Players Secret Fund May Have Moved Talks

[methos4ever]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/jim_trotter/07/15/secret-lockout-fund/index.html

Apparently the Players have had a fund that even some of them didn't know, that would pay each of them 200,000 if the owners tried to push this into the regular seasons to "break" them. That, coupled with the Doty money would have put them all in a good place until negotiations and not hostage tactics were taking place.


Foxworth I guess revealed this to the owners for the first time yesterday, coinciding with the massive movement in talks.

Bravo to De Smith - for all the guff he's taken at times, that was a very very shrewd move and play.

[delectrolux]

Re: Players Secret Fund May Have Moved Talks

Why not reveal it to them before the lockout to avoid the whole thing?

[BLeonard]

Re: Players Secret Fund May Have Moved Talks

Why not reveal it to them before the lockout to avoid the whole thing?

Cause then, all the lawyers wouldn't have gotten a dime, and nobody would really know who DeMaurice Smith is... Now, anyone who follows football knows him.

-Bill

[OpIv37]

Re: Players Secret Fund May Have Moved Talks

What the players are seeking is a reduction in contact drills and full-pad practices, a reduction in off-season workouts and other changes designed to increase player safety and make violations of rules already in place enforceable. The players’ biggest concerns are coaches violating practice and workout rules already in place that are designed to protect player safety.

While I can see how contact drills and full-pad workouts become a safety issue for the players, I think that, in the long run, it will hurt the game because the players will come into the season without being prepared for the contact.

I think a reduction in off-season workouts is a bad idea for the players, because it means they will be more out of practice and more out of shape. I don't see this as a safety issue at all.

Obviously, if teams are violating the rules that are already in place, the league has to address that.

[trapezeus]

Re: Players Secret Fund May Have Moved Talks

i think they'll be fine. playing essentially all year round (which is what the teams who win the superbowl essentially do) isn't a good thing for the players. i don't think they'll be hurt with less time of physical drills. getting the timing and stuff and be done in non-contact drills.

and to the guy who asked why not say that from the get go that there is a fund, the answer is you lose your leverage.

Just when the owners may think they've beaten you down and that you are accepting some compromise because the players are weak. the players can say, "we are compromising because we want something on another topic. We aren't caving because we're struggling. if you want we have this fund and we'll start over later because we don't need to compromise if you won't compromise."