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With NFL On The Verge Of A Lockout, Obama Weighs In
By
Ben Yakas
Published Mar 3, 2011
Modified Mar 3, 2011
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Mar 3, 2011
Modified Mar 3, 2011
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NFL enthusiasts are sitting on the edge of their seats today as NFL owners and the players union frantically try to work out a new collective bargaining agreement before midnight tonight when the old one expires. If they aren't able to come to an agreement, or come to an agreement to extend the talks, the NFL will officially be in a lockout, which would make it the first pro football work stoppage since 1987. So how will this affect the NY teams?
The major issues of the negotiations include: how to divide the league's revenues, including what cut team owners should get up front to help cover certain costs, such as stadium construction; a rookie wage scale; the owners' push to expand the regular season from 16 games to 18 while reducing the preseason by two games; and benefits for retired players. In a likely scenario, talks could bump into the summer camps, and teams could enter the season under-practiced but ready to play; in the doomsday scenario, we could lose the whole 2011 season of the NFL.
If there is a lockout, players won't be allowed in their team's facilities, nor can they meet with coaches or trainers. Free agents won't be able to sign, and agents can't talk to general managers. Many believe the new agreement could come in August—for some teams, especially those with new coaches and coordinators, this could be devastating for the 2011 season. Both the Jets and Giants have their staffs in place. The Jets would have a harder time because they have several key free agents they want to sign (Antonio Cromartie, Santonio Holmes, Braylon Edwards) and won't be able to for awhile. The Jets also plan on a 25 percent pay cut to its football operations staff, including general manager Mike Tannenbaum and coach Rex Ryan.
Federal mediator George Cohen has sounded dubious about the prospect of avoiding a lockout today. So somebody suggested that President Obama intervene in the talks to sort this whole thing out. Completely reasonably, Obama doesn't think this is his problem:
My working assumption at a time when people are having to cut back, compromise, and worry about making the mortgage and, you know, paying for their kids' college education, is that the two parties should be able to work it out without the president of the united states intervening. I'm a big football fan, but I also think that for an industry that's making $9 billion a year in revenue, they can figure out how to divide it up in a sensible way...So my expectation and hope is that they'll resolve it without me intervening, because it turns out I've got a lot of other stuff to do.
He said these remarks during a joint appearance with Mexican President Filipe Calderon, who isn't a huge football fan...but his wife is! Obama quipped back: "I will say that at the state dinner the first lady of Mexico seemed quite excited to see Mark Sanchez there. I don't know if that was of concern for you." That's our Nacho, slaying all the ladies!
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football
giants
jets
lockout
mark sanchez
nacho
nfl
president obama
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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