to the courts and tried to drag this thing out for months… how is it the NFL’s fault that their SHAM decert didnt work?
I wanted it to work so we can get back to the real offseason BUT in all honesty……the NFL is right…. its a SHAM and a SCAM!
“It is now time to devote all of our energy to reaching a comprehensive agreement that will improve the game for the benefit of current and retired players, teams, and, most importantly, the fans,” NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said in a statement. “This litigation has taken the parties away from the negotiating table where these issues should be resolved. We remain confident that the appellate court will determine that this is a labor dispute that should be governed by federal labor law. But the league and players, without further delay, should control their own destiny and decide the future of the NFL together through negotiation.”
How is this last statment not true???
GUYS- this is all about getting the upper hand. Both parties are screwing us. dont fall for the traps…. call a spade a spade. The players failed on this one.
EAGLE- “Do you honestly believe that if any player makes less money ticket prices will go down?”
No but do you honestly believe that if the players salaries are doubled that they wont go up?
EAGLE-“This lockout was going to happen! Keyword “lockout”! Anybody who believes that the owners are not to blame for not playing football is really out of touch”.
yes it was. Its the only card they could play since the players used the only card they had in a decert. Anyone who believes this thing caused by 1 side is completly out of their mind. Both sides did this. I blame the players more though.
Why do you think player salaries will double? You do know that there is a salary cap! I personally would like to see the floor of the cap increased! Along with money for retired players and better health benifits. I hope that the players are fighting for the bottom half of the roster instead of just the stars!
@eagle no there is not a salary cap as of now and in fact- thats one of the things that the players are currently saying is unlawful….. along with the draft. There was no cap last year Eagle. as far as a cap and a salary floor increase…. the owners offered that… and the players threw a tantrum and left. and Eagle, the players are NOT fighting for the bottom half- and thats y some of the players are forming a new group. The bottom guys will get the shaft if the NFLPA wins.
do you guys really not understand this? The NFLPA wants football to be like baseball (not a true cap) and the NBA (contracts are crazy). PLUS- they want no draft. free for all. anyone can sign anyone.
Stevo I agree…I don’t know where some of these people get their info. Unless you guys want no draft, no free agency, no rules basically then you should be in favor of the owners on this. The players representation want to change the game that we love so much so that players can put more cash in their pockets to buy a couple more useless cars/homes etc. If they were to win(which their not) this league would be just like baseball. The cowboys would be the new yankess..JJ would have a 500 million dollar payroll basically buying superbowls year after year. The NFL would be ruined.
What some of you seem to forget is that the players and Dee Smith were the ones that brought this issue to court. Going to court was their primary objective from the very start..they never even counter offered the first proposal made by the owners with one of their own. The bull shit he says is riduculous and so false I dont think the players are even that stupid to believe it like today when he said “It’s a disappointment obviously that as far as we can tell this is the first sports league in history who sued to not plays its game,” Smith told reporters after Monday’s ruling. “Congratulations.” R u kidding me? The players are the ones that sued behind this puppetmaster.
G, you forgot to mention that the owners actually offered a second offer to the players(evn though they never received a counter for their first). If the PLayers truly want football they would offer a counter this time and go on from there. Thats how you make progress.
Ok I get it! What the owners say I should just believe them! I honestly don’t trust either side! For the record! Didn’t the players just ask to see the books?
eagle- no… its more than that. And the owners offered some of their 5 year books. they dont want other owners to see what they are making AND- y should the players see the books? they are not partners with the NFL. I know they all talk like they are but they are not. I dont like rich people either but the fact is… they earned the money. The players got an amazing deal last time and the owners opted out of it. Now the key is coming up with a fair deal for both sides. And that wont happen if the players dont stop suing every 40 seconds. a deal will be worked out at the table thats it.
eagle- you are right to not trust either side. What i have tried to do is call B.S. on both sides when they are clearly B.Sing.
the owners tried to secure $ during a lockout. BS- they hurt the players.
the players took it to court- BS- never even counter offered.
DSmith lying about EVERYTHING- BS, players can him.
there is enough blame to go round BUT…. the NFLPA* gets at least 65% in my opinion.
The owners are the ones driving this LOCKOUT… its a lockout, not a strike…
they just got the 8th circuit to CONTINUE the lockout…
the players DID NOT want to change anything in the agreement. The OWNERS did, that is why they threatened to lock the players out..When the negotiations failed, the player’s decertified in order to take the owners to court and avoid a LOCKOUT. The NFL also tried to hide at least 4 billion (to hold them over during this LOCKOUT) in money they got in a TV deal. They got caught by the NFLPA.
to say this is the player’s fault is simply FALSE.
its FALSE.
if people wanna side with the owners, that is their prerogative. But saying this situation is being driven by the players is false
It takes 2 sides to tango and this work stoppage/lockout/strike or whatever you want to call it was 2 years in the making, both sides contributed and both sides are to blame.. The big quesiton to me now is, who has the balls, the leadership to put ego aside, and say, “let’s get this done for the sake of the games integrity and for the fans” and I don’t believe the initial action will come from the Commisioner or Owners. It’s going to take some leaders from the Players side to give in and get the ball rolling as I have thought it would since the beginning. If the COurts would have sided with the PLayers side about a “lockout” being illegal, then the Players would have held some leverage, but as of now, that leverage is lost and it becomes a game of will and time, and time is clearly on the side of the Owners and not the players who have limited careers to begin with…
Paulman, if you are waiting for the scumbag lawyers (the current leadership) to put egos aside for the good of the game (or players), I’m afraid you are in for a long wait! It’s going to take a large loud chorus of disgruntled players to reign in the laywers. If the owners win in June , they will be able to wait years before they HAVE TO settle. Meanwhile, the lawyers will be getting paid by the hour.
I know that Dixie,
This lockout has worked itself out as I kind of thought it would..
It was no surprise that the Players would decertify and challenge the Courts on the legality of the owners forcing a Lockout, Once they lost this, they lost their leverage.. If anyone recalls, the Goal of this entire charade by the Owners has been to limit player movement and this is exactly what the Owners are getting and now have the upper hand. The Owners can sit out a year a be fine, Players on the other-hand who only average a 4 year Career cannot afford financially or atheltically to miss a year of playing.. This will play out until late June-Mid July and I reall doen’t expect the NFL Calender to start until late July at the Earliest and a short 4-5 Summer CAmp with about 2 Preseason games and then the regualr Season. This 2011 Season will go down with asteriks with it in players,teams performance
Rasheed “When the negotiations failed”- what negotiations? the players walked out. And thats my point. They decertified (sham/scam) and sued. Both sides are wrong but at least the owners want to work through it instead of letting the lawyers change the game. Trust me- you dont want the kind of NFL the players lawyers want. Do the homework- they dont want drafts or a sal cap. Its crazy.
Please keep in mind, the players are not being asked to give back any money. The salary cap will continue to rise, as the revenue generated by the league as a whole rises. They are being asked to take a smaller piece of an ever growing pie. Forty percent of 3 billion is better than 50% of two billion. The NFL wants a slightly larger piece of total revenue to keep “growing the brand” of the National Football League. Nobody doubts the players will walk away from this with improved healthcare, better retirement benefits, more money available to older, former players with health issues. That part of it is a given, but the NFLPA does not feel a need to contribute to any of that. The money the NFL is asking for will go to all of those causes, as well as a bunch of other things for which the League is involved. The Play60 campaign, funded by the NFL. Low interest loans to teams that need capital improvements to stadiums, reducing the need for the teams to bully localities into tax hikes and floated bonds. Growing the NFL internationally. Study funds reguarding concussions, and the myriad of other issues that face players, both present and past. Simple things like the NFL Network. All of the charities with which the NFL is associated, of which there are like a zillion. Its not all profit that goes straight to the owners’ pocket or bank account. It is upgrades to customer services, NFL.com. Hate the rich people, go ahead, but I prefer the league’s view of the game to that of the players, in which 10% or the players will make 80% of the money, and long snappers will make 50k.
Something not being mentioned (often enough) is the fact that one of the primary motives the owners feel they need to slow the growth of player salaries is the fact that they feel they CAN NOT KEEP RAISING TICKET PRICES! They see fans being priced out in cities like Buffalo, Jacksonville, San Diego, etc. Even in a city like Philadelphia, at what point do fans say NO MAS! Without sell outs, you have black-outs. With blacl-outs, overall interest begins to wane. Before you know it, you have the NHL
.Personally, if the owners keep our prices down, I’m all for it!
Rasheed if you want a future NFL that the players and their representation is driving for your nuts man…NO draft, No free agency, no rules, competition at an extreme low..Cowboys and Redskins buying superbowls every year. Sorry man ill pass on that.
The previous CBA favored the players side. This is a known fact that the players even understood. Say what you want about the Owners(I think their at fault in this as well) but atleast their primary objective was to mediate and stay out of the courts in which they gave an offer that the players didnt even counter with anything. The players sued and brought this to the courts. The Owners gave a second offer now…Hopefully instead of bitching to the press about how their treated like slaves or how Goodell is a Nazi officer they can act like grownups and make a counter offer and go on from there cuz you know that how actual progress is made.
“Rasheed if you want a future NFL that the players and their representation is driving for your nuts man…NO draft, No free agency, no rules, competition at an extreme low..Cowboys and Redskins buying superbowls every year. Sorry man ill pass on that. ”
^this is nonsense… lol..
Rasheed- honestly, this is what they are after. They MAY just be bluffing with it to get leveradge but thats what they are saying. Look up what Kessler (idiot NFLPA lawyer) has been saying. It is what it is man.