Earlier today, NFLPA spokesman George Atallah said that, if executive director De Smith will be dropping his pay in response to Commissioner Roger Goodell’s post-lockout move to $1 annually, the union won’t be announcing the move via a press release.
“We’re not gonna issue any press releases about our contingency plans to make ourselves look more sympathetic,” Atallah said.
He was right. They did it instead via Twitter.
Specifically, Smith said that, if a deal is done before the Super Bowl, he’ll cut his pay to 68 cents. It’s an unrealistic commitment, given that the chances of a deal getting done before the Super Bowl fall somewhere in the gulf between slim and none. And it says nothing about the question of whether Smith will cut his pay if there’s a lockout.
But the end result is the same. Goodell and Jeff Pash ultimately will make what they would have made, even if the lockout wipes out the entire 2011 season. So Goodell and Pash will get their money, Smith will get their money, the owners will get their money, and the players will get their money.
How we get to the point where everyone gets their money remains to be seen.