Now this is how to run a union!
DeMaurice Smith, president of the NFL Players' Association (NLFPA), the now de-certified union of NFL players, pulled a stunner in yesterday's negotiations over the NFL owners' lockout of players. It seems that a year ago, the NFLPA took out a secret insurance policy against the lockout that would pay each NFLPA member about $10,000 for each preseason and regular season game that is cancelled because of a lockout, or about $200,000 if the whole season goes down the tubes.
According to SI,
Smith disclosed the fund to only a handful of people outside of the executive committee. However with negotiations seemingly at a standstill late Wednesday night, the decision was made to play one of their aces in the hole. So in the relative quiet of the sides' New York City bargaining room the next morning, Baltimore Ravens cornerback Domonique Foxworth informed the owners of the previously secret lockout fund.
The owners had all along been expecting that once the paychecks stopped coming, the NFLPA would collapse. It looks like that expectation will not be met. A full season lockout would mean that the players would still get paid (a fraction of their contract, but still enough to live on), while the owners would generate zero revenue – thanks to a court ruling invoked anti-trust law in nullifying the owner's previous deal with the networks that would have paid the owners even in a lockout.
a source close to one of [the owners] said the disclosure definitely got that side's attention.
In football, a "flea flicker" is a trick play that is designed to look like another pedestrian off-tackle run, but suddenly turns into a dangerous pass when the running back laterals the ball back to the quarterback. It looks like the owners have been caught with their pants down, expecting the players to do the pedestrian, expected thing – but thanks to Smith's foresight, the owners may now be in deep trouble.
So who's winning the PR war? Who are the fans rooting for? It's not the billionaire owners.
The most beloved sport in America today is being torn apart by greed by the owners and typifies the greed in corporate America.
In this, the greediest and most shameful era in American business history, the NFL owners would steal the cake. No set of sports owners in U.S. history has known this kind of popularity, love or cash. If there is a lockout, the day the 2012 season starts, every fan ought to pelt the owners' luxury boxes with pennies.
Commissioner Roger Goodell and his bandits are maneuvering to disallow the players extended health insurance through their retirement. Oh, that and they'd like them to play two more games (18-game schedule) so the owners can profit MORE.
What???!!!!
Sadly, this comes in the wake of former NFL player, Dave Duerson, who took his own life by shooting himself in the chest, hoping his brain could be examined for damage caused by playing football.
The hypocrisy here is astonishing.
When it comes to greed, neither baseball owners at their worst nor any other entity since the beginning of earth topped these current NFL owners. Despite operating one of the most profitable businesses ever at $9 billion in revenue per year, NFL owners are within weeks of staging a lockout of the players.
You know, because NFL owners want more money.
Go, players, go! Hold that line!