On Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Susan Nelson ordered National Football League owners and the NFL Players Association to continue mediation, which was a much needed move in a saga that appeared to be at a standstill.
Nelson, who heard arguments last Wednesday in St. Paul, Minn. on the NFL Players Association’s request for a preliminary injunction to lift the lockout, told the two sides that they must mediate the situation before it becomes worse.
The decision is the first step in ensuring there will be a professional football season, which is important to fans and to the economy. True, the NFL is a sports industry, but it is also a $9 billion global industry that produces a product that is among the most popular in the United States.
Its championship game, the Super Bowl, is akin to a national holiday such as Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July. Most fans of the game are average, blue collar workers, who would be lucky to make $1 million in their lifetimes, yet are loyal to an industry that creates $16-million-per-year athletes and franchises that are worth nearly half a billion dollars, i.e. the New England Patriots.
For that reason, it is difficult for most fans to comprehend the current NFL situation without blaming players for being overpaid complainers, or owners for being greedy big businessmen. The issues, however, are deeper than that, and both sides need to continue talking.
Team owners want to increase the number of games played per year from 16 to 18. The players aren’t balking at that suggestion, however, they expect to be paid extra to play two more games. That’s fair. Most workers expect to be paid more if they are asked to do more.
Players are concerned about health, especially with recent medical reports that expound upon concussion damage, stating that it can lead to serious brain injury and conditions such as Lou Gehrig’s disease. The players want to be protected.
As well, there are serious issues that until Monday were not being discussed. As the situation continued, the risk of not having a season increased. This works in favor of the owners. Most players will stand united and risk being locked out until their demands are met. That’s easy to do during the spring and summer when players aren’t paid.
When September arrives and the players begin missing games, most of them also begin feeling the effects of missing paychecks. The situation becomes more real to a player such as Michael Vick, who will earn nearly $1 million per game during the season. Miss one of those paychecks, and it’s understandable why he might break the united line.
Most players in the NFL also don’t have a security net that would allow them to miss an entire season without a paycheck. Yes, they make millions of dollars, but they also spend millions of dollars to live their lifestyles.
With this in mind, Judge Nelson made a move that needed to be made in order to save a season, a dedicated fan base, a profitable industry, and players who might not realize yet that they needed to be saved.
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Questions? Comments? Contact Managing Editor Kristen Schulze Muszynski by calling 282-1535, Ext. 322, or via e-mail at kristenm@journaltribune.com.
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