NFL Lockout: Players Association Rightly Getting the Blame for Labor Situation

Arizona Cardinals Kicker Jay Feeley summed it up best: In the battle of billionaires against millionaires, “fans are the ones who suffer.”

But as the PR battles continue to be waged, it is becoming increasingly clear that the fans are beginning to take sides—and point blame at the players for causing their suffering.

Two online polls, one created by ESPN’s Adam Schefter and the other by ProFootballTalk, have been floating around asking fans to do just that—point blame.

Granted, online polls aren’t the kinds of things that professional researchers would put a lot of statistically reliable stock into, but the findings do nonetheless encapsulate what thousands of motivated fans are feeling.

The results from the polls show the same thing—fans are blaming the players for this mess.

With more than 7,000 votes, Adam Shefter’s poll shows 48 percent of fans blaming the players and De Smith, while only 40 percent point the finger at the owners and Roger Goodell.

ProFootballTalk’s results are even more stark. With more than 48,000 votes, 37.9 percent of fans blame the players, while only 24.4 percent blame the owners—more than a 1.5:1 ratio.

And the reasons are obvious: It took the players to walk away from the table to escalate things to where they sit now and it took the players to file the initial lawsuits.

Of course, these were unavoidable steps in the legal dance unfolding.

But the players have made other PR blunders to bring this scorn upon themselves.

Whatever “suggestion” or “recommendation” was made to the players to boycott the draft or take part in some alternative event, in any circumstance, that takes away from the enjoyment of watching the draft.

As Jay Feeley said, “fans are the ones who suffer.” And the players are the ones being the aggressors—this time in something that has no legal impact, but does impact the fans.

In these early days of official, legal unrest between the players and owners, the fans are siding with the owners—and it’s the players’ fault for letting it happen.