Category: NFL (Page 159 of 1282)

      Turn of events? Judge Nelson will oversee players’ case against NFL, not Judge Doty.

      March 14, 2011 /
      Domonique Foxworth (L) of the Baltimore Ravens and Kevin Mawai (C), former player for the Tennessee Titans and current NFL Players Association president, depart with NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith (2nd R) after a day of negotiations with football team owners as they seek an agreement as a deadline looms for a player lockout, in Washington, March 3, 2011. Man at far right is unidentified. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT FOOTBALL EMPLOYMENT BUSINESS)

      Since the two sides couldn’t come to an agreement last Friday, I’ve become awfully bitter when it comes to the NFL and NFLPA. So when I read, “Judge Nelson and not Judge Doty will be overseeing the Brady v. NFL case,” I can’t help but laugh.

      The only reason the players went through Minnesota to file their claim was because it was Judge David S. Doty’s district. As the media has made everyone aware of, Judge Doty has been player-friendly when it comes to cases against the league. So when the players decertified last Friday, they thought they would have an advantage in court because Doty would be overseeing their case. But now that Judge Susan Richard Nelson is in charge, things may have shifted.

      In other words, the players may not have an advantage now.

      When the dust settles on this labor dispute, here’s hoping that neither side wins. Obviously I want there to be football next fall, but it would be nice if the greedy players and the even greedier owners didn’t walk away feeling like they won anything. Seeing as how they don’t care about the fans, I think that’s fair. The NFL spent a decade building its popularity and taking the fans’ money at every turn, now it’s become a victim of its own success. The players and owners can’t figure out a way to share $9 billion and the fans are left hanging because of it. So let both sides lose something in this war.

      The owners thought they had a huge trump card when it came to the TV revenue. Then Judge Doty ruled that they couldn’t use that money to financially support a lockout and the owners took one to the gut. Now the players, who thought they had a trump card of their own in Judge Doty when they decided to reject the owners’ proposal last Friday and decertify, just took one on the chin themselves by getting Judge Nelson to oversee their case.

      Thus far, neither side is winning and I love it.

      External Sports, NFL

      2011 NFL season to be uncapped once the lockout ends?

      March 14, 2011 /
      National Football League Players’ Association’s (NFLPA) Executive Director DeMaurice Smith arrives to continue negotiations between the National Football League (NFL) and NFLPA in Washington March 11, 2011. The parties were still negotiating a range of sticking points, including how to divide more than $9 billion in annual revenues, but the players’ union insist one issue, the NFL’s proposal to add two more games to the regular season, was off the table. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts (UNITED STATES – Tags: EMPLOYMENT BUSINESS SPORT FOOTBALL)

      The Washington Post is reporting that the 2011 NFL season would likely be played with no salary cap if the players succeed in ending the owners’ lockout.

      That would mean there would be no player-payroll maximum or minimum for NFL teams. Players with expired contracts would need six years of NFL service time to be eligible for unrestricted free agency, rather than the four seasons required when the salary cap system was in effect; players with expired contracts and three to five seasons of NFL experience would be restricted free agents. Each team would have an extra transition-player tag, in addition to the one franchise-player or transition-player designation allowed per club under the salary cap system, to restrict players’ movement in free agency, and there would be limits on the free agent activity of last season’s final eight playoff teams.

      The reason that system would be used, sources said, is that it might have a better chance of withstanding an antitrust challenge by the players, given that the union previously agreed to those rules for an uncapped year in collective bargaining. Attorneys for the players’ side have said they would challenge in court any rules put in place by the league if the lockout is lifted.

      The NFL is a victim of its own success. After making the game extremely popular over the last decade, fans are rightfully ticked off about this lockout. I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve reached a point where I hope neither the players nor owners get what they want in the end.

      An uncapped year would be great because the players ultimately won’t get what they want. The union has always wanted players to reach free agency as quickly as possible so that they can cash in great seasons. But as the Post points out, in an uncapped year players with expired contracts would need six years of NFL service to quality for free agency – not four like it would be under a cap. So there would be no “cashing in.”

      In the end, both the players and owners will come to realize that their best bet was just to compromise months ago. Now they’re in a hell of their own making and I wouldn’t mind seeing both sides get burned in the process.

      External Sports, NFL

      As promised, Goodell, Pash cut salaries to $1 during lockout

      March 13, 2011 /

      According to SI.com, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and league general counsel Jeff Pash have cut their salaries to $1 during the lockout. Goodell makes roughly $10 million a year plus bonuses, while Pash earns nearly $5 million.

      Goodell also has asked the league’s compensation committee to delay any bonus payments to him until there is a deal with the players’ union.

      Also taking cuts will be all league personnel at the New York headquarters, NFL Films in Mount Laurel, N.J., and at NFL Network and NFL.com in Culver City, Calif. For now, salaries for those league employees will be reduced by 12 percent, an amount equal to two weeks’ pay.

      If the work stoppage continues into August, salary reductions for management-level employees will range from 25 percent for executive vice presidents to 20 percent for senior VPS and 15 percent for VPs. Directors will take a 10 percent cut and managers will be reduced by 5 percent.

      Seeing as how Goodell and Pash make $15 million between them, something tells me they’re not going to be hurting with a $1 salary. But at least they’re men of their word. Goodell told fans that he would cut his salary to $1 for the length of the lockout and here he is on Day 1 slicing his pay.

      Then again, who cares about Goodell and Pash’s salaries? Get the freaking new CBA signed so there’s a season next year.

      External Sports, NFL

      The NFL lockout affects more than just players and owners

      March 12, 2011 /

      Assistant coaches and lower personnel people may lose their jobs over this.

      Businesses across America may suffer greatly.

      Lives may be affected.

      The NFL lockout is more than just millionaires fighting with billionaires over revenue. If there’s no season next year, consider how much money hotels, restaurants and shops will lose when teams and tourists don’t come to town for 17-plus weeks throughout the fall and winter. We’re already in the middle of an economic struggle, why must everyone suffer more?

      Look, I get it. I know the NFL is a business, too. In fact, I know that it’s a business first and a game second. I wish it weren’t, but that’s just reality. The owners are running a business and they want to make as much profit as possible. In that regard, I don’t think they should have to open their financial books to the players. Hey, it’s their business, right? That said, how can the owners ask the players to take a paycut when they’re not willing to provide intricate details as to why?

      But the bigger picture has obviously been lost here. If you don’t think the NFL has an big impact on people, think again. I’ve got a friend who served this fine country overseas and last April he woke up in the middle of the night just to watch the first round of the NFL draft. Think about that for a second: the NFL draft, not the Super Bowl, the playoffs or even an important regular season game, provided a brief distraction for a man, a soldier, half a world away fighting in a war. That’s how much the NFL can affect someone.

      As it stands now, nobody will have the opportunity to enjoy the draft, or free agency, or possibly even the season because grown men can’t compromise. How ridiculous. How absurd. How unnecessary.

      If I knew we had it in us, I would love to see every fan boycott the NFL if this lockout lasted until September. I would love to hit the owners’ wallet hard and for the players to actually feel the impact of what’s going on here. But that won’t happen. We love our football and we’ll be back once these greedy SOBs come to an agreement. It’s sad, but it’s also reality.

      So we wait on you, owners and players. We wait on you to figure out the best way to divvy up our money. Shame on you. Shame on you for not understanding what kind of effect you have on us.

      External Sports, NFL

      2011 NFL Draft to be canceled now?

      March 12, 2011 /

      As if the NFL and NFLPA haven’t bent over the fans enough, now it appears as though there may not even be a draft.

      According to Liz Mullen of the Sports Business Journal, the NFL players’ lawsuit in a U.S. district court is seeking declaration that the NFL draft violates antitrust laws. Texas A&M linebacker Von Miller is even named as a plaintiff in the suit. (How is his draft stock looking these days?)

      Throughout this entire absurd process, fans have been under the assumption that, at the very least, there would be a draft in 2011. But hey, seeing as how there’s no free agency, no trades and there may not even be a season next year, what’s the point in having a draft? Why not take everything away from fans? Clearly the league is not for them anyway. It’s for the greedy players and the even greedier owners.

      My apologizes for sounding like a scorned lover but this is ridiculous. The draft was the last and only thing fans had to look forward to this offseason and now that could be stripped from us as well. Maybe this was a naïve thought but I kind of felt that the draft represented hope that there will be a season next year. But now? Who knows. I’m feeling less optimistic about this situation than ever this morning.

      Buckle up fans, it’s about to get bumpy.

      External Sports, NFL, NFL Draft

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