In an essay entitled “Time To Get Back To Football,” Giants co-owner John Mara yesterday wrote what he has been preaching since before the lockout began: Players and owners need to get back to the bargaining table and get the fight out of the courtroom.
Mara reiterated his claim that “the NFL’s business model needs to be fixed” and “a fair adjustment must be negotiated in a new CBA.” Once again, Mara said the NFL Players Association’s desire to pursue in court antitrust claims has stalled the process. Mara quoted NFLPA labor lawyer Jim Quinn as saying, “There’s nothing good at the bargaining table . . . we did it for 2 and a half years. It didn’t work out.”
Mara wrote the NFLPA lawyers “want to wipe away fundamental elements of the NFL’s appeal to fans, including the draft, the Salary Cap, ‘franchise player’ designation, ‘transition player’ designation, and/or other player restrictions.” This strategy, Mara believes, “is no doubt designed to gain economic leverage in negotiations. But it has delayed the process of reaching an agreement and, more importantly, it threatens players, teams, and fans with very negative consequences.”
Appealing to the fans, Mara wrote, “The solution lies at the bargaining table. Everyone should realize what is at stake, especially in this economy. Right now, fans are caught in the middle listening to rhetoric and legalese they don’t want to hear.
“The current ball of confusion needs to become a football season, pronto; the kind of football season that NFL fans have grown to love and that has made our sport so popular.”