Yesterday afternoon I was given the opportunity to participate in on a conference call between SB Nation, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, and Chief Negotiator Jeff Pash. I did not get any direct questions in, as we had a limited amount of time. I wanted to get their thoughts on the potential rulings of their case filed to the NLRB about the NFLPA decertification. However, even though my question didn't get to be asked, Goodell and Pash were able answer quite a few of our questions on a plethora of topics. One of those topics was if there was a set date in which the 2011 NFL season would "officially" be delayed.
Commissioner Goodell and Mr. Pash were asked if there is a set deadline where they will become worried about time missed in the 2011 season and if there was a set date where the season would officially be delayed. "We do not have a firm date," Goodell told us. "We have been focused on negotiations and trying to get resolution to this. Obviously the uncertainty of not having an agreement - we're in the midst of constructing our 2011 playing schedule. We have to try to obviously plan for flexibility on that. We are planning on a full season. We are preparing for a full season," Goodell added.
I found it rather curious that they don't have a set date yet where the season would officially be delayed. It's possible they don't quite feel official games will be missed, or they feel it will be resolved prior to the normal "start" of the season. When I say start, I'm referring to when training camp typically begins. I'm in the camp that feels the OTA's don't really help much at all and won't factor much if they're missed. However, I was rather surprised there was no "official" cut off point where the league would declare an official delay or time missed in the 2011 season.