FanPost

NFL Lockout Politics/ PR battle

I've been challenged recently to think about the NFL lockout. After mostly ignoring the intricacies of the thing, I recently decided to set my brain running on all the informaiton that's come out and take a stab at why the players and Owners have done what they have done outside of the courtroom. I had some thoughts that I find fun, so I figured I'd share them.

The biggest part of the back and forth between players has been the players' demands for increased benefits and the owners' insistence that the current CBA gives too much money to the players. At least on the money issue, I side with the owners. They designed a terrible system in which the players now make more in salary cap numbers than the owners. No self-respecting business would ever function under such a plan. Then the PR fight begins.

The players started with the "show us your books" move. This was because the players and owners (and pretty much everyone) knew that the owners as a whole were still making money with the bad-for-them CBA. The goal was to turn public opinion against the owners by making it look like the owners were being greedy and demanding money when they were already making it. "Show us you need the money and we'll give it to you." the players said. Smart move, because the owners don't need the money, they just deserve it because they are the ones taking all the financial risks.

The owners' response was a great one. They suggested that HGH testing be added in to the next CBA. Why? My conservative estimate is that the NFL would catch at least 40% of players testing positive for HGH. Think about it, people aren't as big as NFL players in the real world. I'm a pretty thickly built guy, and I'm about 5'10 175 pounds with maybe 12% bodyfat. If I was in the NFL, I would have about 6% bodyfat (10 pounds less) and be around 200 pounds. Now there's probably not 35 pounds of muscle that can be naturally added to my frame. It would take a loooot of lifting and probably some "help." HGH testing would also lower the level of performance for some bigtime players around the league and no one wants that. The move gave the owners another bargaining chip in negotiations.

Ultimately, the Lock-out should really solve itself in litigation, not in the court of public opinion or in court. I think the NFL needs cut out all the 18-game season stuff, and explain to the players how they will be losing cap money because it's good for the NFL long-term and that part of the owners taking more money will include better post-career care. The players need to realize that they got an incredible and unreasonable deal with the last CBA and as much as they may want to keep the status quo, it's not monetarily feasible for the NFL as a whole. Hopefully they get it done, but for now I just love reading between the lines and seeing how catty PR games get.

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