NFL Labor Negotiations Collapse, Shutdown Expected
- Posted on March 11, 2011 at 5:42pm by
Meredith Jessup
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The National Football League’s (NFL) labor talks collapsed Friday signaling the first shutdown of professional football in 24 years may be inevitable.
The Washington Post reports:
The players filed to dissolve their union, according to officials on both sides of the dispute, a move that ended negotiations with the NFL and team owners over a new labor pact whose central issue is how to divide the $9 billion in annual revenue generated by the nation’s most popular sport. The two sides met Friday for a 16th day of mediated talks but made no substantial progress.
Decertifying the NFL Players Association enables the players to file antitrust litigation against the owners. The players also are expected to seek an injunction Friday from U.S. District Judge David S. Doty to block a lockout of players by the owners.
The owners are likely to announce later Friday that they will lock out players, effective after the sport’s current labor deal expires at 11:59 p.m. But they may not have to move immediately.
The union’s executive director, DeMaurice Smith, said as he left the talks about 4:40 p.m. that the union had given owners until 5 p.m. to turn over 10 years worth of audited financial records. The owners apparently did not comply.
Smith said that “significant differences” remained between the two sides.
Attorneys representing the players have reportedly named quarterbacks Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts, Tom Brady of the New England Patriots and Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints to be name as litigants in antitrust litigation against the owners.
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Comments (118)
BCNU
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 7:20pmThey should go beat on drums, display rhetorical signs, chant loudly/relentlessly, and camp out in a capital building of their choosing!!
Report Post »BCNU
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 7:23pmUniforms optional……
Report Post »Devil Dog 7175
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 7:20pmI haven’t watched a base ball game since their strike, and I guess I can add Foot Ball to the list now…
Report Post »endgamer
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 7:00pmI will try this again and hopefully the Central Scrutinizer will let this one stay. We are supposedly in a Free Market Economy with an already proven Monopoly in the NFL. The USFL sued the NFL over antitrust violations in the 1980′s and the court ruled YES the NFL was in deed a Monopoly and they violated antitrust laws.. The USFL was counting on a substantial award to compete head to head with the NFL BUT to the dismay of the USFL the court ordered payment of $1.00.. Sounds like B.S. to me and it still is. The NFL should have never merged with the nfl and offered a competing product. We would have much better football to watch. What I loved about the USFL was the players were allowed to have FUN and I loved every game. Today, the game is micromanaged and the Referees take control of the game’s outcome and that FIXES the games.. Everyone knows the NFL is fixed but because it’s the only game in town, we watch. Too many penalties, too much hype, overpaid babies, and an overpriced ticket to the game. Baseball, you are guilty too.. A completely independent competing football league is long overdue. Watch ticket prices drop and the games will be more competitive and more fun too. I like player celebrations. I like hard hitting football, not the “Girly-man” game we have now.. Is this post OK central scrutinizers?
Report Post »endgamer
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 7:04pmCorrection: The AFL should have never merged with the NFL
Report Post »geonj
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 6:58pmthe owners, the players, and the broadcast people worry about the money. we, the fans, get robbed if we go to a stadium to see a game. as far as i am concerned, they can all go to hell. i will find something else to do on sundays.
Report Post »Tnredneck
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 8:43pmLet college play on Sundays as well as sat. And get rid of the bcs and go to a play off system. I like college football better any way. I stopped watching the NFL when they let the dog killer play again. And encimon: you talk about the greedy team owners??? And the union players aren’t greedy?
Report Post »NicoleTheGreat06
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 6:50pmI wonder if this will have Blacklash just like what happen to The NHL and MLB.. Time will only tell..
Report Post »missbosslady
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 6:36pmWait!
If there is 9 billion to fight over, then why oh why, do we pay for staudiums and ever increasing ticket prices?
Eff, the palyers, lower the cost of tickets and pay for your own facilities!
Report Post »chips1
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 12:31amWith all that money, why don’t the owners pay for kids to get into the games free? It would help families afford to go to games together.
Report Post »EqualJustice
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 6:25pmThey get PAID way too much, anyway and they beat wives and kill dogs..
Report Post »jefryga
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 6:21pmGood. Lets bust another union. It’s unbelievable that the workers get 60% of the cut and have no risk or investment. They don’t even have to carry their own shoulder pads. Many complain about CEO making too much money but nobody cares that the players are raking it in. Unions are parasitic. The company dies, then the union dies. The union dies, then the company thrives.
Report Post »Go owners.
psst
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 6:21pmAs Rome was collapsing all around, and on the path to the dust-bin of history, the populace concerns were for more and more games in the Coliseum.
Report Post »Tickets were probably being scalped for some highly touted event.
Here we have Sports,Opry,Charlie Scream,Flee,***** Housewives of SanFran Freako,TheYoung and the Restless,amerKan Idol, Dance yer Behinds off, etceterrrrraaah,etceterrrraaaah.
“Histry” repeating itself.
Lesterp
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 6:26pmGreat point!
Report Post »Cabo King
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 6:15pmtime for Barry Obamacus to get involved, afterall its his union thugs again
Report Post »psst
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 6:29pmSoetoro has been involved from the begining.
Report Post »He even sent sent his own troops to whoop and holler and create mayhem.His troops are called Organizing for ameriKa.They create a pincer attack along w/ the union marxist thugs.
Soetoro’s private army is paid for for by the taxpayers.
It‘s reminiscent ot of another Hussein’s (coincidence?) Republican Guards.Loyal only to Hussein.
“histry” repeating itself.
aladytoo
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 6:10pmThe best football ever was the last time they walked out!
Report Post »sooner12
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 6:06pmIs that $9 billion after expenses? When these mult-million dollar per year players begin to share their wealth with their $200,000 per year teammates will I be inclined to support the players. I’ll certainly miss my Sundays, but at least college football isn’t unionized, yet
Report Post »take it back
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 6:05pmI will not be watching any nfl this year. college football rules!!
Report Post »chips1
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 12:46amContact tennis? The possibilities are endless.
Report Post »Reasonsjester
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 6:05pmWhere’s Governor Walker when you need him?
Report Post »kenny1960
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 6:05pmI miss the XFL as well. I was furious because the powers that ran the league never gave it enough time to get popular. How are you going to start a new football league and only give it one season to catch on ? Heck even the USFL gave it 3 years and they would have survived if they did not make the mistake of switching from summer to fall to go head to head with the NFL.. But one good thing did come out of the USFL for me, It was that league that convinced the NFL to put a team in my hometown of Jacksonville Florida . We were # 1 in attendance in the USFL and showed that Northeast Florida would support a team.
Report Post »endgamer
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 7:24pmI loved the Jacksonville Bulls! I was a NJ Generals fan and followed them all over. Went to opening day at the Orlando Renegades v.s the Generals.. The USFL championship game at the Meadowlands. Watched the Philadelphia Stars, San Antoinio Gunslingers, Tampa Bay Bandits.. Jim Kelly and the Mouse Davis Run & Shoot offense with the Houston Gamblers.. The USFL was too much fun!
Report Post »RaiderNationKissArmy
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 6:04pmI wouldn’t mind watching replacement players wearing the silver and black. It would be refreshing to watch men play the game because they love the game.
Report Post »SpiderPig
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 8:12pmKeanu Reeves was great in The Replacements. Great movie…the NFL players maybe should watch it.
Report Post »cane247
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 6:03pmCould the owners just cancel the season now? Starve out the players union? Like the NHL a few yrs ago. I‘m not certain that’s a good thing. The NFLPA is probly the least viral of the Big 3 players unions.
The focus isn’t unions per se, but PUBLIC SECTOR unions. Right?
Report Post »ohmy
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 6:22pmAll unions!
Report Post »sasoldier4god
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 6:01pmI think the owners should do what they did in the “replacements” it will put a few hundred people back to work even if its only short term, and I may get a spot on the New England Patriots :)
Report Post »UlyssesP
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 5:58pmGood. Let negotiations collapse. This is all irrelevant. Sports lovers, soon you will not have time to indulge in your escapism. Soon the whole world will be drenched in the heat of inescapable reality. Keep tossing your stupid pigskin around and/or living vicariously through the latest dog killer while you can.
Report Post »DagneyT
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 5:54pmAnother union bites the dust? That’s the good news in this story!
Report Post »GeorgieJo
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 6:07pmJuan Galt would probably agree …..
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 5:52pmFootball? Well, throw a pass!
Report Post »UlyssesP
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 6:00pmKeep that puppy away from M. Vick!
Report Post »BoilitDown
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 5:48pmDecertification of the union is underway….one more in the win column! With so much insanity these days, this is a little comforting
Report Post »encinom
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 8:08pmIdiot, they union members are decert’ing the union so that they can sue the greedy owners in court.
Tea-bagging leads to brain damage.
Report Post »Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 11:40pm@ENCINOM
Sue them in court for what, exactly?
How do you know that the owners are greedy? Do you know them all, personally?
“Tea-bagging leads to brain damage.” And you know this from….experience?
Report Post »neversaynever
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 12:07pmIs that your problem ENCINOM? You’ve been tea-bagged by your boyfriend so much that you’ve suffered mental problems? It would make sense…..
Report Post »StuntDrivin4U
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 5:48pmNo need for more games. Its fine the way it is, we just want football..
Report Post »Lesterp
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 6:25pmWatch college football, I like it better and way less ego.
Report Post »82dAirborne
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 7:49pm“We” who????? I don’t! Total waste of time.
Report Post »Eblaze44
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 5:47pmAlright! Obama better come to the rescue. I’m sure the taxes on the millions of dollars made by the top players and the money made from tv will shrink his “growing economy” even more.
Report Post »godlovinmom
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 5:52pmtexas…I think he was being sarcastic…big government republican…now thats funny!
Report Post »becruss
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 5:53pmObama need to stay out of it! He has done enough, let the people deal with this! He has enough to deal with! I LOVE the NFL but I am not ready to let the goverment take it over. It would ruin it!
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 7:06pm@godlovinmom
Report Post »Posted on March 11, 2011 at 5:52pm
texas…I think he was being sarcastic…big government republican…now thats funny!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I might not be reading the same thing that you’re referring to, but I read “taxes” in Eblaze44′s comment.
saneasylum
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 12:12pmGREED………… On both sides of this matter! Who can afford to go to any game anymore?
Report Post »tower7femacamp
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 5:46pmI hope they never come back and we start over with
Report Post »players making 200 thousand a yr
I miss the XFL…
Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 6:08pmYes, clean house and start over….with the Cardinals it could not hurt anything.
Report Post »Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 6:12pmSo a player doesn’t want to play and make $300k as a rookie. Cut them, there are 1000 other guys that would kill for that. Shoot, there are a lot of CFL players that would play for half that much just to come back to the US.
Report Post »If I own a buisness, and I make a billion dollars, and you work for me, and I only want to pay you $300k, that’s what the job pays.
Let these spoiled kids go out in the real world and see if someone if going to shower them with money, they only way that is going to happen is if they start working in a strip club and are really sexy.
godlovinmom
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 6:16pmnot that I’m a big sports fan…but I do have a husband and son who are..and when it takes a weeks salary to take your family to a sporting event…something wrong with this picture…America (and apparently our president) idolizes this stuff tooooo much…
Report Post »SavingtheRepublic.com
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 6:29pmXFL was ahead of its time, I think part of the problem was they had McMahon name directly tied to it.
As for this ots just one more example of how unions play a role in taking a good idea/purpose then distorting it and ruining it.
These guys have forgotten why they are playing its more about the money than the love of the game. There are 10′s of thousands of players who will take a 6 figure income to play for a season b/c they love it. These guys just dont get it! Let them shut it down so the fans can see who their idols really are!!
Report Post »CatB
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 6:34pmWhile millionaires and billionaires have a “spat” fans, sports bar owners, vendors, transportation, etc .. the “little guys” get hurt.
Report Post »GeneralBeasley
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 6:37pmI’m sorry tower but the XFL sucked so badly, it was like a Euro league. Honesty I don’t care what they make, when they make it, shut up, catch the ball, and run the damn thing in.
Go Cards, still better than Detroit.
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 6:45pmI just had a HORRIBLE thought! What if all the football-fan HUSBANDS go protest the failure of negotiations! Would that put liberals and conservatives protesting TOGETHER? Mercy sakes!
Report Post »emertz8413
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 6:50pmNot to mention the Bengals, or as they’re known around here, the Bungals!
Report Post »jhaydeng
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 6:50pmGreat! One more year of the N.Y. Jets not making the Super Bowl!!!!! Can’t win!
Report Post »A Doctors Labor Is Not My Right
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 6:53pmOh no! How will people play football unless its also on TV?
Report Post »home_of_the_brave
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 6:59pmJust another wonderful example how the unions are ruining America. Over-inflating players salaries, unbelievable rookie contracts worth millions before they ever play a pro game. I am an avid football fan but I can’t stand it when players complain about making millions… to play a game! Good bye and good riddance. We’ll start over and ban unions in pro sports too.
Report Post »82dAirborne
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 7:10pmFootball is a waste of time anyway. Pro sports are about money nothing more. I think it would be great if they never came back.
Report Post »Dustyluv
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 7:15pmI stayed away for 5 years after the last strike. If the greedy bastards strike again, I will NEVER watch again. F the NFL.
Report Post »poverty.sucks
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 7:54pmNo wonder Davis had made such sweet offers lately.
Report Post »mcbrian
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 7:57pmAmen, no sympathy for either side, most players couldn’t hold a job despite a “college education” if they want to quibble over making more money than then any of us could even dream about, let them go work for a living, I’ll read some good books on Sunday. Ditto the owners, they are only in it for the notoriety, re Synder and Jerry Jones. I do feel sorry for the community owned Green Bay team and their fans.
Report Post »avenger
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 8:17pmI could give a rats azs…I am waiting for obummer to start blood sports,like in the good(ROMAN EMPIRE) old days.modern version with radical terrorists that are bored to insanity at gitmo.
Report Post »Desert Dog
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 9:01pmWho really cares.
Report Post »jzs
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 10:01pmFrankly, I think it’s appalling how much sports figures make. But the extenuating circumstance is that as a player you’ve got about five years in that career, maybe ten if you‘re lucky and when you’re through, you have brain damage maybe, and very likely damage to your body that will haunt you when you reach the age of fourty and then the rest of your life.
Not taking sides on this, but I find it ironic that the posts here support the owners. These players are entrepreneurs, self-made individuals living the capitalist dream. The stars make tons of money for the owners by drawing in the crowds and television audience. And they want to get paid for what they are worth to the owners.
This is just capitalism folks, Americans like you and me saying “this is what I think I’m worth given the profits you recieve as a result of me playing on your team. And I want the other people who play the game, get the brain damage and live their later years as cripples get benefits too.”
You guys just think that only rich people have the right to decide what you make. Good luck with that. If you want to watch good football, and owners want to continue making money, then they’re going to have to pay the market rate to the players for their services. That’s not communism, that’s capitalism and the free market.
Report Post »Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 10:10pm@jzs
Point taken and accepted.
Granted a player that is in the same caliber as Peyton Manning can demand millions to play football, but, as a fan, I have seen the price to watch this sport going through the roof. I simply wont pay the price of admission, I will watch it on TV instead.
As for the players, with their demands that they want 60% if the profits, if they can negociate that fine, but if an owner simply says “enough” you don’t get that. I will pay you XXXXX amount take it or leave it. There are 1000′s of people wanting that postition or will play for far less.
So, being a person who has worked blue collar jobs and worked my way up, hey, I look at the riduculous amount they make and say “Screw both sides”.
I’ll watch Rugby this year.
Report Post »jzs
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 11:14pmDarmok and Jalad at Tanagra, I agree with you.
Report Post »Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 11:31pm“how to divide the $9 billion in annual revenue generated by the nation’s most popular sport. ”
How about dividing it amongst the stadiums to fix up what needs fixing and stop relying on taxpayers to do it. My team, the Bungles, forgot how to win, this year, so spending every Sunday in front of the
Report Post »TV is a big waste of time for me. Why the Bungles kept no-brain, no talent Ocho Stinko, who dropped 50% or more of his passes, is beyond me.
Mike Brown refuses to hire a manager to run the team and thinks he is doing a good job at it-NOT.
We lose potential players, because nobody wants to play on a team that perpetually loses.
At least they fired OC Bratowski, who was so very predictable about his play calls, but will lose/lost Carson Palmer, who is an above average Quarterback, but doesn’t have the scrambling skills other successful quarterbacks do.
Divothead
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 11:36pmI agree. How the hell can you have collective bargaining when a favored few are negotiating their own contracts for tens of millions? The NFL example makes a mockery of all union principles.
If this is a union, then journeymen should all make the same.
Report Post »restorehope
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 12:46amI‘m seeing a trend here with unions and it’s not a good one. They don’t take kindly to not getting their own way. They seem to think the rest of us are here to satisfy their every craving. Time for them to learn that if you want to wear big boy pants, you have to act like a big boy……not a spoiled child.
Report Post »Tagudinian
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 9:15amGreed is a burden. Even to these good players, they just don’t want to stop making more money. Enough already. Lock them out and let us start all over again with players who just want to play for love of the game. Lower the stadium ticket prices so that poor fans can attend games. Offer reasonable pay for players and if they demand billions just don’t hire them.
Report Post »neversaynever
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 11:30amYou people are very misinformed. The players are NOT asking for more money. Because their deal ended the owners wanted to have a new deal in which the players last about $800 million a year total salary (this would be spread out over all the players salaries). The League also wanted to adopt a new 18 game schedule, which the players quickly took off the table for obvious health reasons. The players did however, agree to take a cut in pay as the owners requested if they could see the books and know why they were having to take a pay cut. The owners refused to show the players and their reps the books so the players then said that they would not take a pay cut unless they were shown proof of why it was needed.
There is a lot of misinformation on here about the players, so lets clear a couple things up:
1) The players have already agreed to set a rookie wage scale so that the rookie’s who were first coming in to the league were not making more than they deserve. In fact, the players have been for this all along, but agents continually made the price of doing business higher and higher until now the owners agree its absurd to play unproven players huge amounts of money.
2) While it’s true that many in Pro Football make millions, the league minimum is about 350k for dress squad players, and 150k for practice squad players (still very good scratch).
3) The average NFL career last LESS than 3 yrs, averaging out to something about 2.85 yrs. When you couple that with the fact that 80% of former NFL players need a cane to be able to walk by the time they reach 55 yrs old, and are much more succeptible to brain problems (alzheimers being the main culprit) later on in life, you can see why they would want to make as much as they can when they can.
4) My final relates to all those on here saying that these players dont “work” for a living, While its true they dont work normal jobs, it’s also true that they work very hard year round to make sure that they are in peak physical condition so that they can take the tremendous beating they take during the season. Their physical labor per day is more than anybody’s I can promise.
I played low-level proffessional football for 4 years. 3 in the Arena Football League and 1 in the Euro League. While many on here seem to believe that all players are demcrats, my experience has shown me that most players are fiscally conservative republicans, that have the social leaning of democrats. There are whackjobs in the profession though, and hoodlums that make everyone look bad, but the overwhelming majority are family men doing their job and thankful to have it. Just as in any profession, those doing things by the book never get atention, but those making a fool out of themselves draw negative attention to the whole bunch.
Report Post »Ranubis
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 12:10pmI haven’t watch the NFL in years. Can you say NCAA…Go Buckeyes!!!
Report Post »lionslayer44
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 6:12pmhip hip hooray!!! i hope they never come back. played the game loved every minute of it. the fact is the regular guy cant even afford to go to the games meanwhile these over paid primadonna’s do nothing but whine. what if i get hurt and cant play anymore? well then you’ll have to go get a job like the rest of us. maybe you should have read a book while in college and got your degree. im sick of the players and the owners they all suck.
Report Post »bulletsinthegun
Posted on March 12, 2011 at 8:51pmWho really cares, a bunch of spoiled men wanting more money at the fans expense. May they rot in hell
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