NFL and NFLPA Remain Miles Apart: Contract negotiations threaten 2011-2012 season

Two and a half weeks ago, NFL fans across the nation were glued to their leather couches equipped with pull-out foot rests. With one hand in a bowl of potato chips and the other clenching a road soda, they were locked onto the television screen airing commercials featuring pugs and Doritos. Oh right, the Super Bowl was on too!

Now, early into the NFL offseason, the 2011-2012 season is already in jeopardy. If you’ve switched the channel over to ESPN, ESPN2, or even ESPN Deportes, you’re sure to have heard the seemingly never-ending discussion concerning the NFL contract negations.

Back in 2006, NFL owners and the NFLPA (National Football League Players Association) agreed on the terms for a collective bargaining agreement set to exist until the end of the 2012-2013 season. This agreement regulates the working conditions for each NFL season (i.e. contracts, salaries, free agents, etc.). In May of 2008, owners cut short this agreement to next week (March 3, 2011). So now the clock is ticking to reach a new agreement or face a lockout next season—much to the dismay of owners, players, and especially football fans around the country.

Football has arguably replaced baseball as America’s favorite sport. Television ratings for the Super Bowl (and even the Pro Bowl) far outweigh those for the World Series and NBA championship and their respective all-star games. So how can NFL owners and players not come to an agreement before their deadline next week to ensure the NFL season will happen next year? Well, this is where it becomes complicated.

To begin, the negotiations between NFL owners and the NFLPA have transformed into a legal battle, calling in federal mediator, George Cohen, to referee the litigations. The last meeting between the two sides happened last Thursday, where Cohen reported that slight progress has been made, yet strong differences still remain. As mediation meetings have rumbled into a second week, the main problem seems to be a growing mistrust between the NFL owners and the Player’s Union. As we all know, agreements and compromises can never be reached if there is no trust or comfort in a relationship. At this point, an NFL lockout seems imminent because this mistrust has persisted for over two years.

The NFL and its owners are furious with the public nature of the NFLPA, especially that of its leaders. NFLPA president DeMaurice Smith has stated on multiple occasions that a lockout seems definite. In opposition, the NFLPA has hired attorney Bob Batterman to prepare for the work stoppage that the NFL continually uses as a threat; however, as both sides are still at opposite ends of the negotiating table, this threat will very likely become a reality.

It has even reached the point that the NFL has told its teams that they are no longer allowed to speak with their players or their agents after March 3. Contract negotiations are also out of the question. If there are any negotiations, fines will be given out as frequently as Tom Brady touchdown passes circa 2007 (that’d be an NFL record 50, my friends).

Some other factors playing into the labor negotiations include how to divide the nearly $9 billion in annual revenues, stretching the season from 16 to 18 games and benefits for retired players. An important issue involves making alterations to the rookie wage scale so that high-paid, high-draft, busted rookie players don’t cripple a team.

I would like to assist the NFL and NFLPA from a football fan’s standpoint. After all, does anyone else think the fans should have a say in these talks, or is it just me? Without us, there is no NFL, so for the love of Bill Belichick’s sweatershirt, Rex Ryan’s gut, and the hope that Mark Ingram will go to the Pats, please listen to me!

How about donating some of that $9 billion revenue. There’s a good idea. Sure, there are NFL players who assist at local Boys & Girls Clubs and there is the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award, but if they can’t decide what to do with the money, toss it to the thousands of children in this country that need it more than Bob Kraft and his French-cuffed dress shirts. In terms of rookie salaries, how about create contracts with clauses that state if the player gets injured or doesn’t produce statistically, his salary gets cut. Go ahead and stretch the season to eighteen games. We all want to see more football and less preseason games, just tell the players to watch out for the defensive backs charging at them like eighteen-wheelers. Finally, learn to love each other. Yes, I’m talking to you NFL owners and NFLPA. You have to work together, you have no choice. So if you can’t be happy, at least make the fans happy and let us have a 2011-2012 NFL season.

So keep your eyes glued on SportsCenter this week to watch the epic saga between the NFL and the NFLPA unfold. And, hey, we still have the NFL Combine and the NFL Draft in April. I just really want to watch football next fall. Let’s keep our fingers crossed. •