The NFLPA has done a great job recently of upgrading its official web site. And the union has been gracious in its extension to a certain Internet media slappy access to areas that can’t be accessed by certain Internet non-media slappys. (Or is it slappies?)
But a member of the media with a keener eye for detail that yours truly (typeo? watt tyepo?) has pointed out the presence of an ominous message at the top of every page of the redesigned site.
It ghostly, faded letters, the words “LOCKOUT WATCH” appear, above what appears to be the top of a bank vault. It’s an appropriate image since: (1) vaults have locks; and (2) rich people like NFL owners put their money in them.
But why is the union doing so much to make it so clear that a lockout could be coming, when the NFL has said nothing to indicate that a lockout could be coming? (We’ve got a detailed legal analysis coming on that point, and we’ll post it once free agency dies down a bit.)
In our view, there are three possible explanations. First, and as some believe, the union wants to force a lockout in order to ultimately emerge with the best possible deal, after Executive Director De Smith uses the lockout as ammunition for an assault on the NFL in the political arena. Second, the union is trying to soften the players up to take the last, best offer made by the owners in March 2011 by scaring the players into thinking that a lockout is coming. Third, the union is using the threat of the lockout to get players to save more money in the event that a lockout becomes necessary.
The smartest approach would be the second one. By constantly reminding the players of the drawbacks of a lockout, the union might be able to get the players to better appreciate the risk of not taking the last offer, once the last offer comes.
Of course, there’s also a risk that, by constantly hearing the word “lockout,” the players will become desensitized to the possibility, causing them to conclude that it’s inevitable and that they might as well go ahead and let it happen.
Regardless of the union’s motivation or the possible consequences, intended or otherwise, the presence of “LOCKOUT WATCH” on the union’s official web site on the first day of what could be the last league year before the first work stoppage in nearly a quarter century classifies as a complete and total buzzkill.