NFL players prepared to strike

Players today make more money than they did 20 years ago, so not as many people would cross. They can afford to hold out longer. But that won't stop the NFL from bringing in replacements.

 

Agreed, but the players weren't exactly starving then, either. And I think there were a number of star players who crossed by the end of it. It's not like it was just fringe guys.

 

I'm ready for a comeback.

 

They don't give a shit. It's the fans money, not theirs, that's at stake.

 

Wow, just wow. Just when you thought the NFL couldn't do anything wrong, here we go.

Come to think of it, bring it on. I would just love to see the headlines that say MLB is the sport that has the longest time w/labor peace.

Question: Would the owners dare let the league go uncapped? It almost happened before the current agreement got extended.

 

Won't happen. People know who these guys are now. A replacement for Tom Brady will work? Who will be Peyton Manning's replacement? What, they going to bring in a bunch of Arena Football guys as replacements?

Fans pay too much money for tickets now. They'll be in an uproar if they trot that garbage out.

 

I doubt they would go for that. The union would need a clear victory to make that happen, but I will only believe the players have the stones to make that happen when I see it. Obviously, it is a completely different group from the one that went on strike in '87, a much wealthier group, so perhaps they can do a better job this time.

Doesn't seem like a sensible risk for the owners to take. Losing the cap would be a major hit to take even though the NFL's revenue sharing is far more effective than what baseball has, primarily because of the way the TV contracts are set up.

 

And they didn't know who Dan Marino was in 1987? Or Joe Montana? Yes, it would be a tougher sell now, but it's not like the NFL didn't have any stars in the mid-80s.

 

But just think of how much fun next year's fantasy league draft will be if the players go on stirke. Everyone trying to outdo eachother on guessing who the best replacement players are -- how many times will the phrase "well cross him off the list" be used.

 

The owners aren't going to kill their cash cow. The ownership in Green Bay knows that the current agreement is the only reason they were able to compete and make it to the NFC Championship game. If Upshaw was smart, he'd try negotiating a bigger piece of the pie for the players, but the owners aren't stupid enough to back out of the agreement (or are they?)

 

No one is going on strike next season.
The agreement provides that either side can reopen negotiatons in November of 2008, which poor Pat Bowlen wants to do because he isn't making enough money (boo-fucking-hoo).
Upshaw claims if the owners reopen, the players could strike in 2009.
Here's the catch, though. If the owners reopen and there is no new agreement by the end of 2009 season, 2010 becomes an uncapped year, something the poor greedy-fuck owners will never allow.
In other words, this is all bullshit posturing.

 

Neither Montana nor Marino in 1987 compared to Tom Brady now. Their 1987 versions barely compare to Peyton Manning now.

These guys are on TV and the Internet all the time now. If owners tried replacement players again, you'd immediately have a line of Terrell Owens, Chad Johnson, Randy Moss, and god knows who else, taking up TV time talking about how if you watch the replacement players, you aren't watching the real deal.