by Rashid Castle-Ali

The answer is going to be much harder to come by than we all might imagine.  But the reality is if the two sides want it to happen then they will make it happen so that there is no work stoppage or some "scrubs" taking the field for the 2011 season.  I cannot say that I am even considering what the outcome will be if there is no agreement reached and the eminent lockout that looms over the horizon becomes a reality.  To think that either side would be in favor of a strike, turning their backs on the fans of the game and the number source of the money that pays for the tickets and sports merchandise that the NFL benefits from.  A true sports fan knows what is really at odds here is the battle of whose ego is the biggest and one of the seven deadly sins...greed.  We're looking at the NFL Owners ego vs. the Players ego.  The pink elephant in the room that no one wants to address is the nature of greed and what it can cause a person to do.

Here are the facts relating to the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the NFL Owners and the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) that represents those football players who choose to be a part of the NFLPA:

1. The current CBA between the league and the Players expires at 11:59 PM EST on March 3, 2011 and at this current moment no clear agreement is anywhere in sight.  However, the talks of mediation look very promising that something could be able to get done at some point.  The Team Owners opted out of the CBA that has been in place since 2006; the 2006 CBA offered the Owners an option to opt out in 2008.  Opting out in 2008 meant that the CBA would expire in 2011 instead of 2013.

2. Terms at odds: the NFL is a $9 BILLION annual revenue goliath.  Under the current CBA, the NFL revenue is split by $1 BILLION going directly to the Owners first, then the remaining $8 BILLION is split between the NFL Players and Team Owners with 60% going to the players and 40% going to the Owners.

3. The Team Owners want $2 BILLION up front from the $9 BILLION, then the 60-40 split.  Also, they want to expand the regular season from 16 games to 18 games, while reducing the Preseason by two games.

4. The NFL Players want "fairness" when it comes to how the revenue is split.  I know "fairness" does not reveal what they are asking for, but it has not been heard that the Players are asking for some outrageous sum of money, like 70-30 or in the words of Roy Jones, Jr., "80-20".  I would not encourage them to take any less than their current share however since it is their lives and limbs on the line every game.

5. Other topics of consideration: a rookie wage scale and benefits for retired players.

As far as the terms for the new CBA is concerned, I for one am most excited about a retirement plan for retired players.  Players who subject themselves to the physical play of the NFL with the hopes of being able to make it through the average number of years of play for their position which would allow them to cash in on a big payday to last them for the rest of their lives and that of their family.  It is about time that the NFL takes measures to make sure that their former players have some sort of pension plan like other Unions have for their retired members.  I am so sick and tired of seeing stories of the broke and busted former players who are so destitute and broken that they have to sell their Super Bowl ring or live in substandard conditions after their NFL career has ended.  No one deserves to spend the rest of their life living in sub-standard conditions after helping build so great a financial empire.

The rookie wage scale does need to better structured for the rookies based on their performance with options to re-structure when the performance benchmarks have been exceeded.  As it stands right now, players like Sam Bradford can sign a rookie wage cap contract and be heads and shoulders above his peers at the position who has been playing for years.  But because he has signed a contract that he has to honor for the duration of the contract with the hopes that he does not get injured
and miss any time or have his career ended as well as hope that the team continues to make positive steps to improve the talent around him.  I believe that the rookies should get paid for their talents, but I also believe that there is no way that the rookies should be paid before they are able to prove what they can do on the field.  What the NFL cannot do is to reward someone who has the potential to be good, but has not had the chance to prove it yet...hey where is Ryan Leaf these days and I wonder what his career would have been like if he was not such a head case.

The two egos that need to be stroked to get this deal done are going to be very difficult to tame.  The Owners, who think that they are the only reason that there is an NFL, have an ego bigger than the monstrosity that is the video board in Dallas.  The Players, who actually make the NFL possible, have an ego that is larger than life itself.  There is only one Owner that is a former NFL Player, but they all take an approach to negotiating with the Player with the same tenacity that James Harrison brings when he looking to land the big hit.  The Owners want their way or the highway, yet they fail to realize that without the top talent they have right now, there is no NFL.  NOTE TO THE OWNERS: The game is not the same if we have a "scrub" league.

The Owners are arguing that they need a larger share of the revenue to run their organizations, but what is the real reason here?  The Owners have some nerve to ask for more of the revenue when they are not taking any of the hits, making any plays, and suffering any season/career ending injuries; yet why do they need more of the revenue?  Someone needs to inform the Owners that they are not the reason that the fans show up and fill the stands in the stadiums.  Has anyone ever seen any fans coming into a stadium with a sign saying "Thanks to the Yorks!" (San Fransisco 49ers) or "Let's Go Rooney!" (Pittsburgh Steelers) as they cheer on the Owners for a job well done.  I am sure that the Owners would like to believe that the fans show up because of them, but the reality is unless you are Jerry Jones or Al Davis then the average fan won't even recognize you if they passed you on the street.  More than that, the arrogant position the Owners take in these negotiations is very obnoxious.

The Players bring their best Prima Donna attitude with them into these negotiations with the same bravado that they take to the football field and rightfully so.  The Players are the ones who put their blood, sweat and tears to the field and very deserving of every penny that they egt from the revenue split in my opinion.  However, sometimes entitlement can get boost their egos beyond reality.  If you let the Players have their way, I am sure that they would ask for a larger piece of the revenue split to stroke their ego.  But in all fairness why shouldn't they get the lion's share of the revenue split.  Show me one Owner that suits up with his team to contribute to the wins and/or losses of the current season.  Then there is the issue with what playing the game does to the Player's body.  The average time a Player can expect to play on the NFL level
is between 4-8 years.  And during this small window of time they have to hope that they receive the compensation for their talent and contribution to their team.

How much is too much?  Not many businesses enjoy annual revenue that the NFL does.  So why is it so hard to share the wealth?  The Owners feel like they deserve more of the annual revenue so their greed, I'm sure, encourages the Players to increase the share that comes their way.  Thanks to the O-Jays, we have a song, "For the Love of Money" that reminds me of the things that people would do for their love of money.  So it brings to question, what legitimate reason do they Owners have for their request for a larger share of the annual revenue?  Is it operating costs,

stadium renovations, payroll costs (for executive personnel - since the Players already enjoy 60% of the revenue split) or is it just pure and unadulterated greed?  The song tells us that the all mighty dollar will make us do some pretty strange things out of our normal character.  Which brings me to ask, how much is too much?  If there is a new CBA signed and the Owners get what they want in $2 BILLION up front and whatever the leftover split is, then what?  Do the Players keep giving in to their greed and accept less of the revenue split than they deserve?

What is the impact if there is no 2011-2012 season?  There has already been rumbling that some of the College Draft Class is talking about boycotting the combines that begin in March and Draft in April.  Should there be a lock-out then we the fans suffer, all because the two sides could not see eye to eye on how they break the revenue sharing down.  At this time, can the NFL afford to have a lock-out and risk losing their fans because of the CBA?  The NFL had a lock-out in 1982 and there were no games for a month.  There was another strike 1987 and there was a work stoppage for a week then the Owners had to use "scrub" players and that did not work out so well.  In this economy, the NFL can not ill afford to have a lock-out and risk losing their fan base since there would not be $9 BILLION in annual revenue if there is no season.  Since there is talks that both sides would like to go into mediation to deal with their differences is a good sign and I hope that they can work it out.