At a press conference today with Mexican President Felipe Calderon in the East Room of the White House, President Obama answered several questions, including one about the ongoing collective bargaining talks between the NFL owners and the NFL players. Obama was asked whether he planned on mediating the talks or getting involved in any way, given that the two sides are on the brink of a possible lockout.

Obama was quick to respond that he had no intention of getting involved.

“My working assumption, at a time when people are having to cut back and compromise and worry about making the mortgage and paying for their kids college education is that the two parties should be able to work it out without the President of the United States intervening.”

Obama noted the obvious – that he had much more important things to focus on.

“I’m a big football fan, but I also think that for an industry that’s making nine billion dollars a year in revenue, they can figure out how to divide it up in a sensible way.”

In the current economic environment, this is a hardly surprising response.