NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has sent a letter to all players summarizing the terms of last Friday’s offer to the NFLPA*, and urging the players to ask the NFLPA* to continue negotiations.
The early reaction to the letter isn’t good.
Seahawks guard Chester Pitts, the player rep in Seattle before the NFLPA became the NFLPA*, assailed the letter in comments provided to us via NFLPA* spokesman George Atallah.
“I’ve told my guys to take the letter and set it on fire,” Pitts said. “We’re not that stupid.”
Neither Pitts nor the NFLPA* have elaborated on why they think the letter presumes that they players are stupid. Though the deeper objective may have been to spark a process of divide and conquer, the fundamental point made by Goodell is accurate and useful.
With an unnamed nucleus of NFLPA* officials and/or lawyers apparently refusing to continue negotiations, the players need to press them to talk in order to bring the decertification-litigation-lockout mess to an end.
Though no one (including the owners) expects the players to accept the offer, the players need to respond to it. That’s Goodell’s message, and we agree with it.