NFL Owners and Commissioner Goodell Secretly Meet

[Deus Irae]

Re: Schefter and Mort: De Smith at owners "secret" meeting

The players ought to be irate that this sort of smoke-filled room wheeling and dealing is going on. The players should fire Demaurice Smith. He has no place at the table with the owners while the players get stiffed, locked-out and made to look like pawns in court. The players chose the lawsuit route and should stick to their guns

The owners should be made to bargain in good faith, open their books, and quit building mega-monuments to themselves like Cowboys Stadium and Patriot Place that make their investor bffs wealthy. The owners take on debt and then want the players to sacrifice pay or former players to sacrifice their health and retirement benefits so Jerry Jones can make his payment on the private elevator with the $100k painting in it that goes only to his luxury box. BS! The players shouldn't sacrifice because the owners put their families and stooges on the payrolls of the teams for no work and huge salaries.

The players fight for a CBO because it's their labor and short careers and broken bodies for the rest of their lives on the line. The owners are fatcats who are the culprits here. The players did not strike, the owners locked them out. Demaurice Smith is sleazier than his predecessor.

Smith is supposed to reach a deal with the league, as long as the deal is one that the players can agree with. That's a huge part of his job. Such a deal can't happen if the sides don't engage in some level of dialogue.

I don't get your issue here.

 

[cmasspatsfan]

Re: Schefter and Mort: De Smith at owners "secret" meeting

The players ought to be irate that this sort of smoke-filled room wheeling and dealing is going on. The players should fire Demaurice Smith. He has no place at the table with the owners while the players get stiffed, locked-out and made to look like pawns in court. The players chose the lawsuit route and should stick to their guns

The owners should be made to bargain in good faith, open their books, and quit building mega-monuments to themselves like Cowboys Stadium and Patriot Place that make their investor bffs wealthy. The owners take on debt and then want the players to sacrifice pay or former players to sacrifice their health and retirement benefits so Jerry Jones can make his payment on the private elevator with the $100k painting in it that goes only to his luxury box. BS! The players shouldn't sacrifice because the owners put their families and stooges on the payrolls of the teams for no work and huge salaries.

The players fight for a CBO because it's their labor and short careers and broken bodies for the rest of their lives on the line. The owners are fatcats who are the culprits here. The players did not strike, the owners locked them out. Demaurice Smith is sleazier than his predecessor.

The wheeling and dealing is whats supposed to go on, you seem anti agreement, not sure what your end game is but it sounds like you want labor strife and no football.

 

[mgcolby]

Re: Schefter and Mort: De Smith at owners "secret" meeting

The players ought to be irate that this sort of smoke-filled room wheeling and dealing is going on. The players should fire Demaurice Smith. He has no place at the table with the owners while the players get stiffed, locked-out and made to look like pawns in court. The players chose the lawsuit route and should stick to their guns

Yeah that's the ticket...no football....awesome. Sign me up!

The owners should be made to bargain in good faith, open their books, and quit building mega-monuments to themselves like Cowboys Stadium and Patriot Place that make their investor bffs wealthy. The owners take on debt and then want the players to sacrifice pay or former players to sacrifice their health and retirement benefits so Jerry Jones can make his payment on the private elevator with the $100k painting in it that goes only to his luxury box. BS! The players shouldn't sacrifice because the owners put their families and stooges on the payrolls of the teams for no work and huge salaries.

Bargain in good faith? The players haven't bargained in good faith at all. No counter proposal to either proposal put forth by the owners, negotiating for the sake of the appearance of it, knowing the whole time they were heading to the courts.... sounds like the Players negotiated in good faith.

And as far as the owners incurring debt for new stadiums. Do you not realize that maybe, just maybe they need to come up with new or better revenue streams to offset the rising costs of the benefits given to the players? In addition do you think the public should incur that debt or should the owners? I think it is ridiculous that players making anywhere from $250,000 up to 17 million a year, after getting a free education, receive education benefits, where is the logic in that? They are fed breakfast and lunch everyday they are required to work. Do you get that at your job? Crying for the players is ignorant. I'm not saying the owners should receive any sympathy either, all I'm saying is the players have it pretty damn good.

The players fight for a CBO because it's their labor and short careers and broken bodies for the rest of their lives on the line. The owners are fatcats who are the culprits here. The players did not strike, the owners locked them out. Demaurice Smith is sleazier than his predecessor.

They don't have to play football they chose to and they know the risks.

The owners have to ensure the longevity of the league, which includes long term health insurance for the the players when their career is done.

You are completely way off base and fail to see that the owners employ many "stooges" and provide for many families. Its not all about the players as they would have you believe.

 

[Ron Sellers]

Re: Schefter and Mort: De Smith at owners "secret" meeting

The owners should be made to bargain in good faith, open their books, and quit building mega-monuments to themselves like Cowboys Stadium and Patriot Place that make their investor bffs wealthy.

Just my opinion, but I think equating the Cowboys Stadium to Patriot Place is a bit of a stretch.

 

[Ron Sellers]

Perhaps I'm too cynical, but the repeated characterization of these meeting as being "secret" seems to be a bit of an overkill by the media; maybe that word was chosen because they have had so little to write about the last three months. If the owners really wanted to have a meeting that nobody but themselves would know about, they would have taken far greater measures to keep this meeting private. That, or simply have a video conference call; the technology is readily available and far less expensive than leasing private jets.

Unpublicized? Yes.

Secret? I don't think so.

 

[PATSNUTme]

Re: Schefter and Mort: De Smith at owners "secret" meeting

So they are having a "secret" and sports reporters know about it. Next time they should have a double secret meeting.

All joking aside, there is no sense having a secret meeting and letting it leak out. Then one side or the other may feel they have to posture because it's no longer "secret". Take the PR aspect out of it and something can get done.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Re: Schefter and Mort: De Smith at owners "secret" meeting

The players ought to be irate that this sort of smoke-filled room wheeling and dealing is going on. The players should fire Demaurice Smith. He has no place at the table with the owners while the players get stiffed, locked-out and made to look like pawns in court. The players chose the lawsuit route and should stick to their guns

The owners should be made to bargain in good faith, open their books, and quit building mega-monuments to themselves like Cowboys Stadium and Patriot Place that make their investor bffs wealthy. The owners take on debt and then want the players to sacrifice pay or former players to sacrifice their health and retirement benefits so Jerry Jones can make his payment on the private elevator with the $100k painting in it that goes only to his luxury box. BS! The players shouldn't sacrifice because the owners put their families and stooges on the payrolls of the teams for no work and huge salaries.

The players fight for a CBO because it's their labor and short careers and broken bodies for the rest of their lives on the line. The owners are fatcats who are the culprits here. The players did not strike, the owners locked them out. Demaurice Smith is sleazier than his predecessor.

How stupid would you feel if I told you the court mediator ordered the meeting...LOL

 

[Joker]

...the Omissioner is getting mad and he's ready to sanction somebody!!!...

 

[Don Kipines]

Re: Schefter and Mort: De Smith at owners "secret" meeting

The players ought to be irate that this sort of smoke-filled room wheeling and dealing is going on. The players should fire Demaurice Smith. He has no place at the table with the owners while the players get stiffed, locked-out and made to look like pawns in court. The players chose the lawsuit route and should stick to their guns

The owners should be made to bargain in good faith, open their books, and quit building mega-monuments to themselves like Cowboys Stadium and Patriot Place that make their investor bffs wealthy. The owners take on debt and then want the players to sacrifice pay or former players to sacrifice their health and retirement benefits so Jerry Jones can make his payment on the private elevator with the $100k painting in it that goes only to his luxury box. BS! The players shouldn't sacrifice because the owners put their families and stooges on the payrolls of the teams for no work and huge salaries.

The players fight for a CBO because it's their labor and short careers and broken bodies for the rest of their lives on the line. The owners are fatcats who are the culprits here. The players did not strike, the owners locked them out. Demaurice Smith is sleazier than his predecessor.

I'm about as supportive of the players as you can get and even I think you're crazy. Litigation isn't the end, it's the means. The end is the deal. If you can get the same end by other means, you don't need the litigation.

 

[Frezo]

The NFL just secretly announced that there will be a secret season played at secret locations. The Super bowl will be renamed The Secret Bowl. Shhhhh...

 

[goheels22002]

It's nice to open this thing up and see that everybody thinks I'm nuts. I thought most everybody on here had lost perspctive and judgment with the lockout forcing us to watch the NFL Follies videos from the 1970s on the NFL Channel.

I am nuts. But that's between me and myselves.

When the post first appeared, I did not know that this "super-secret" meeting was being mediated by Judge Boyland and that both sides were highly represented by players and owners. So I do feel stupid for being angry that the appearance was that Smith was hangin' with the wealthiest owners cutting a deal while the players were taking the legal route which continues today in St. Louis.

NFL, NFLPA meet for covert talks in Chicago - ESPN

This lockout is about a collective bargaining agreement that a) compensates players fairly, b) improves the deplorable and inhumane way the NFL and NFLPA take care of retirees (we have better benefits for retired town employees in Framingham - that's the truth!), c) distributes revenues in a way that is fair and contributes to long-term fiscal health of the NFL, and d) helps the owners build their individual team brands and address facility issues for the teams and fans.

The NFL does not have the same antitrust protection as major league baseball - remember the 2010 Supreme Court ruling on revenues by 32 separate companies that comprise the NFL. That ruling basically incented the owners to share their financial information so that a CBA could make sense for all teams and the players demands could take into account highly profitable teams and not-so-profitable teams. So the owners should have stepped up with additional info knowing that their record in court sucks - especially with this Supreme Court, getting more liberal with each new Obama appointee.

So, it looks to me like the courts are not going to solve the problem - at least not in time. My guess is that Kraft and the owners provide greater fiscal detail and the two sides get closer in the next week.

This is not entirely a "Never mind." I think the players deserve the lion's share of the money. They suffer debilitating injuries, get cast on the junk pile when their bodies or brains no longer function at peak efficiency and provide us with the entertainment we are addicted to. None of us would tune in if the owners and their administrative staffs were to line up on Sundays. The NFL also has the best CBA in sports with a salary cap that keeps 80% of the teams viable through November unlike the other major sports which are ruled by the haves. I'm rooting for the players to get what they deserve and for the owners to stay focused on the product on the field and not extraneous revenue they can make with their theme park developments.

 

[TruthSeeker]

we have better benefits for retired town employees in Framingham - that's the truth!

I'd be interested in knowing what benefits Framingham town employees have for employees who worked for 4 years and left town service 40 years before they retired.

 

[dhamz]

I'd be interested in knowing what benefits Framingham town employees have for employees who worked for 4 years and left town service 40 years before they retired.

I would guess none.

 

[goheels22002]

How about 92.5% health insurance coverage for life?

 

[goheels22002]

Plus a pension.

 

[goheels22002]

I would guess none.[/]
Do you pay property taxes?

 

[dhamz]

So if you work only 4 years for the town of Framingham they then pay you a pension and over 90% of your health care for life?