Yesterday, Roger Goodell sent a letter to each NFL athlete that outlined the owners' latest proposal for a new CBA and asked the players to put pressure on their NFLPA leaders to return to the bargaining table. The apparent olive branch was not received with open arms. In an interview with XX Sports Radio in San Diego, Chargers linebacker Nick Barnett called Goodell a "blatant liar." Before I hit bed last night, up pops a Steve Smith message on my Twitter feed that says "Roger Goodell #lame."
And herein lies the problem for DeMaurice Smith and the union leaders. To have a united front and a calculated PR approach, Goodell has to govern 32 elder businessmen who grew up in a world with rotary phones. For Smith to do the same, he needs to rein in over 2,000 young males who could sound off every time they pick up their Blackberry. The difficulties of this task were no more apparent than two months ago, when Antonio Cromartie blasted the union for not having a deal in place (probably because he'd just realized that he wouldn't get his normal paycheck for his nine illegitimate children). It didn't help things when Matt Hasselbeck then publicly chided Cromartie. The union could ill-afford to show divisions within house right before they approached the bargaining table.
You can argue whether Goodell's letter yesterday was a magnanimous peace offering or an underhanded PR ploy. Nevertheless, the subsequent name-calling from the players won't help future negotiations. The owners have enough bargaining chips as-is.
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