Sources: NFLPA orders draft boycott

[mav1234]

with the owners canceling the season, i have a hard time getting up in arms about the players boycotting the draft.

hard to blame only one side for the lockout, tbh. No matter your stance, gotta see that there is at least some blame at the feet of both sides.

[mmmbeans]

hard to blame only one side for the lockout, tbh. No matter your stance, gotta see that there is at least some blame at the feet of both sides.

if you blame the lockout on both sides you have to blame this on both sides too. a lockout is being used by the owners to create leverage, likewise the boycott. it's all the same shiat.

[Seamonk]

I like watching the draft cuz there's always a player no one has heard of and they always try to talk highly of him while he's drafted when they show quick highlight clips of them.

[cookinbrak]

It won't be long before some players flip sides. DeMaurice is making moves too questionable and from the looks of it, not informing the rest of his "trade association" of what they will be. I'm just hoping Antonio Cromartie says something again because the first time was pretty funny.

There are 300 "league minimum" salaries for every "Peyton Manning" salary. It won't be long at all.

[riddel]

I like watching the draft cuz there's always a player no one has heard of and they always try to talk highly of him while he's drafted when they show quick highlight clips of them.

Cal Naughton, Jr.: I like to picture Jesus in a tuxedo T-Shirt because it says I want to be formal, but I'm here to party.

[Proudiddy]

Its not like I won't watch the draft because a few players aren't at Radio City Music Hall. I don't get it.

But it's a possibility that some won't watch it for that reason. Additionally, if the players do their draft interviews elsewhere (outside of the NFLN and ESPN), then the NFL/Owners are losing money in some fashion regardless.

[Udogg]

I understand completely why they had to decertify but no offense taken.

I just believe wholeheartedly that the request for ten years of audited financial statement to be turned over directly to the union was a bullsh*t request. it was a request to give them so the NFLPA had political cover to decertify. It was never a legitimate request and they actually have no desire to see those financial records.

Not to mention that if the issue at hand is the current CBA adversely effecting the NFL than why do they want 10 years of financial documents?? That question has yet to be adequately answered.

I am 80% sure this deal will get done without the NFLPA EVER seeing those records to that extent. Because they don't even want them.

D-Smith wants a big win in his first bargaining agreement with the NFL. He is trying to blow up the NFL and get it as close as possible the MLB for the simple sake of stroking his own ego. He has talked tough since the day he was hired and shown absolutely no evidence that he was ever going to work with the NFL to get to a middle ground on the issues.

It has been his desire from the moment the owners opted out to get this thing to litigation where he thinks the courts will reward him with a BIG win for the players but will be a bad agreement for the fans.

I believe they asked for 10 years for the hope that maybe they could get 5 years? The NFL offered zip. Have been asked for months and months. Zip. If you are going to claim financial hardship(the basis of opting out) you would think you would be willing to prove it.

Also it seems like everyone is bashing Demaurice Smith. He was hired by the players, he goes into meeting with players. I think Kevin Mawae is in pretty much every meeting but I don't see anyone bashing him. Bashing Smith like it's all his doing is in my opinion trying to make him the scapegoat when there is plenty of blame going around.

[mav1234]

I believe they asked for 10 years for the hope that maybe they could get 5 years? The NFL offered zip. Have been asked for months and months. Zip. If you are going to claim financial hardship(the basis of opting out) you would think you would be willing to prove it.

Can't say they offered zip. Can say they didn't offer enough for the Union, but they did offer something.

[teeray]

I believe they asked for 10 years for the hope that maybe they could get 5 years? The NFL offered zip. Have been asked for months and months. Zip. If you are going to claim financial hardship(the basis of opting out) you would think you would be willing to prove it.

Also it seems like everyone is bashing Demaurice Smith. He was hired by the players, he goes into meeting with players. I think Kevin Mawae is in pretty much every meeting but I don't see anyone bashing him. Bashing Smith like it's all his doing is in my opinion trying to make him the scapegoat when there is plenty of blame going around.

They offered 5 years audited and reivewed by a third party mutually agreed upon by the Union then their findingd would be presented to the union. Why only 5?? Because that was all that was relevant to the issue. NFLPA said 10 directly to us or we are decertifying.

That is the way it supposedly went down.

[teeray]

They also caved or went to the middle on nearly every non revenue issue on the table.

[Udogg]

Can't say they offered zip. Can say they didn't offer enough for the Union, but they did offer something.

Yeah they did offer something. But from what I understand it was like my claiming to the IRS that you are broke by providing an ATM receipt :D. Just proves you have no money in that bank at that exact time :)

I am not absolving anyone in this travesty, but looking from the players perspective, they only have a few bullets. The owners have the deep pockets. Might as well use whatever option you have available. Also the players reps are there through all the negotiations. Demaurice isn't forcing them to do anything.

[mountainpantherfan]

I posted this in another thread:

Teddy Bruschi made a comment Friday night right after everything went down. He said,

"The players are continuing to follow the leadership of Gene Upshaw. He would meet with every player every season, all 32 teams. He would stand up in front of us and tell us that no matter what never give back anything the owners ever give you."

The players don't want to negociate because they don't want a deal that is anything less than the one they had. The owners should not have made the deal in 06 that they did knowing the players were never going to give back a singal percentage point ever.

This is what it all comes down to. No matter what the owners give up in return the players are fighting to keep their percentage point the same.

I don't blame either side. I think they are both fighting for themselves. I do support the owners but unlike many on here I have no reason to try and make the other side look bad. If any of us were players or owners we all would be taking the same positions.

[Udogg]

They also caved or went to the middle on nearly every non revenue issue on the table.

It's not caving when you went from the current deal to asking for an extra billion, a rookie cap, and 18 games. Even going middle way on all of those the owners win and the players lose all without the ownership every providing any evidence of "true" financial hardship. I think something will get done on this but not until at least August. Not enough pressure yet for compromise.

I think both parties are greedy. But I also don't believe greed is a bad thing. I am a business owner and am always trying to make more. Hopefully there is an acceptable compromise. We don't want 3 years of peace then another opt out. We want a good long standing deal where we don't have to worry about things like this. We can just argue about coaching, draft picks and GM decisions all day long :)

[Cyclonus]

I think we need Riddel to get out his law books and explain this to us!