Lock out is on

[Scott K]

Why are the players obligated to any of it? Is it their stadium, there team, their NFL? No! If the players dont want to play for the amount the owners are willing to pay, go get a real job, and if the owners dont get any fans, because they arent paying for good palyers, then they make less money. I just dont see why, the owners are obligated to give any amount. Unions!

[MuleShack]

The lockout sucks for those of us that love the NFL.

But guys remember that it is the OWNERS(NFL) that chose to end the collective bargaining agreement and not to continue with it. This situation was not brought on by the players. So even though they make millions they should still be able to fight for their share of the pie, you would if it were you! I hope it ends before next season.

collective bargaining goes both ways...not just what the players demand.

I'm not sticking up for the owners or the players, but just saying that if one side has something they want here is where it gets resolved.

Like someone above said, if they are not back to work by training camp, i'm done with them for a while.

[CJH]

I would love to have a better understanding of what each side is negotiating, but us fans only know the little we hear on espn or the radio. I don't think I know enough to really have a one sided opinion other than the owners are the ones locking out. I am sure the players want alot of things they can't or shouldn't have, but reguardless they should have thier piece of the pie, 40% of bottom line dollars sounded fair to me, what % does payroll get of an ordinary business?

I do believe there are large issues that are not directly related to finances also.

You are right in saying that you don't know enough about the situation, because none of us really knows what the deal is, especially when the doors are closed. You can't say the owners locked out the players, without saying the players de-certified their union first. That we do know. And they are now suing the league for Antitrust (monopoly). Both sides are playing the game.

To be honest, not really sure you can compare it to any other business. Its a completely different animal. How many companies are owned/run by billionares, with the majority of the employees millionaires? Just doesn't compare to anything else.

[ANYFISH2]

To be honest, not really sure you can compare it to any other business. Its a completely different animal. How many companies are owned/run by billionares, with the majority of the employees millionaires? Just doesn't compare to anything else.

[/quot

Really!!? It is just words Billion, million,ect.. The owners of my company are a billioniar and a millionair. I get 28 grand a year. try and compare that. I won't because they didn't get all their money form the product I make. But right now they pay more in payroll than the company makes in profit. Us employees get more than 40% way more.

I don't really care about the number of dollars these guy make or get paid it is all relitive to the business. These players make the team all of their money, so thier pay should be according. I really am not arguing for the players at allbut it is always the greedy players, think it goes both ways here. We cant judge just because it is millions and billions, we just are not lucky/unlucky enough to be in ther situation. Like I said I hope they just get it done to have a season this fall.

[Scott K]

Quote:

MINNEAPOLIS (AP)

Star quarterbacks Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees were among 10 players who sued the NFL in federal court Friday, accusing the league of conspiracy and anticompetitive practices that date back years.

Their lawsuit asked the court to prevent a lockout.

Less than two hours after the players' union decertified, clearing the way for antitrust lawsuits, the players filed their 52-page claim and supporting documents in U.S. District Court. They asked the court for class-action status.

They filed a request for an injunction that would keep the NFL and the teams from engaging in a lockout. Invoking the Sherman Act, a federal antitrust statute from 1890 that limits monopolies and restrictions on commerce, the players said they were entitled to triple the amount of any damages they've incurred.

Which means the stakes could be in the hundreds of millions.

The players accused the 32 NFL teams of conspiring to deny their ability to market their services ''through a patently unlawful group boycott and price-fixing arrangement or, in the alternative, a unilaterally imposed set of anticompetitive restrictions on player movement, free agency and competitive market freedom.''

The collective bargaining agreement with the league was expiring Friday.

The NFL did not immediately file a response. Commissioner Roger Goodell called on the union to re-open negotiations.

A hearing date hasn't been set.

The legal wrangling took place in a federal courthouse in Minnesota, hundreds of miles from the mediated negotiations in Washington. It's the setting for what could be a long legal fight between owners and players with the 2011 season in jeopardy.

The names on the complaint were striking: Brady, Brees, Manning and a few others, listed in a block of text at the top of the first page. They're plaintiffs, for now, not simply players.

They allege that the NFL conspired to deny the players' ability to market their services in what is a $9 billion business. They spelled out what they called a long history of NFL antitrust violations, citing as constraints the potential lockout, rookie salary limitations and the franchise and transition player designations. Teams use those designations to keep key free agents off the open market, but the players also are well compensated when they sign new contracts.

Tom Condon, who represents Manning and Brees, wrote in a statement submitted to the court that a '''lockout' imposed by the NFL threatens to rob Mr. Brees and Mr. Manning, and all other NFL players, of an entire year, or more, of their brief playing careers, which cannot be recaptured.''

''This is especially problematic because of the virtually constant need for NFL players to prove their skill and value on the playing field,'' wrote Condon, one of more than a half-dozen agents who offered statements supporting their clients. ''Missing a year or more of playing in the NFL can cause the skills of NFL players to become rusty from lack of competition, making it difficult for them to regain the full talents they exhibited prior to the absence from play. This could shorten or even end the careers of NFL players.''

The players also said - lockout or not - if teams ''fail to pay any such required payments to any player, that player's contract shall, at the player's option, be declared null and void.''

That's a potentially explosive claim: Players would have the right to get out of their contracts if they don't get a paycheck, even if a settlement is reached.

The NFLPA's general counsel, Richard Berthelsen, said a lockout would cause ''irreparable injury'' to NFL players even if it's only a few games or simply offseason activities that are wiped out.

''If young players are forced to forego an entire season, they will miss out on a year of the experience and exposure that comes from playing against NFL-level competition and receiving NFL-level coaching, both of which are a must for young players,'' Berthelsen wrote.

The players want their case in front of U.S. District Judge David Doty, who has overseen NFL labor matters since the early 1990s and has several times ruled in favor of the players.

The case was assigned to U.S. District judge Patrick Schiltz, though it still could end up in front of Doty. The court has designated it as a related case to the Reggie White-led class-action suit that Doty guided toward a 1993 settlement, opening the doors to free agency.

The league has tried in the past to remove Doty from the case, alleging bias toward the players.

Doty issued a ruling last week that backed the NFLPA in a dispute over $4 billion in TV revenue that players argue was illegally collected by the owners as a war chest to survive a work stoppage.

Also involved in bringing the lawsuit: San Diego receiver Vincent Jackson, Minnesota linebacker Ben Leber and defensive end Brian Robison, New England guard Logan Mankins, New York Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora, Kansas City linebacker Mike Vrabel, and Texas A&M linebacker Von Miller, who is entered in this year's draft.

''The torch has been passed to a young Aggie who has decided to put his name on a lawsuit,'' NFLPA chief DeMaurice Smith said.

Manning, Jackson, Leber and Mankins are free agents. The Colts tagged Manning as a franchise player, while the Chargers did the same with Jackson and the Patriots with Mankins. The union is disputing the validity of those tags.

[zepman]

The players are the ones who cut off the negotiating talks...the owners were actually starting to revise some of their original stances and come down a bit.

The players chose to decertify...the owners didn't choose to lock them out...that's simply a by-product.

I read an article where it said the players didn't change their demands from day 1...not even a slight modification. So, what was everyone doing for the last two weeks behind closed doors with a mediator there...I just don't get it.

[Eric Wettschreck]

According to sportscenter this morning, one of the players demands were the owners/teams open up the financial books and make all earnings for the past 10 years transparent. In other words, they wanted the business owners to hand their books over to the union so the players could see, to the penny, how much they made.

Looking at this in a real world scenario.....I work for a major multi million/billion dollar a year company, Merck. As an employee, who in the heck am I to demand they hand over their books to me?????

I see this as unrealistic selfish greed. They're almost all millionares. Heck, even the dudes making league minimum will make more in a couple years than I'll make in a lifetime and most got a free ride through college to boot.

Every day I'm becoming less of a fan of pro sports. Not only football.

[klecker]

Anyone know why they filed the suit in MN?

[Eric Wettschreck]

The judge that will be overseeing this suit, in MN, has dealt with NFL labor issues in the past and has often sided with the players.

[CJH]

FYI ~ Just read that the NFL is appealing the TV contract ruling - getting paid even if they don't play games. This is mentioned in the article posted above. First I have heard of that.

Yeah, for whatever reason Judge Doty has jurisdiction over this, at least at the first level. Which I am sure the owners are not happy about, since he has ruled in the players favor so far (Starcaps, TV fund).

UPDATE (From the GB Press Gazette):

The owners have also filed a complaint with the National Labor Board:

To combat the players’ class-action suit, the owners also have filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board that the NFL Players Association didn’t bargain in good faith in their recent collective bargaining sessions and is using its decertification Friday strictly as a negotiating tactic.

Mark Murphy, the Packers’ president and CEO, said the NLRB ruling probably will come before the players’ class-action antitrust suit is heard in federal court. Murphy is on the NFL’s negotiating team for collective bargaining talks with the players.

“Should hear from (the NLRB) fairly soon,” Murphy said Saturday at a hastily called press briefing at the Packers’ offices at Lambeau Field. “We argue that decertification was a sham and a bargaining tactic.”

If the NLRB determines that the union bargained in good faith, then the class-action suit by 10 players, including quarterbacks Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees, will determine where the league and case go next.

[klecker]

Thanks Eric.

[klecker]

That TV money would have to be paid back if they didn't play. They would get the money in the event no games are played this year. They would then have to repay it. The TV companies are playing banker in the event of no games.

[archerystud]

Every day I'm becoming less of a fan of pro sports. Not only football.

+2368737237987987548136576

I've really gotten more into high school/college sports over the last few years. I'm tired of the players greed/ ticket prices.

I agree the players should make good money (and they already make GREAT money) but they are only milking the fans and the owners are the people risking a lot of money here. I'm too the point that I now side with the owners.

I wonder how much players salaries have went up in the last 10 years and how much the fans salaries have went up? Who do the players think truly pays for their salaries?

[LMITOUT]

Sounds like it's open season to act like a thug with the lockout in effect:

Quote:

Vikings CB Chris Cook has been charged with pulling out a handgun during a fight with another man after a Saturday evening arrest in Lynchburg, Virginia.

As ProFootballTalk.com point out last month, the league office has no sway over player personal conduct and drug testing during a lockout. They "forfeit" the ability to discipline Cook, so he won't face a suspension. The NFL could attempt to punish Cook retroactively, though he'd have a strong case in dispute.

[zepman]

According to sportscenter this morning, one of the players demands were the owners/teams open up the financial books and make all earnings for the past 10 years transparent. In other words, they wanted the business owners to hand their books over to the union so the players could see, to the penny, how much they made.

Looking at this in a real world scenario.....I work for a major multi million/billion dollar a year company, Merck. As an employee, who in the heck am I to demand they hand over their books to me?????

I see this as unrealistic selfish greed. They're almost all millionares. Heck, even the dudes making league minimum will make more in a couple years than I'll make in a lifetime and most got a free ride through college to boot.

Every day I'm becoming less of a fan of pro sports. Not only football.

These are my thoughts exactly...

I have tried following this as close as my stomach will allow and it's my opinion the players have overstepped their boundries and are in the wrong for the most part.

You could just tell by the the way De Smith carried himself to and from court everyday that his attitude was not one of compromise or "meet in the middle".

[MuleShack]

That lawsuit is almost hilarious.

The players have "their" union and they cry they dont make enough money etc so they in other terms are on strike because they are not getting what they want. Now they want to sue because they are not able to earn a living. Wake up and take what is given to you and appreciate the lives you live. You sure are not going to be makeing any more fans acting like selfish millionaires.

[reinhard1]

why do they even need a union? they have a agent to dictate terms. if you have the talent to be a nfl player, you will be making more in one year than most make in their lifetime. anyway, all of this will be hashed out and i believe there will be a next season. too much money on the line for all involved to not have one. good luck.

[klecker]

why do they even need a union? they have a agent to dictate terms. if you have the talent to be a nfl player, you will be making more in one year than most make in their lifetime. anyway, all of this will be hashed out and i believe there will be a next season. too much money on the line for all involved to not have one. good luck.

Thats a very good question! They must see them selves as working class people.

[CJH]

All of the agents are against the rookie wage scale, so they have been lobying against that to the players.

[Scott K]

I would be just as happy to watch non greedy semi-pros that appreciate the privileged of getting paid to play football, rather then these greedy thugs that cant see they have a great thing going for them.

[mrklean]

might want to watch arena football or Canadian football then haha

[FISHINGURU]

It has more drama then the soaps.

[Scott K]

One thing that has came of this is, I used to support a publicly financed stadium for the Vikings, after watching them clowns argue over money like they are, I am totally against it. Let them pay for their own place to play a game, or let them go to LA! Here we have families loosing their homes, and going hungry, we have states cutting funding to all sorts of things, such as teachers, nursing homes, schools, etc.. We have federal govt trillions of dollars in the hole, which will take several life times to pay back. And these spoiled million/billionaires want us to pay for a place for them to play a game, so they can over charge for everything from tickets, to pop, beer, food, and still complain they dont want to pay taxes on the money they so called earned! Forget them!

[reinhard1]

i think i got the messege , well said. good luck.

[CJH]

One thing that has came of this is, I used to support a publicly financed stadium for the Vikings, after watching them clowns argue over money like they are, I am totally against it. Let them pay for their own place to play a game, or let them go to LA! Here we have families loosing their homes, and going hungry, we have states cutting funding to all sorts of things, such as teachers, nursing homes, schools, etc.. We have federal govt trillions of dollars in the hole, which will take several life times to pay back. And these spoiled million/billionaires want us to pay for a place for them to play a game, so they can over charge for everything from tickets, to pop, beer, food, and still complain they dont want to pay taxes on the money they so called earned! Forget them!

Couldn't agree more. The last thing any of these jackwagons should get is public money. There are about 8 billion more important things to do with public tax money.