The NFL May Be in Its Most Important Season
Written by: O
Most football fans get ecstatic when training camp starts because that means that football is here. All of the NFL teams can be excited as hope usually springs eternal in July and August. All fans can believe that this year will be their team’s year. While everyone is optimistic about this season, they had better keep in mind that this could be the last time the NFL could be in its current form as the players’ contract is up in March and if there’s no agreement by then, the NFL could forever change for the worst.
There are so many issues on the table between the players and the owners that the very league as we know it could disappear overnight. The biggest issue at hand will be the salary cap and how the players hate it and the owners love it. Well, some owners, like Jerry Jones (Cowboys) and Daniel Synder (Redskins) do not love it, but they are still in the minority. If there is not an agreement by this spring, the 2010 season could very well not have a salary cap, which could eventually kill small market teams like Green Bay, Minnesota, or Pittsburgh.
The most pressing issue during the negotiations very well be involved the retired NFL players and their pension fund. The NFL players union have been a complete embarrassment concerning their former players and not only does the union have resistance from the owners in this issue, but the public at large thinks it is a joke that they do not watch for the former players in the NFL. So many retired players are in such distressing health, it is a flat-out travesty that they have so little money and no insurance to take care of injuries that received playing in the NFL. How former NFL player’s union president, Gene Upshaw, a former player, did not ever address this issue is one of the many mysteries and the current president, DeMaurice Smith, should rectify such an obvious oversight of the union.
Finally, the number of games will definitely be another negotiating point. Of course, the owners are trying to get some more money, but how will the players be compensated for the extra games? Going from 16 to 18 games would mean more wear and tear to the players and even though this would probably mean less exhibition games, would the roster number stay the same? More games would mean more injuries, so the number of players on the roster should rise as the number of games rise, right?
All of these issues are of little worry now as the new season has started with training camps across the league beginning. The thing is that these same issues with be all football fans talk about after the Super Bowl and more importantly, how will these negotiations affect next season and the seasons afterwards.
