So the NFL lockout is over! Yippee skippee! The fact of the matter is that this lockout has been so overanalyzed by every website, blogger, and media type that I am just glad that it is finally over. In the end, like Joe always said, as long as games aren’t missed no one will care. Let’s be honest here, no games were ever going to be missed, and fans were never going to be shunning the magnificent spectacle that is the NFL. Believe me, I wanted to, but I know that the only way I can ever really see myself doing that is if the Bills leave Buffalo (sorry, probably didn’t need to go there).
This lockout has gotten me to a point of just complete disgust where I hope (note hope, not will) to change the way I engage myself in the NFL. As I’ve gotten older and moved into a “big boy” job, a marriage, kids, and house I have always told myself I will forever hold on to the boyish joy of sports. I love sports. More than most and certainly more than most understand, but what this lockout has taught me is that sports just don’t matter as much as I wish they did. It’s like the scene in Fever Pitch when Jimmy Fallon and co. are sulking over the Red Sox loss and get disgusted when Red Sox players come in and ‘enjoy’ a meal. That’s what this lockout was. The owners and players arguing over caviar, kobe beef steaks and what year bottle of Opus One they are going to order. They were always going to get theirs and guess what, fans were ALWAYS going to come back.
Die-hard fans were the only ones really upset about the lockout. We were upset about not hearing about how rookies looked at OTAs running around in shorts and how Fitzpatrick looked in non-contact 7-on-7 drills (Really?). We were upset because as human beings we don’t like change. Colin Cowherd (sorry, I know people don’t like him) said this on his show a while ago and gave some examples of how it is human nature to avoid change. I have a friend who, no matter what chain restaurant we go to, has an “it” item. I can almost guarantee you what he’s going to pick based on the restaurant selection. Most of us aren’t that different, which is why we are all blindly racing back to support an almost $10B empire.
The casual fan echoed Joe’s sentiment, and to be honest, most had no clue what was going on in the lockout, if they knew a lockout was even happening. They don’t care about free agency or training camp. They don’t care about 15 added pounds of muscle or tackling drills. The casual NFL fan cares about one thing only, their team and that team playing 16 games in a season. Once again, they’ll gladly contribute their time and energy each Sunday, helping build the NFL into an almost $18B empire by the time this CBA expires.
I realize that I sound petty, but this lockout has rubbed me the wrong way and for the sake of avoiding a debate, I am being petty. Some called this ordeal annoying because of millionaires vs. billionaires angle, but my problem isn’t with the owners vs the players (I’m pro-owner for the record). It is their lack of self-awareness in this whole thing. Simply put, this is more about the wealthy vs. the middle class. Drew Brees routinely pleaded for fan support and understanding. It was misplaced and unnecessary. The new MINIMUM salary for NFL players will be $375k (average salary is $1.9m and median is actually $770k). The average length of an NFL player’s career is 3.5 years, but in my pettiness, I will round it down to 3 years. That means that a player will earn $1m (call it $500k after taxes) and somehow, because of the average length of career, I’m supposed to be worried about them. The player MINIMUM got an increase of $50k (or what your average teacher makes) a year.
Now I don’t want ANYONE getting out of football for a reason like Kevin Everett or Eric Legrand, and I realize that is possible in football. But one argument I have never heard made or even remotely mentioned is the point that almost every one of these players, in addition to making at least a million dollars, had the chance at a FREE education. Now if the player left college early or got a BS in BS, then that’s not my problem either. I just have a hard time feeling bad for any of these parties.
The owners aren’t off the hook here either. They know the NFL has the least guaranteed money out of the major sports, and they know they need to take anything whenever they can. Gene Upshaw’s motto was “You never give anything back”. The owners seemingly care only about making money and winning and in that order.
My rambling point is that come this fall, every Sunday we will be glued to our televisions watching football, and we’ll love it. Fans will spend $50, $100, $500 on tickets and countless amounts of money on apparel. I will love watching this group of Bills players try and prove that for the first time in a decade, they are truly headed in the right direction. I will do that, but I will do that through a different glass and a slight distaste in my mouth about the whole ordeal.
Check me out on Twitter: @brianbund
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
