You may or may not be a part of the ever-glorious Twitter world. Regardless, you have probably seen the "#WeWantToPlay" tweeted out by many NFL players. If you follow me on Twitter then you have certainly glanced at this hashtag because I have retweeted many tweets from these athletes advocating for ... themselves.
At no surprise, the NFL and the NFL Players Association are not in agreement. The players want to be looked out for and the league wants the moolah. So, who has to sacrifice? What are the negotiations at-hand? What's gotta give for there to simply be ... football.
On March 31st Jeff Pash, the NFL Executive Vice President and General Counsel, made a bold plan for the upcoming 2020 season. Almost four months ago we had expectations that the season would start on time, fans would be in the stands, games would be played at the regular stadiums, 17 weeks would be played, and a full set of playoffs would ice the cake. Fast forward to today and it may not be anything like the NBA bubble (yet), but the nitty gritty details of the recently stated regulations would mean an infinity long blog post.
Let me sum it up for you ... things have CHANGED.
Okay, so there may be no preseason games on the horizon. To fans this doesn't mean much, but to the rookies and to the under-the-radar guys this means a whole lot. Preseason games are where a guys' game play speaks louder than him being overlooked in practice. Now they only have training camp to vouch for themselves. Rookies do not have mini-camp, rookie camp, OTAs, or preseason. Essentially, there is no ease of transition from college to pros. It is training camp or bust at this point. Training camps are going to be the most physical they have ever been.
For the players it's simple ... there is a global pandemic that seems to be spreading like wildfire again, but the league is not putting their safety at top priority. The league has eliminated postgame jersey swaps, but have desired to keep two preseason games on the schedule.
Read that paragraph again.
We are talking about the contact sport of all contact sports ... 60 minutes of pure contact ... but no jersey swap after the game. If you're like me you appreciate the beauty of the jersey swap. It is a chance to show the upmost respect to your competitor. It has become a part of the game that we all know and love now.
But, the heck with the jersey swap after 60 minutes of game play. Let's just be sure we keep those two preseason games that the league wants. You can see why the players have been a little aggravated, right? Now you understand the hashtag?
Lost revenue means the salary cap will take a hit. The salary cap taking a hit means that players will have to sacrifice money and take a pay cut. I know you all are wise enough to know that this will not go over well. The players would like to take the revenue hit and spread that out over several years which would mean that players would not have to take such a large cut immediately.
The owners disagree. *que a BadAsh sarcastically shocked face*
The owners want to take the harsh hit all at once and just begin to rebuild instantly. There is a catch to all of this though. The players are not only concerned about a salary, but also about their health benefits which are a part of players costs under the salary cap.
There is a clear winner here, right?
One seems more rational than the other, would you agree?
I will not deny that each party has their reasons for wanting what they want, but wouldn't you give those who actually make up the league the upper hand on the situation?
We want football. We want the players to want to be on that field. We want the most football, but only the football that makes sense. We want the NFL and NFLPA to come to an agreement in the best way to coexist with this virus.
To the men who make up the NFL, #WeWantYouToPlay.
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