In short it means the players are replaceable. EACH. AND. EVERY. ONE. OF. THEM. ARE. REPLACEABLE.

For every aging Staubach, Bradshaw and Starr there is a young Montana, Marino, and Favre. When they get too old there is a young Brady, Manning, and Roethlisberger waiting to arrive. Then Bradford, Stafford, and Ryan will take their place.

The NFL will endure beyond the current flock of players. Count on it.

Meanwhile the players will take a lot of heat from people who hate unions. That would have to be the only reason why a person with an IQ higher than a turnip would side with the owners.

Bottom line is the players want to play regardless if a contract is signed. They will not strike. It’s the owners who are locking them out and still charging for tickets. Only a union hating fool could possible take their side.

A. Play ball for very generous amounts of money.

B. Do something else.

The following has been deleted from the list and is no longer available for selection

C. Play ball for obscene amounts of money.

As a fan I am sick of owners making their desired margins by charging me $25 to park and $10 for a beer. I would much rather them pay you tools a sensible salary.

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This site acknowledges they are still a union, the players acknowledge they are still a union, DEmo acknowledges they are still a union.

Glad to know that the 8th Circuit realizes they ARE NOT a union anymore.

But you’ve probably never owned or managed a business, so you’re unable to relate to people who try to earn an honest dollar, but are frustrated by employees who are unreliable, blame their life choices on their boss, and constantly look for excuses as to why they can’t do this or that.
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Dude, this reads like you need to grow a set and fire somebody(s).

There is no more players union. Keep it that way. From this day forward, they are all workers. When they graduate or leave college, they can apply for a job wherever they want, whenever they want. That’s what every other worker has the right to do. There will be no need for a draft salary plan because there will not be a draft. Sign a five or six year contract and when that’s over, a player can go apply for work with another team or two or three. He should be able to choose from the offer that best suites him, his family and his personal and professional goals. Those contracts will include salary, bonuses, health care, retirement, whatever he can get. That’s what every other worker has the right to do. No more player trades. IBM does not and can not trade workers with Symantec. Just release him. He is free to go to work for someone else. And if owners don’t meet the terms of the contracts, the players can just leave and apply elsewhere. That’s what happens in the real world.

Most of you are so busy treating this situation as if it were just like every other business in America you have lost sight of what it takes to make this work. It exist because it is unique. But, if that’s what you want. I say go for it. The Cowboys or the Giants can win the title every year. You want a salary cap. Fine by me. That’s on the team and the league to deal with. I don’t care what your cap problems are, pay me.

If you ever want to return to the good old days, that’s fine too. But if you want me to surrender my rights, you will have to compensate me. That’s how the real world does it. And yes, we will draw up a contract (because I don’t trust your word) and I expect you to honor the terms. Otherwise, I agree with the general sentiment on this board, treat it just like every other business.

Completely misguided =Portraying NFL players, who earn their jobs through incredibly difficult athletic competitions, as though they are unskilled labor.

Biased tunnel vision = forgeting that the ”game” they are paid to play is very hard on their bodies, leaving most of them with limps, back injuries and/or neurological damage that will change their lives forever.

The players are the reason people watch, take all the risk, and deserve to get a large share of the profits. If they push HARD to get it, so be it.

I do not work for the NFLPA, just tired of reading the bull posted by pro-owner lemmings.

But you’ve probably never owned or managed a business, so you’re unable to relate to people who try to earn an honest dollar, but are frustrated by employees who are unreliable, blame their life choices on their boss, and constantly look for excuses as to why they can’t do this or that.

I would be much more on the players’ side if the NFLPA* looked like they were trying to get to a lasting solution — and when I mean lasting, I mean something that takes care of all of the issues, so you don’t have people getting mad two or three years down the line and then re-litigating the whole mess. De Smith’s solution to NFL alumni who can’t walk straight is to wait a few years until there are more former players entering retirement years, and then re-litigate, instead of working with the NFL’s proposal (as outlined in the link you provided, http://nfllabor.com/2011/03/11/exclusive-summary-of-nfl-proposal-to-nflpa/).

If I were an owner, NFW would I open my books to De Smith. You just know he would use it to find new and novel ways to litigate three years down the road, repeating this whole nightmare all over again.

Oh and Jb we pro-owners only look down on those individuals who make $3 bil collectively and complain that they need more money to play a game for 7 months a year.

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Rex Ryan sweats just sitting down.

Amazing how you know this about people simply from a post.

But anyway, people who “play” football are not “working” irregardless of how much they may or may not sweat. There is a reason they are called “players” and not “workers”. Last time I checked, they were the NFLPA, meaning National Football League PLAYERS Association.

See the difference. Players play and workers work. Guys who work construction, often sweat a lot. These guys are workers, or employees if you prefer. Guys who get paid 6, 7, and 8 figure salaries to play football 16 times per year are not workers by anybody’s stretch of their imaginations. And just because some of them sweat during the other 8 months of the year when they are supposed to be staying in physical shape so they can collect on those 6, 7 and 8 figure salaries, doesn’t make them workers either.

Anyone who makes a statement like that is him(her)self a tool.

NFLPA*: “We believe everything you say, De. Thanks for saving us from all that pesky reading we’d have to do to look into the situation ourselves.”

Also in the players favor?: National polls find Americans blame the owners. Owners ARE NOT entitled to a rapid growth rate in their profits, at the expense of players, who are clearly sacrificing their bodies for a lucrative salary. Just what are the owners sacrificing?

The owners are making great profits now on a relatively simple investment with practically NO risk. That’s probably why they refuse to open their books.

People here have tried to make the argument that the owners’ position is about the sustainability of the game. How so? Both sides have agreed to a team salary cap — http://nfllabor.com/2011/03/11/exclusive-summary-of-nfl-proposal-to-nflpa/

Polls show that PFT was right about bored, resentful league employees flooding posts here. Real fans understand the facts described above. They are not buying the owners’ distortions.

In the interim here’s where the NFLPA* is headed – “Half a league, Half a league, Half a league onward, All in the valley of Death” – this is where De Smith is leading you as the players have become the “Light Brigade”. You can change this by getting rid of the “Little Litigator” and bargain in good faith as soon as possible.

There are some owners who have more years invested into a team than an entire offensive unit.

You will never have leverage. You are the equivalent to a waiter at Denny’s, a mechanic at Walmart, a bagger at Hyvee. It’s just you get paid $500,000 to bag your groceries. And trust me, 85% of us are beginning to hate you even more with your greed. Players are losing leverage with every day that passes and when you come back at the end of the day begging for your paychecks you will look even more pathetic.

What happened to the days when you could negotiate a fair deal with someone and shake hands?

Now, it’s all about getting the upper hand and then using it to beat down the other party.

I think it’s just sad that everyone loses except the owners and players. Sure, some players have to take out 500k loans to survive…poor guy, but long term the players and owners will still be getting richer off of this game while this lockout is going to do harm to the average joe that depends on the game for a chunk of their income…that they will never get back if football games are missed…that sounds like irreperable harm to me.

I remember when hockey shut down…some bars and restaurants near the forum had to shut down. This will happen again if football games aren’t played.

If the owners and players had any moral bone in their body they would realize how many ppl they are potentially hurting with their greed and sit down and decide how to split their wealth.