NFLPA and Owners: Don't Drag This Battle into the 2011 Draft

The NFL Players Association strikes another blow to the hearts of football fans everywhere.  ESPN reported that they have now encouraged the incoming draft class to boycott the draft. 

According to NFLPA executive George Atallah via Twitter this was not true, but it still hit a nerve.  Fact is, how are the fans supposed to know what IS really true?  What, if anything, can we count on from the NFLPA and owners?

This latest rumor is pushing the envelope way too far.

Atallah may have tried to clear things up around not asking the 2011 draft class to boycott the draft but he has still left a door open that puts a question mark on just what the NFLPA plans on doing.

In a tweet following the one dispelling the rumor, he said, "The NFL Draft is special. Players and their families will be in NYC. It just maybe different. We will provide details when we can."

What are we, the fans, or the draftee's to make of this statement?  It just clouded things right up again, unless he's talking about the salary cap, but he didn't mention that.

The 'NFL Draft is special'? I'll say.  Draft day is a major highlight in these young players careers.  It is a life-altering experience that none of them should be asked to miss out on or have altered.  This is not a place to drag the defunct CBA into.

Not only does that ask too much of the 2011 draft class, it is also asking too much of fans who have already been denied free agency and now they want us to be denied the draft?

Time to get their heads out of the sand.

Sympathy is running short these days. 

If it didn't seem that the argument being made on both sides of the table (soon to be the court room) was about a huge amount of money, they might get more sympathy from fans.  But as it becomes clearer that it is, in fact, primarily about money, good luck getting a country in recession to feel sorry for you.

Could they have picked a worse time to bicker about how billions will be split up?

That's OUR hard-earned money they are fighting over.

If they lose their fanbase, they lose their salaries.  It certainly looks and feels as if the NFLPA and owners have a false sense of security.  They believe they can do anything and the fans will still fork over the money when, or if, the season begins.   

When money is as tight as it is, we might choose to go to a game once a season because our teams have brought us hope, at least in the Motor City, of better things to come.  That's what football does.  It can lift our spirits or at least offer a much needed distraction to the hardships in life.  We become united as fans even if our cities are falling apart and we are losing our jobs and our homes. 

On game day, we get to forget about all of the hardship for a few hours and watch our respective clubs take the field and fight to be the better team.

As a Lions fan, when you are cheering for a team that was 0-16 three years ago and is now heading toward a winning record, it does something to your own psyche.  If they can pull themselves up, so can I.  That's what the NFL does for its fans. 

Since it would appear all of that is lost on the NFLPA and the owners this year, they will hear from the people who have supported them and the violins will not be playing.

I am proud of the fans who have spoken out about this situation.  I am proud that they have told the NFLPA and owners about their lack of sympathy.  I don't say this to be harsh.  I say this because we, the fans, need to be heard and give the NFL a wake-up call.  The overall message is that they can't just stomp all over us as if we aren't here or act as if we are not part of the equation.

Once again, a reminder to the NFLPA and owners: If you write off your fans, you won't have any fans.

Good luck with debating over how to divide up the zero funds you will get next year if you don't resolve this quickly.  I love the players and I love our coaches, but I don't love being held hostage to this situation created by the same people who are seemingly oblivious to the rest of the working world.

If there isn't a season this year because of the CBA fallout, I wish the players well in Europe or Canada.  I, for one, will be watching college football and get more yard work done on Sundays (unless some of our players go to Canada, then I'll watch Canadian football).  Have no doubt that this is coming from a diehard fan who would rather be watching the NFL. 

NLFPA and owners, are you listening?