As the NFL Players Association conducts its annual meeting in Hawaii, eyebrows are rising throughout the football-following world. With a slowly-recovering economy and the union urging players to save money in advance of a possible lockout, shouldn’t the once-per-year session be conducted in a place other than a tropical paradise?
Probably, but the reality is that these arrangements are made multiple years in advance. That same fact applied to the NFL a year ago, when the March league meetings were conducted at a swanky resort in Dana Point, California, while the financial climate was far worse than it currently is.
Still, the union’s trek to the islands has prompted a jab from NFL spokesman Greg Aiello, who made the following point via Twitter: “Weather today in NY is atrocious . . . would rather be in Maui but can’t afford it.”
The union might respond to the dig by suggesting that Aiello ask former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue for a loan. After all, Tagliabue made $3.3 million last year, despite retiring in 2006.