Wonder how many readers understand what that means?

Give me a break.
He couldn’t even successfully get folding chairs unfolded.

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Hey, root for the Eagles all you want, but as you should already know, Jerry wasn’t in charge of installing any seats, let alone folding chairs. The NFL takes over the stadium work one month before the Bowl.

Jerry is a great businessman (not a GM) and would help get a deal done if the players really were willing to sit down with the owners. So would Kraft. I just don’t think the players are all that serious. Just wait for the “clarification”

Which demand have the players made that you HAVEN’T said the owners must yield, Mike? I’ve read all the related posts on this site, and have yet to find one.

Even when the owners are the only ones making concessions and negotiating against themselves, your answer seems to be just give the players everything they want. Just yesterday, with news of the 90% cash floor, your initial post was that the owners should just make it 92 or 95 or 98%, with no mention of the players bargaining at all. Here, they don’t want Goodell, so of course they owners need to listen… but not a word about the intransigent De Smith.

Your position on the issue is clear, and that’s fine. But things would be a hell of a lot more interesting to read here if we didn’t know exactly what to expect in every post…. and your claims to be neutral on the matter, such as in your post yesterday, is laughable, really. At least mix it up a bit, for the sake of appearance, if nothing else.

When I said the owners need to sit down with their players and get this thing done, I meant just that. No Goodell, Pash, and Batterman. No De Smith. The attorneys may have to be present for the signing of the agreement, but they don’t have to be present while the agreement is negotiated.

And thank you for being civil throughout our disagreement on this issue.

@eagleswin …

It’s not accurate, adult, or productive to keep insisting one side is completely at fault as you seem hell-bent on doing. You keep talking about the owners’ proposals plural. At the ninth hour, the owners made one fair proposal addressing many of the players’ concerns, but still failing to address the revenue issue. However, the players made a proposal weeks ago that not only cut their percentage of revenues but also dropped their request to see owner financials. The owners rejected it.

As with most negotiations, both sides have made compromises and both sides have been intransigent. Both sides have feared, distrusted, misread, and miscalculated the other. For the greater good, it’s time now to put all that away and for the primary parties to talk calmly to one another.

My last comment didn’t smear the owners. I said the owners, working alone with the players, could get this done. My animosity toward Roger Goodell has nothing to do with the labor issue or laying blame on the owners, and there’s no reason to bring De Smith into it since he has nothing to do with running the league. I’ve never made any secret of my long-running agenda to remove Roger Goodell as commissioner. The man is detrimental to football–to players, owners, fans, the game and its future. He was detrimental before the lockout and will still be a plague on the game when the labor issues are resolved.

If the differences were to be settled by playing on the field, the players would have an advantage. But this is done in the board room.

A new union needs to be formed that has the player’s interest in mind. Get some businessmen running it and former players advising it. Then they can go toe-to-toe with the owners.

I took a minute and looked this up. It’s true. The 8th Circuit Cout of Appeals is very conservative. I was pretty sure the owners didn’t retain David Boice simply to go before the court in Minnesota.

Patpatriotagain is correct. The owners have this in the bag.

Some people on here are defending Goodell because they support the owners, but most fans had nothing positive to say about the guy during the season. He’s been a plague to the league and the strong-arm tactics he, Pash, and Batterman have used are as much to blame for the decertification as anything De Smith has done.

The owners need to boot those three vipers out of the room, sit down with their players, and get this thing done before that court date. Then they need to boot Goodell out of the commissioner’s office.
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Not much of an agenda there is there? No. Pretty much DeSmith and the union to blame as much as you like to smear the owners on this. The union has used threats and vague accusations the whole time. Have they explained to you why they need 10 years financials yet? and why they can’t be auditted by a neutral party but must be auditted by the union lackeys?

I don’t think so but don’t let that distract you from your owner diatribe. The owners have submitted several proposals and while we don’t know every single detail we do know alot of the broadstrokes that they have conceded on. Do we know of anything the players have conceded on? Do we even know the specifics of what the union doesn’t like? No? i heard Anthony Gonzales of the Colts was pulling an all nighter with a point by point rebuttal of Goodells letter. How’s that coming.

Players are saying the owners are lying yet have no clue as to the specifics of the lie. It’s all propoganda, smoke and mirrors on the union side yet the Goodell is equally to blame.

“Jerry could get this done. He’s not a great General Manager, but as an owner and businessman, he makes things happen.”

Give me a break.
He couldn’t even successfully get folding chairs unfolded.

I would hope that in the interest of fairness that you would also want De Maurice Smith and the other lawyers only interested in making a buck to stay out of this meeting as well right?

This doesn’t show any type of trusting the owners. Just another attempt in what could only be described as a “trainwreck” of a PR battle.

Also, Kraft has been adament about ‘getting the lawyers out of this thing’ and so far, been the most optimistic owner that..’it’d be criminal if a deal not done’.

NONE of us wish to see a bitter court case…and this is the ONLY way that this crap can get settled…players face to face w/owners.

Really HOPING the owners begin to get the message that Goodell may financially have helped owners…but is micro managing and ruining football.

If players are smart…their biggest stipulation to signing a deal..is that Goodell be gone…Then perhaps there will be some type organization to rules….How many guys got fined for really dumb things??? Am no fan of Harrison, but he got screwed a few times on fines.