"Today, I am sorry for our fans. I am sorry for the people who love football. I'm sorry for those who love their teams and take pride in the ownership of their teams.
"As two business partners, the most common, fundamental principle between the two of us has to be one of trust. It has to be one of something we can verify, something that we can believe as common business partners in any business.
"I will tell you this: Any business, where two partners don't trust each other, any business, where one party says 'You need to do x, y, and z because I told you', is a business that is not only not run well, is a business that can never be as successful as it can be.
"Over the last 12 days, 14 days, we've culminated a process that began two years ago. It actually began even before we met on May 18 of 2009, where on behalf of every player in the National Football League, I wrote to (NFL Commissioner) Roger Goodell and said 'As we begin our negotiation process after you have opted out of this contract, I call upon the National Football League to do one simple thing: Show us the financial justification for opting out of this deal'.
"Meet us halfway as your business partner, and explain why you opted out of a deal where we know that the business of football is hearty. We know the viewership is up. We know that the love and the fervor for our game has not waned. Meet us halfway and provide us with a justification for saying 'No' to a new collective bargaining agreement.
"What I didn't know on the day that I wrote that letter, was that at almost the same time I wrote that letter, the Management Council, and the leaders of the National Football League, were meeting in secret to talk about how they gain contracts to provide them with cash during a lockout.
"So while the players were moving forward thinking that this was about fairness and honesty and transparency, the National Football League was meeting in secret to talk about collusion, conspiracy, leverage, and breaking our union.
"As we moved forward over those next two years, not knowing what was going on behind closed doors, we nonetheless did our best to engage in something called collective bargaining and good-faith negotiation. Over the last 14 days, we did our best to do those things.
"The National Football League made a proposal to us starting off at asking for $1 billion a year. And now with a great deal of fervor, and pride almost, they wanted to announce that our differences were only $650 million, and wouldn't it be a great thing if we just split the difference.
"Well it is with a great deal of pride that the members and the players of the National Football League said 'No...We are going to demand as your business partners that you meet us halfway and justify taking any money from us'.
"At a time when we should be doing better for our former players. At a time when we know that the ravages of football will cost our players more when football is over than what it is costing them today. At a time when we should be standing firm as owners and players saying 'What can we do to make our game safer and better?', yet a lawyer from the National Football League say that what we should have done was just split it with them and walked away.
"Walked away with earning less in 2011 than players made in 2009. Does that seem fair to you? Does that seem like anyone met us halfway?
"So today I'm sad for our fans. I'm sad for our players, but I'll tell you what: The last message to the owners of the National Football League didn't come from the Executive Director. It came from the Vice President of the Executive Committee, (Indianapolis Colts center) Jeff Saturday. The last word to the owners came from the Vice President named (Kansas City Chiefs guard) Brian Waters. The men who sat across from the owners and did most of the talking today wasn't a lawyer from D.C., it was players who risk everything, every day, for the game that they love.
"So I'll tell you what. I know that we have a long ways to go. I know that perhaps the way people feel about football today is a little bit less than what they felt about football the day before, but I'm proud of the men who have devoted themselves to be leaders. So it is with a great deal of humility and pride that I know that our forefathers, some of whom are no longer with us, guys like Reggie White, guys like Dave Duerson. I know that the forefathers who are still with us named (Freeman) McNeil, and (Hardy) Nickerson, and (Marvin) Powell. I know that those men would stand proud that today the legacy has been passed to guys named (Drew) Brees, and (Peyton) Manning, and (Mike) Vrabel. And even that torch has been passed to a young Aggie (Von Miller), who has decided to put his name on a lawsuit that is going represent not only the players of today, but the players of tomorrow.
"So I'll tell you what. We're going to go back to work. We're going to do our best to save football. But right now, football is in good hands. It's in the hands of the people who love our game. It's in the hands of the people who play, it's in the hands of the fans who dig everything we do. And on their behalf, I'm sorry that we're here, but we'll be back.
"Thank you all."
source: Mac's Football Blog
Posted by Brian McIntyre
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