NFLPA takes anti-lockout case to TV

Posted by Mike Florio on January 27, 2011, 9:23 AM EST

The NFL Players Association has been compiling a war chest in the event of a lockout.  And some of that cash has now been devoted to a media campaign aimed at blocking a lockout.

Liz Mullen of SportsBusiness Journal reports that the union has produced 30-second and 60-second commercials featuring NFL players and fans clamoring for football in 2011.  The commercial will debut on the union’s website today, and it will be aired during the NFLPA college All-Star Game, February 5 on CBS College Sports.

Players in the segment (including NFLPA president Kevin Mawae) say, “Let us play.”  The fans say, “Let them play.”

It’s unknown whether Tanner Boyle will be making a cameo.

We’ve got no problem with the effort.  It’s no different than the league’s P.R. ploy of dropping salaries to $1.  Both sides continue to battle for the hearts and minds of a fan base that really doesn’t care about anything other than getting a deal done.

The sooner both sides realize that they’re wasting their time and their money, perhaps the sooner a deal will get done.

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30 responses to “NFLPA takes anti-lockout case to TV”

  1. The bad news bears chant, gotta like that. Except the astrodome is history & these aren’t kids.

  2. Amen, Mike. This is a group of people arguing about more money than most of us will make in a lifetime. I’m already tired of reading about the lockout, and it hasn’t even started.

  3. Completely agree with you, Mike. What does it take for them both to realize that all we care about is watching football next year and could care less about their billions thrown around? We want to see a game and not have to pay through the nose for it…hopefully NHL will make a comeback when these whiners lock out.

  4. Absolutely wrong approach.

    The players need to accept that they are going to “lose” on the money side of this… if you call making millions of dollars for playing a game losing.

    The players should instead focus on more winnable issues, which is where I am personally more supportive of them. Things like health care, guarantees in contracts, injuries, and the length of the season are areas where I think the players can find better gains.

    This is also where I actually agree with Antonio Cromartie…. get this done!

  5. One problem is they are letting their ego’s get in the way. Neither side wants to be first to give in first and if they do get a deal done they still want to look like the good guys who won in the end.

  6. Maybe they use “Cromarti” as their spokes person. His use of the english lanquage is a good as any that has come out of the NFLPA lately!

  7. When will the NFLPA learn that this is an issue that will neither a) garner any sympathy among today’s economic strapped society nor b) be solved by appealing to fans that the NFLPA is more right than the NFL Owners?

    The NFLPA needs to shut their mouth, shut down their PR campaign, save their war chest money, and sit down at the bargaining table to sign a deal that provides them better benefits than their previous deal.

    Sounds to me like a deal like that is within sight for those with any type of vision.

  8. Both sides should remember that old adage, “OUT OF SIGHT,OUT OF MIND”…..yes, even when it comes to football. I’m an NFL fanatic, but if there is a prolonged lockout/strike even football fanatics turn to something else. Already my attitude about it is, WAKE ME WHEN IT’S OVER.

  9. Both sides are taking a “Don’t blame us” attitude when it comes to the fans instead of a message that shows they are willing to work for a deal. Stop the posturing and grandstanding and get started with reasonable negotiations. Both sides will look equally bad in the eyes of the fans if there is no football.

  10. Hey De Smith,
    Why don’t you and Commissioner Goofball stop talking to the media? Talk to each other from accross the table and get a deal done.

  11. Perhaps the league will counter with a commercial showing Smith’s “Going to war!” clip?

    That ought to deflate the union balloon a bit…….

  12. Kevin Mawae is part of the problem. . . He went on Mike and Mike and ranted about average career of an NFL player is 3.5 years.

    Well the average NFL salary is $800,000. A person that makes $40,000 won’t be able to catch the average NFL career in their lifetime.

    On top of that 97% of NFL players had an opportunity at a College education for FREE. Something else the average American doesn’t get.

    Kevin, please keep in mind you sound like spoiled brats when you talk and act this way. It’s just a game and if it goes away no one will be making money. . . How much is enough.

  13. Who is this supposed to appeal to? The fans? As a fan, how the hell am I supposed to help get a deal done?

  14. I think the players should realize most of them are going to see just how much their “College Degrees” are worth without football…………
    Owners rule and are the ones who have endured the financial risk, so they should rightfully have the upper hand in negotiation. Capitalism, baby!!!

  15. Nobody cares about their media ploys, agreements to take salary to $1….nobody has any sympathy for either side. Billionaires arguing about a few $s does impress anybody. All we want is football in 2011, we don’t care how or why. Stop the public negotiating, and let’s do some actual negotiating.

  16. Maybe they should have taken the money used in the commercial and put it under their pillow to help prevent their “economic demise.”

  17. The end of the commercial should have Goodell chasing Jordy Nelson around Texas Stadium while the Super bowl fans chant “let them play!” Now that would be funny!

  18. “The sooner both sides realize that they’re wasting their time and their money, perhaps the sooner a deal will get done.”

    Don’t you think it’s more about money in the long term rather than the short term, Mike?

  19. this is dumb. negotiate benefits and things that are important in the long term. Owner rightfully should make most of the $ as this is their league, without their $ there would be no teams.

    Is like me and all my co-workers asking our company to give us half of the profit the company makes. They would laugh on my face and then fire me.

  20. Whenever I hear either of these two sides talk (and mostly I avoid it due to having a life) I hear the same exact thing and it sounds just like this —– Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah —— Blah —- And then I turn the channel or move onto something else

  21. Education, transportation, Hollywood, your local grocery store, and now the NFL.

    All of these things have been at least temporarily ruined by unions. Make the NFL a right-to-work league and be done with it. Otherwise I’ll have nothing to watch while I’m drinking beer.

  22. So the Union is gonna throw money at a TV spot? I would think that money would be better serverd to help the players deal “with their own economic demise.”

    This is looking more and more like a political show and the only thing it is accomplishing is alienating the fans.

  23. Let the NFLPA and anyone else who wants to put all the pressure possible on the owners to not initiate a lockout. Let the owners be the bad guys, if that’s what it takes to keep playing football. The fans don’t care about the details of the CBA or how long it takes for the two sides agree on one. They only care about having NFL football when its supposed to be played.

  24. And by the way Mr Kevin Mawae say an average career of an NFL player is 3.5 years — Say I just except that at face value —- A lot of that has nothing to due with injury and everything to do with performance —- Lot’s of guys come into the NFL play (or try to) for a few years and leave due to being cut due to just not being good enough —- These guys always try to make it sound like the average career of an NFL player is 3.5 years just due to injury and nothing could be farther then the truth

  25. if the players gave in 15 yrs ago they wouldn’t have FREE agency!! you can quit and work for anyone you want in the real world!! owners are not in the real world, or that bum goodell!!

  26. Why do the administrators keep censoring my attempts to tell other users about what fans can do? I’m not promoting a business or spamming- this is a serious effort being launched by fans. The Save Next Season campaign has already received national media attention.

    Fans deserve to know someone is fighting for them in Washington- Sports Fans Coalition.

  27. Goodell is ruining the NFL daily. So much so, that for the first time in my life, I’m actually losing interest in the NFL.

  29. Watching this play out is actually more interesting than the NFL has been all season. I would like to see this go to the worst place possible, season long strike or lock-out. It will be the most dramatic and compelling the NFL has been in 20 years. In the end, we will all come crawling back, so what do we care if we have nothing to do next fall? We’ll deal. These problems are what make life interesting.

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