Tag Archives: NFLPA
Do NFL Fans Deserve An Apology From the NFL About the NFL Lockout?
Finally on Monday, the NFL Lockout ended after 132 days. In the end no football was lost except for the Hall of Fame Game. The owners didn’t lose any revenue and the players didn’t lose any game checks. So no harm, no foul right?
If you listen to Peter King then yes. This is what the Sports Illustrated writer had to say on the matter:
It’s horsecrap to say NFL, players have to “make it up” to the fans. Make up what? They got the deal done 45 days before the season.less than a minute ago via TweetDeck 
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Peter King
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Many fans were angered by this. The NFL has built itself as a 365 day sport and they just took it away from fans (their consumers) for 4.5 months at a time when the game was as popular as its ever been.
The NFLPA apparently thought it was important enough to apologize to the fans, so they released a video on YouTube thanking fans for their support and patience during the lockout.
So what do you think, the fan? Do you want an apology from Roger Goodell and the NFL Owners? Or do you agree with King? Let us know in the comments section.
Also be sure check out our tumblr site, 2 Minute Drill, for quick updates during this crazy time for the NFL.
NFL Lockout Is Over: Everything You Need to Know
After 132 excruciating days, the NFL Lockout is over. Today, the NFLPA agreed to a the CBA that was voted on by the owners last week, effectively ending the NFL Lockout.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith held a joint press conference in Washington earlier today, announcing the new 10-year agreement. “It’s been a long time coming,” Goodell said. “Football is back and that’s the good news.”
I have to apologize for the lack of activity over the past few months, but I didn’t want to write posts about the lawsuits, the 8th Circuit Courts, mediators, and DeMaurice Smith’s hats. I could go on about the absurdness of the NFL Lockout, but I’ll save that for another time.
The NFL Is back and it’s time to celebrate. I assembled a bunch of links to get you educated on the new NFL CBA and what is going to happen in the coming days, plus celebrate the return of the NFL. (Come back everyday for new and fresh material. I’ll keep you up to date on the frenzy that is about to take place starting tomorrow.)
This is a good article that sums up the new NFL CBA in a nutshell.
This is a handy calendar outlining the key dates and events for the abridged NFL offseason.
The Evolution of the Touchdown Dance:
Find out when your favorite team kicks off training camp.
Great gesture by Indianapolis Colts center Jeff Saturday, individually thanking New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
In case you wanted to relive the NFL Lockout, a timeline of how we got here.
Don’t forget that Madden NFL 12 is coming out soon:
And finally … ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL??????????
Whose to Blame for the NFL Lockout? The Owners or Players?
The NFL owners and NFLPA couldn’t come to an agreement on a new CBA by the March 12th deadline and as a result were in the midst of the first lockout since 1987.
Instead of dissecting the latest free agent signings and trades were forced to hear about litigation and the possibility that there won’t be any football come September.
(Note: I haven’t discussed the lockout much here mainly because this blog is supposed to be about football, not litigation. Just tell me when they finally agree on a deal. All this bickering back and forth has gotten on my last nerve, and I’m sure I’m not alone. But the worst part is, there’s nothing we can do to stop it. The league depends on us, the fans, for its business, yet it has complete control over us. Fan will still come back not matter what. They’ll still go to the games, buy the merchandise, and pay for Sunday Ticket. Were pawns in a chess game. It sucks, but it’s the reality of it.)
It’s hard to comprehend that a business that makes $9 Billion could completely shut down, but it has become a reality. Now that the lockout is official and the premilnary injunction hearing isn’t until April 6th, most of the discussion has shifted toward who is to blame for the lockout. The owners or the players?
When you look at the fundamental differences between the two sides, it clearly the owners fault.
Their making so much money as it is, but insist that they need to make more and so they are asking players for more money back while the players are perfectly content with keeping the same deal they previously had.
The players want more healthcare benefits and the owners response is sure, as long as we add two more games because we need to make more money.
Which wouldn’t be that big of a request if medical evidence hadn’t showed that playing football is much more dangerous that any one ever thought. And that the NFL blatantly ignored it for the past few years only to pretend to care halfway through this season. Just read about Dave Duerson’s recent suicide to get an idea of what some of these players are experiencing.
When a former player shot himself in the heart and left a suicide note asking for his brain to be examined, what would be a normal response?
Cut the season to 14 games, add an extra bye week, add extra roster spots, enforce stricter concussion tests, etc. The list could go on and on. Yet, this information seems to barely register on the owner’s radar. It seems like all their worried about making more money than they did the previous year.
You can’t even play the billionaires vs. millionaires card because that statement couldn’t be farther from the truth. The truth is the majority of the players in the league aren’t millionaires. They’re living paycheck to paycheck like a lot of Americans. And because the greedy owners decided to lock out the players, they are now without an income. It has even caused one player to move his family in with his parents.
The owners were clearly anticipating a lockout, negotiating to receive $4 billion from TV networks if there was a work stoppage. Luckily, U.S. District Judge David Doty reversed the ruling, but this is irrefutable evidence that owners had a premeditated plan to lock out players and it can’t be ignored.
Despite all of this evidence, the American public actually sides with the owners. Pro Football Talk polled their audience on who they blamed for the NFL lockout and the results shocked me. In total, over 48,000 people voted and 38% of them blamed the players while only 24% blamed the owners (37% blamed both). Other polls conducted by The Huddle and Mile High Report revealed similar results.
The only response I had was why? Why do so many people blame the players for the lockout?
I’d love to hear some arguments in the comments.
NFL Quick Slants: 2/1
Get caught up on what’s going on in the great sport of football by seeing what’s hot around the web. Stay tuned to Cippin on Sports all week for more Super Bowl coverage. Coming up later today is the top 10 Super Bowl Commercials.
- See what it’s like to be in Michael Vick’s shoes on the football field. (NFL.com)
- Who made the All-Intangible team? (Yahoo! Sports)
- The most exciting teams and what were the most exciting games this season. (WSJ)
- Who has the most Super Bowl while doing the least? (Fifth Down)
- Aaron Rodgers got some advice for following a legend from Steve Young. (SI)
- Football fans need to look in the mirror. A great read. (The Awl)
- A good read on the mathematics of sports gambling. (The Atlantic)
- The commercial the NFLPA produced for the Super Bowl. (Read and React)
- An official site for Super Bowl tweets? (Media Memo)
