Friday, March 18, 2011
MARCO ISLAND — NFL players and their leadership tried to make a few things clear Friday:
They consider the letter commissioner Roger Goodell sent them a day earlier an attempt to create "dissension."
They dispute the league's contention that the union walked away from negotiations.
They dispute the owners' depiction of their last-minute offer made March 11. They say it wasn't close to acceptable because it would have made salaries a fixed cost and eliminated the players' chance to share in higher-than-projected revenue growth. They say the proposal would cut players' take of more than $9 billion in annual revenues from 50 percent to 45 percent in the first year of a new contract.
Pete Kendall, the former union's permanent player representative, called the league's offer "kind of the old switcheroo." Steelers safety Ryan Clark, his team's main representative, called it "probably the worst deal in sports history," echoing words used by NFLPA chief executive DeMaurice Smith in a radio appearance.
"If the union had a problem, the best course of action would have been to make a counterproposal, continue to discuss the issue, or explain the problem," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said. "They were in such a hurry to get out of the room last Friday and file their lawsuit that they never mentioned this …issue."
Mediation cut off a week ago, and the union dissolved itself, allowing players to file a class-action antitrust suit in federal court. Hours later, when the old collective bargaining agreement expired, owners locked out the players.
In a speech Friday to players at the NFLPA's annual meeting, Smith said he won't be paid during the work stoppage — the league's first since 1987.