DALLAS — In order to avoid a lockout by NFL owners, there is going to have to be a seismic shift in the thinking of both the owners and the Players Association.
Judging from the rhetoric being thrown around yesterday, a lockout is imminent.
“You can strip the business away, you can take 22 guys and put ’em on the field in the middle of nowhere, Texas and we’ll still go play the game because we love the game,” NFLPA president Kevin Mawae said at a packed press conference. “The business is a benefit we get from it. It’s unfortunate that we have a $9 billion business with a bunch of owners that don’t understand that. That it’s just about the business for them.”
Mawae and DeMaurice Smith, the NFLPA executive director, continued their demand that league show “financial transparency” to prove to the players there’s a need to decrease the share of the revenue the players receive in the soon-to-expire collective bargaining agreement. Smith has told the players to prepare for a lockout and isn’t backing down.
“We intend to never give up talking about what’s fair for our players, what’s fair for their families, what’s fair for former players and what’s fair for future players,” said Smith said, who indicated the union is willing to decertify and go to court if the owners lock the players out.
The union showed a TV commercial that will air during the Super Bowl, with various players (the Giants’ Zak DeOssie has a cameo) imploring “Let us play.” Fans are shown saying “Let them play.”
Last week, Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie ripped the union’s leadership. Mawae responded by saying “I don’t recall him being at one CBA bargaining session or him on one conference call with the player reps.” Mawae added he’s not worried about players breaking rank with the union and said Cromartie is entitled to his opinion.
“He might not understand all the issues. I understand everybody can take different points of view, but at the end of the day he’s one of us,” Mawae said. “Cromartie’s a great player, he’s going to play for a long, long time and will be one of the guys who will benefit from the next CBA, I can promise you that.”
Once again, Smith — who called a lockout “irresponsible” — sounded as if an 18-game regular season is non-negotiable.
“Any change in the season that increases the risk of injury, increases the risk of concussion, increases the risk of a long-term consequence of playing football, has the potential to shorten careers . . . anything that does that is not in the interests or the best interests of the players in the National Football League,” Smith said. “That’s going to be our position.”
Smith, disputing the league, also said once the CBA expires, any franchise tags put on players by teams are “meaningless.”