NFLPA's Smith Expects Owners To Impose Lockout For '11 Season

Smith Has Begun Advising Players On How To Prepare For Lockout

NFLPA Exec Dir DeMaurice Smith yesterday said that he "expects owners to impose a lockout in two years" and he has "begun advising players on how to prepare for it," according to Michael Marot of the AP. Smith: "They want to lock us out in 2011, so our drop dead date is when our players say 'What do I do when my family needs health care?' All of us are sitting back waiting to hear why they walked away from a deal that generated $8[B]." NFL Senior VP/PR Greg Aiello: "We are preparing to negotiate a new agreement. We have had two meetings with NFLPA leadership, and we expect to have more. But we have at least two seasons of football left before the contract expires." Smith said that he is "willing to discuss any issues the owners want -- as long as he gets answers about why the 32 league owners opted out of the original CBA." Smith: "I'm happy to talk about a change in the disciplinary policy, 18 games or whatever. But if your employer decides it wants to close the doors in two years, you know, you can talk about a lunch break or anything else. But the first question you'd ask them is why do you want to lock me out?" (AP, 8/17). Colts C and player rep Jeff Saturday said, "We're a long way away from killing the golden goose. There are a lot of men making a whole lot of money in this game. We'll see at the end of the day how serious everybody is" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 8/18). WashingtonPost.com columnist Len Shapiro: "This is a golden goose that you don’t want to kill and I think both sides realize it and that’s not going to change" ("Washington Post Live," CSN Mid-Atlantic, 8/17). Meanwhile, NFLPA Assistant Exec Dir of External Affairs George Attalah yesterday on his Twitter feed said, “Funny how the press made a big deal of De's comment about lockout today. Only about the 5,000th time he's said that” (TWITTER.com, 8/17).

FOLLOW THE LEADERS: In L.A., Sam Farmer writes if it were "just a matter of pleasing" Smith and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, they could "probably roll up their sleeves, latch the meeting-room door, and work out a deal." But they both have to "satisfy their constituencies -- and prove to their people they made the other side suffer." It is "all about money, of course, and neither side is willing to budge an inch." Goodell has to "bring an agreement back that attracts at least 24 of 32 votes" from owners, and "as well as he's done so far, setting a higher bar for personal conduct among players, this will be his biggest test in the eyes of some owners." Meanwhile, Smith has to "step into each of the 32 locker rooms with a new deal in hand, and explain how he left nothing on the negotiating table." Farmer: "This will be Smith's defining moment" (L.A. TIMES, 8/18).

Editorial Says Goodell Seems Intent On Toughening NFL's Conduct Rules

CRACKING DOWN: A USA TODAY editorial notes Goodell "seems intent on toughening the rules" regarding personal conduct, as he is "acting where the justice system fails, where the system works and where the system grinds on." Goodell since announcing a "more rigid personal-conduct policy" in '07 has "suspended 15 players, more than twice as many as were suspended from 2004 to 2006 mostly under" former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue. But for "all the headlines" Eagles QB Michael Vick, suspended Browns WR Donte Stallworth and free agent WR Plaxico Burress have generated for off-field transgressions, they and a "small crowd of lesser offenders represent a tiny slice of the 2,000-plus players populating NFL training camps" (USA TODAY, 8/18). FOXSPORTS.com's Mark Kriegel writes life in the NFL has become "considerably less dysfunctional" under Goodell "than it was under his predecessor." The San Diego Union-Tribune indicated that NFL players in summer '08 combined for 13 arrests and four DUIs, compared to only two arrests this summer (FOXSPORTS.com, 8/18).