NFL Lockout 2011: Five Reasons the Players Can't Afford a Lockout

NFL Week 10 action is right around the corner, and we are steadily approaching the deadline for the Collective Bargaining Agreement issues between the NFL and the NFLPA to finally come to a stand-off.

Yet with the threat of a lockout looming nearer and nearer in the future, no one seems to heed much notice.

No one, that is, except the players.

I assure you that just because the players have been fairly quiet, doesn't mean they don't have a lot on their minds. In fact, chances are a lot of them are pretty worried that there won't be football next year. Of course, they still have to play this season, but with their jobs hanging in the balance just five months down the road, you can't tell me it's not in the back of their minds.

Here are some reasons why the players can't afford a lockout in 2011.

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5. Short NFL Career

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20 Dec 1998: Running back Robert Edwards #47 of the New England Patriots in action against linebacker Winford Tubbs #55 of the San Francisco 49ers during the game at Foxboro Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts. The Patriots defeated the 49''ers 24-21. Mand

Without football, the players make no money. Not only will the owners save money on player salaries, but they also won't lose any money on network TV deals.

Yep, it seems the owners have taken out "No Football Insurance" on their TV deals and will still get paid.

The average career of an NFL player is 3.6 years. Without a year of football, the window of opportunity to make money is severely shortened.

Additionally, three years is the minimum service time in the NFL for just five years of post-career health benefits.

An article by Jonathan Weiler from The Huffington Post points out that while we tend to focus on the big-time salaries of guys like Julius Peppers and Darrelle Revis, we lose sight of the hundreds of players that make the league minimum, and in a sport in which gruesome injuries occur so frequently, that money can slip through their fingers just as quickly as their careers do.

4. Deal Is Already Fair

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FORT LAUDERDALE, FL - FEBRUARY 04: Center Kevin Mawae #68 of the Tennessee Titans and President of the NFL Player's Association (2nd R), former NFL running backs Ricky Watters (C) and Barry Sanders (L) look on during the NFL Player's Association Press Co

As it is, the percentages of revenue split between the players and owners is about even. NFLLockout.com provides a year-by-year listing of the percentage of revenue received by the players that goes something like this:

The owners want back an extra 18 percent of the profit, due to what they are claiming is a profit loss—even though the NFL has been even more successful than its ever been over the past few years.

3. Fan Misinterpretation

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FOXBORO, MA - AUGUST 02: Fans wait for player autographs after the New England Patriots training camp on August 2, 2010 at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

If you didn't know any better, you might assume the lockout is a bunch of millionaire crybaby players complaining about their salaries.

What if you actually didn't know any better, though? Might you hold the players at fault?

Some casual fans don't know that this is the fault of the owners backing out of the old CBA, not the players. In fact, I've already spoken to several NFL fans who thought that the players were to blame for the potential lockout.

2. Raw Deal May Only Get Worse

Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 16: National Hockey League outside counsel Bob Batterman attends the NHL's announcement cancelling the 2004-05 season during a news conference at the Westin New York, Times Square, February 16, 2005 in New York City. The NHL becomes t

The owners want two extra regular season games out of the players, and want back an extra 18 percent of the profit margin due to a "profit loss." Yet the owners refuse to show the players the books proving that the owners are actually losing money. This is a major point of contention among the NFLPA and the owners.

The worst part is, if there's a lockout, the owners' proposals to players will only get worse. According to an article in the  Wall Street Journal, “NFL officials said that if the league can’t agree with the players on a new collective-bargaining agreement soon, the league’s future proposals to the union are likely to get worse rather than better.” 

NFL outside counsel Bob Batterman used the same strategy against NHL players while representing the NHL’s owners during the longest lockout in sports.

1. No Health Care

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LANDOVER, MD - OCTOBER 10: Tight end Jermichael Finley #88 of the Green Bay Packers leaves the game on a cart after injuring his knee against the Washington Redskins at FedExField on October 10, 2010 in Landover, Maryland. The Redskins won the game in ov

I joked with a friend that if there's a lockout, we'll see a lot more surgeries in the offseason with players taking the opportunity to recover from any nagging injuries that they may not have had time to recover from in just one offseason.

Not so fast, my friends.

If there's a lockout in 2011, players and their families wouldn't be provided health care by the NFL. Of course, they do have other options, but those options are far too costly to take into account the injuries that several players have suffered this season that may require surgery in the offseason.

And this goes beyond the players, and now begins to affect their families. What if one of their children gets sick and is unable to seek appropriate medical help? Is that really something the owners want on their conscience?

Block The Lockout

Think there's nothing you can do to help? Think again.

The NFLPA has set up a website at NFLLockout.com where they've included a petition for fans to sign. With enough signatures, the players are hoping to prove to the owners that this lockout means a lot to the fans and the communities of the local economies that stand to take a huge hit if there's no football in 2011.

This petition has already garnered support from the likes of Larry Fitzgerald and Reggie Bush on Twitter.

So what are you waiting for? Get on over to NFLLockout.com and sign the petition today!