By Rick Stroud, Times Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Tampa Bay Buccaneers center Jeff Faine, the team's union representative, did not receive any calls from teammates asking whether they should return to work Tuesday after a federal judge Susan Nelson ordered an end to the NFL lockout.
Although the doors were open to players at One Buc Place, none had attempted to enter the facility Tuesday morning. It's unclear whether the Bucs would've permitted players access to the strength and conditioning room, locker room or practice fields.
Faine said his advice to Bucs players would've been to make their own individual decision about returning to work, but he did not believe the issue is resolved.
"To be honest, I'm a little surprised at that,'' Faine said. "No one reached out at all so we didn't really have to cross that road of telling somebody what they should do. But my message would've been do what you have to do.
"Everybody has their own personal situations, whether it's bonuses or what not and if they feel they need to show up, that's fine. My personal opinion is that it's not going to do a thing. This thing is going to be won in the courts. There's still a long road in front of us. I know the general perception is let's go sing Kumbaya. We won and all that. But at the end of the day, they're appealing it. They're appealing it right now. This this is a positive step, but nobody has won in this situation.''
While some players in other NFL cities attempted to return to work Tuesday, Faine said it's premature for anyone to declare victory in the labor situation.
"It's just irritating the situation,'' Faine said. "I'm not against the guys who are doing it, but nothing is figured out yet. It's got to go through due process and take their path and see what happens.
"I'm usually an optimist in most situations, with the exception of business. I'm always a pessimist until the deal is done and the money is in hand. It's not easy for me to be celebrating a win when we're not winning and things aren't as status quo as they should be.''