NFL Fans on Strike: What Fans Would Ask for If They Had a Say in NFL Lockout

The NFL is going awry these days. That's mainly because there is no NFL as of right now, while players and owners are fighting over how to spend billions of dollars.

It's a rough world for these guys, no doubt, and it's not like six- to eight-figure salaries are enough to live off during these times.

However, amidst all these negotiations between NFL players and owners, fans are definitely feeling disrespected and left out. We watch the game, and we also are the ones contributing those billions of dollars that the NFL is fighting for; without us, there is no such thing as American football.

Therefore, I've created this pretty awesome list of things we—as fans—should ask for at the bargaining table.

1. Keep the season at 16 games

Sure, this is already an argument amongst players and owners. But the reason football is so sacred is because there's not enough of it. The fact that we keep asking for more is also the reason we make it a point to throw mini-celebrations every Sunday.

There's a reason baseball and basketball are played on weekdays, when the majority of the population is at work, and football on Sundays. Make the season longer, and we might actually see people getting tired of football. For real.

2. More of the parity we saw this past season

The season that was in 2010 provided everything a non-Panther fan could ask for: excitement, parity, fierce competition and a ton of story lines to boot. If you don't remember the 2010 season for years to come, unless something similar happens in the next few years, you're insane.

We didn't get to see a dominant team arise until about Week 15, when everyone was sure the Patriots were the team to beat (although they shouldn't have been). That's when the Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers were struggling to inch into a playoff spot, the NFC West was bound to send a total playoff flop to the postseason and everyone thought the Jets were a one-and-done team.

Parity, you guys. Love it.

3. Force players to undergo financial courses before they start their tenure in the NFL

This may be something a bit less obvious. However, I'm sick of hearing about successful athletes—including ex-NFL players—becoming nearly homeless because they couldn't handle their investments; they're going from poor college kids to millionaires overnight. No way in hell they aren't buying themselves something ridiculous, like a lion, and 12 kids with four wives.

It's tough to hear about great players who tanked financially. Give me a feel-good story, damn it!

4. Stop making the NFL and the sport all-business

No joke. We're kind of sick of the "it's a business" cliché forcefully fed to us by owners and league officials. It not only screws with the way we watch the game—as we see players headed out for no reasons other than financial responsibility—but it also screws with player safety. We care about that, because no NFL fan—who are the most respectable sports fans in the country—wants to see a player have his career ended.

How does it screw with player safety? When DeSean Jackson was allowed to wear a special helmet to safeguard him from another concussion, the league said this helmet was only available to him because of the contract the NFL has with its current helmet provider. Thanks a lot, jerks.

5. Please, please, PLEASE get rid of Dan Snyder

Sorry guys, but this dude treats his team like a fantasy team from Madden. He spends horrible amounts of money, and he really has no idea what he's doing. He may be an owner, but he's ruining the game and ruining the Redskins organization. Also, he's super annoying, and fans get ticked off when cameras on FOX show him incessantly. He's a dorky fellow for sure.

What about you, reader? Anything you think NFL fans should ask for, even if neither the owners nor the players care about what we want? Leave 'em in the comments!

Carlos Sandoval is the founder of growing NFL podcast The Pigeon Toe. You can follow him on Twitter @CarloshSandoval.

(Lookin' for a pretty awesome weekly NFL podcast? Check out The Pigeon Toe: An NFL podcast!)