NFL Lockout: Labor Strife Among NFL Players, Owners Ignores Some Glaring Problems

Today lawyers representing NFL player swill meet with U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan, the judge who will oversee court-ordered mediation with league owners.

Scientists have ruled that tragic NFL star Shane Dronett, who shot himself dead in the kitchen of his home, had been suffering with a brain disease brought on by years of concussions.—dailymail.co/uk, April 3, 2011

League attorneys will meet with Boylan tomorrow. The mediation was ordered by U.S. District Court Judge Susan Richard Nelson Monday. Nelson is still considering a request from the players to lift the lockout.

Retired NFL players use painkillers at a much higher rate than the rest of us, according to new research conducted by investigators at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.—sciencedaily.com, Jan. 30, 2011

The two sides have tried the mediation route before to no avail. In the past month there have been no talks between players and owners.

In 1988, the Los Angeles Times surveyed 440 former players, 78 percent of whom reported disabilities. In 1997, Newsday commissioned researchers at Ball State University to survey 1,425 former players for an award-winning report on "Life After Football," finding that 63 percent reported permanent injuries.—slate.com, Sept. 4, 2008

Nelson urged both parties to get back to the table, but there have been squabbles over where and what to discuss. The players want to make sure anything that is discussed in mediation is not construed as collective bargaining.

Retired NFL fullback Kevin Turner, who played for both the Patriots and Eagles during his football career, says he believes his current diagnosis with the incurable disorder commonly called Lou Gehrig’s disease is linked to head injuries sustained on the playing field.—southerninjurylawyer.com, March 20, 2011

It's getting progressively difficult to be a rabid football fan when so many former players are starting to suffer from their on-field exploits. Those big hits make the highlight reel come at a cost. Those players who "play with pain" to our great admiration join the ranks of the disabled when they drop from public view.

This past Super Bowl the NFL sold $200 tickets to fans, allowing them to stand in a special place outside the stadium where the game was being played. They got to watch the game on a huge video screen.

While players and owners work the courts in a cash grab, and former players showing signs of what the game has become, now might be a good time for us to decide whether our devotion to the game is warranted.