London Fletcher “absolutely” prepared to miss a season if necessary

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal on May 27, 2011, 2:24 PM EDT
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We’ve had a number of compelling NFL player viewpoints on PFT Live this week, from Scott Fujita to Jason Snelling to Friday’s guest, Redskins linebacker London Fletcher.

In a league this big, players aren’t going to all take the exact same stance.  (Nor should they be expected to.)  Snelling was wary of a litigation-based strategy and not comfortable missing the season to pursue it.  Florio asked Fletcher if he was prepared to miss the season if necessary.

“Absolutely,” Fletcher said. “It’s not just about me.  It’s about the players that played before me and the players that played after me.”

We could explain Fletcher’s comments further, but he does a much better job than we could in the clip below.

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34 responses to “London Fletcher “absolutely” prepared to miss a season if necessary”

  4. Ok Fletcher. You are pretty old right now. Next year you will be one year older, one step slower, a few million poorer, and one year closer to not being able to play again.

    Yea right, whatever you say. Good strategy, makes sense……..NOT.
    Keep on listening to that shyster. Keep on following his strategy. Keep on track to the poor house.

  5. Be careful London. Those legs arent getting any younger this may be your last season.

  6. London Fletcher is a class act off the field and a great player on the field. Needs to be more people in the NFL like him.

  7. another 4skins loser. overrated never been to a pro bowl because you don’t deserve it! LMAO. watch DWare if you want some looks at a legit backer, lon-DOWN. LMAO suckas

  8. I think these guys need to start to wonder when the fans might sit out the season? Even if a deal is done the NFL is going to lose fans. The question right now should be “how many fans are we willing to lose?”. London Fletcher should think beyond London Fletcher

  9. nobody needs fletcher. just replace him and Brees with guys who are willing to pay for $140 million. These guys sound so stupid when they say its about the players before and after, as if what the players have now is a “right” and they should never have to give back even a little. Hell, why not fight for 60% of the revenue, and then never give back… and then 70% or 90%.

  11. How magnanimous from a guy that has played his career is on the edge of retirement. I’m sure those players who are in the prime of their career will just love losing season that they will never get back.

  12. Good for fletcher, now what about the undrafted rookies, special teams players, developmental guys… None of which carry a voice.

    I’m ready for a line to be drawn. Players that want similar pay to last year let them play, greedy uckers that want more money (aka guys within 2 years of retirement) can hold out.

    I can’t wait until they don’t get a paycheck.

  14. (::YAWN::)
    I guarantee London doesn’t understand the governing dynamics of all this, if he did he’d be parroting Kurt Warner…almost every player is regurgitating what DeMaurice is telling, scratch that, selling them.
    Blah blah blah…owners are locking US out…blah blah blah…I don’t really have a solution other than stating the last CBA was awesome for the players and we’d be happy to play under that again (lest we forget ballooning rookie salaries that take away from veterans and retired players)…blah blah blah…let us play and figure it out later. Yeah, nothing he said could possibly sway my thoughts…just another uninformed player and his De Smith framed rhetoric. Ugh, I’ve got tired head…

  15. The key problem is that “missing the season if that’s what it takes” sounds good, but “missing the season” may not be what it takes, since litigation is an inherently uncertain process. You don’t know, going in, whether you’re going to win or lose; both sides in a legal dispute have a realistic chance of losing if they see how deep the rabbit hole goes.

    The actual rational calculus should first compare “what you get by settling now” vs. “what you stand to gain by stringing this out minus what you actually lose by stringing this out” and then considering your actual odds of winning in court. I’m reasonably confident that while the principled answer may be to fight and die, just do whatever it takes to win… the rational answer is just to take the best deal you can get without missing any games.

  17. If this lasts long enough the $9B slice of pie you’re arguing about will dwindle down to significantly less. Yes, please…fight longer and piss fans off more. Miss the season, see where that gets you.

  20. PFT is totally pro-player in their coverage on the lockout. It amazes me that the players are letting this go on by not negotiating…then have the audacity to blame the owners for not letting anything get done. I, like many others, are so tired of the players crap.

  22. Pretty funny to read some comments stating Fletcher is washed up and this be his last year. It may be his last year, but only if he decides it is. The guy has never missed a game in his pro career. Says to me the guy knows how to take care both himself physically and monetarily.

    Whatever is in store of Fletcher in the future i am sure Fletcher will be prepared for it.

  24. If the lockout is upheld after the June 3rd hearing, I hope the players hold out and if the season is missed it missed. London and all the smart well-prepared players know whats at stake. If some careers and money is sacrificed for future and past players….so be it. The owners would be hit where it would hurt them the most, in the pocket. I want both sides to hurt so much that they wont ever go down this path again. Its 9 billion dollars. Get it done…..btw. Kurt Warner would have be a plantiff against the NFL if this had occured in the prime of his career. So he needs to shut up and let the current players like London (well prepared & smart) lead this fight.

  25. @b1ackr0ck

    That was only through 2007, he’s been paid since then. He’s making like $25 mil over 5 years, so add another 10 mil or so to that number.

    If I were him, I would worry about the $5 mil I’d get paid this year rather than “my sons chance to make great money in the NFL”. Fletcher is a phenomenal player, but he didn’t exactly have the NFL genes – if I were him I wouldn’t bank on my son being the NFL and I’d be worried about that $5 million’s future value for my son 20 years from now.

  26. “boyzroll”

    another 4skins loser. overrated never been to a pro bowl because you don’t deserve it! LMAO. watch DWare if you want some looks at a legit backer, lon-DOWN. LMAO suckas
    ————————————————

    As a Ram fan (and the team who signed Fletcher as an UDFA): its post like these that make me shake my head.London Fletcher is by far one of the best MLB’s in the game. One of the most surest tacklers and smartest linebackers currently playing.The overrated part is hilarious.

    I hope you have toilet paper for that diarahea that comes out of your mouth.

  28. Fletcher is one of the most intelligent, classiest players in the NFL. He has the ears of all of his teammates and he should be taken seriously by all of you too.

  29. I don’t blame him for his point of view. Yes, the lockout is being imposed by the ownership. But the league is coming across as the more reasonable party here. They want to change the way the players get paid while still allowing the players to see a wage increase and the players have no reasonable counter offer. The players are the ones who decertified and went to the courts seeking leverage. Don’t blame the ownership for sticking up for their rights as well.

    As for London as a person….like I said, he’s entitled to fight for his best interests. He’s one of the most solid players in this league. I was very dissapointed when he left Buffalo. He just needs to realize that not many players have had a successful career almost fully behind themselves. Many of these players are going to start to get hungry for those paychecks. I’d assume over 60% of the players are not fully prepared to miss a season of football.

  30. Ok, fine, I give up. The players keep yapping, they never shut up, and I am finally tired of it. Go ahead and miss a season, I will live. The players however will not get back the money they will leave in the owners bank accounts.

  31. Hmm…let’s see here.

    players – owners = no money for players
    owners – players = owners still have money
    players – fans = no money for players
    owners – fans = owners still have money
    players – nfl = welcome to the real word with the rest of us
    owners – nfl = owners still have money

    Who wins here…pretty obvious. Get back to work!

  32. Wow, a lot of clueless jacktards commenting on how “overrated” or “overpaid” London Fletcher is. Have you even watched him play? The guy is all over the field, making plays, making it happen. The guy is Pro-Bowl worthy and has been for years. And this is coming from an Eagles fan. A good player deserves respect, regardless of what team he plays for.

  33. Everyone is doing the same thing, just looking out for them selves. Fletcher is looking after Fletcher, the owners are looking out for the owners, and Myself as a fan, I am just looking for more football. There is no moral high ground, just perspective.

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