Indy Star: “Don’t dismiss 18-game schedule just yet”

Indianapolis Star columnist Bob Kravitz today takes a closer look at the enhanced season under the header “Don’t dismiss 18-game schedule just yet.”

“The NFL players’ understandable concern centers on the physical toll two additional regular-season games would take, especially when it comes to their long-term durability,” Kravitz writes.

“Well, here are some interesting numbers,” Kravitz adds, citing the following statistics:

• From 1962-77 (14-game schedule), 10-year veterans represented 7.49 percent of all NFL players
• From 1978-2010 (16-game schedule, not including 1987), 10-year vets represented 8.93 percent of all players.
• In 1963, there were zero 15-year veterans on NFL rosters. In 2009, there were 20.

“Today’s players not only take far better care of themselves, but modern medicine has turned what used to be career-ending injuries into injuries that require a four-week recovery time,” Kravitz continues. “But . . . there’s something to those numbers. Today’s players fear that going from 16 to 18 will dramatically shorten their careers. History suggests otherwise.”

“In the end, I’m OK with an 18-game schedule,” Kravitz concludes, “but only if the players get lots of concessions on the back end. More roster spots. A fair share of the growing revenue pie. Better health benefits. Enough offseason time to do the things [Peyton] Manning says are so important to a top team’s success.”

For the complete story, click here.

Pro Football Weekly: “18-game regular season will thrill fans”

“Give us an 18-game regular season,” headlines an editorial published in the July 2010 edition of Pro Football Weekly.

“With summer heating up and teams making final arrangements for the start of training camp,” the editorial begins, “we can’t help but get more excited by the day about the start of the 2010 NFL season.”

“What we aren’t so excited about is the five-week stretch of faux football played in August and early September that is the preseason,” the column continues. “We’ve gone on record before in favor of shortening the preseason by two games and extending the regular season from 16 games to 18. Our opinion hasn’t changed, despite the fact that some high-profile NFL stars have recently sounded off against any such plan…citing the increased risk of injury.”

“Injuries will always be an issue in the NFL, whether the 20-game schedule is comprised of 16 real games and four fakes or 18 real games and two exhibitions,” PFW notes.

The editorial concludes stating, “We understand that players will deserve to be compensated more by playing two additional meaningful games, and the NFL knows that it will be necessary to achieve its goal. We urge both sides to make progress on these negotiations, and we hope that they end with a new CBA that both the owners and the players are happy with – and an 18-game regular season that will thrill the league’s rabid fan base.”

NFL meeting press conference transcript

Below is a transcript of the press conference following today’s NFL meeting in Atlanta.  At the meeting, NFL clubs approved the terms of a comprehensive settlement of litigation and a new 10-year collective bargaining agreement with the NFL Players Association.

NFL press conference at league meeting in Atlanta

July 21, 2011

Commissioner Goodell:  Good afternoon. The clubs approved an agreement that was negotiated with the players this afternoon. In addition to approving that agreement, we also approved a supplemental revenue sharing system for the next 10 years. With this ratification and with the ratification of the NFLPA board, we will be prepared to open the training facilities beginning on Saturday, this Saturday. We will then be prepared to start the new league year next Wednesday subject to the full membership of the players ratifying the agreement and recertifying as a union. Obviously you know that we’re all under a time constraint. That’s one of the reasons we worked to get this agreement completed tonight.

We are unfortunately going to have to cancel the Hall of Fame Game this year. The time is just too short and we feel that it’s important for all 32 teams to be operating with the same number of preseason games and also starting camp at the same date or near the same date. Unfortunately we will not be there to play the game this year, but of course the (induction) ceremonies will go on. Hopefully we can all work quickly, expeditiously and get this agreement done. It is time to get back to football. That is what everyone here wants to do. We will allow our chairman, Mr. (Jerry) Richardson, who did an outstanding job, to say a few words. Before I do and before we take questions and hear from Mr. Richardson, let me just tell you how hard I think everybody in the NFL, how hard the players, how hard DeMaurice Smith worked. They’ve done an outstanding job. I think we’ve crafted a long-term agreement that can be good for the game of football. It’ll be good for the players, good for the clubs, and most importantly good for our game and for our fans. We really are anxious to get back to football. Hopefully today’s development and the developments of the NFLPA over the next few days will ensure that. I’ll hand it off to Mr. Richardson.

Jerry Richardson:  Thank you, Commissioner. We all know this journey began in May 2008. It’s been long. At times it’s been very, very difficult. We’re happy to say and we feel very good about the fact that we’re confident that the players and the teams have arrived at a good place. We think we have a fair, balanced agreement. It has been a joy for me personally during these negotiations to have close contact with the players. They have been tremendous. We’ve ended up, we feel, in a very good place. Thank you.

On the situation with the NFLPA’s impending recertification as a union:

Goodell:  Those are decisions that ultimately have to be made by the union about what their process is going to be and their timeline. As I mentioned earlier, there’s a sense of urgency to this. We want to have a full 2011 season that includes the four preseason games, and we’re up against the wall. I think that’s indicated by the unfortunate cancellation of the Hall of Fame Game.

On whether or not there were conversations with the NFLPA about the owners’ vote:

Goodell:  Yes. I just spoke to DeMaurice probably 20 minutes ago. He’s going to go take care of his business.

On whether or not he’s “relieved” or in “wait-and-see” mode:

Goodell:  I think maybe the word is exhaustion. We’ve all been working very hard. The members of the CEC, Jeff Pash, who was our lead negotiator for the owners, it’s been an incredible effort. As we indicated earlier, the players have worked equally as hard, and I think have done a fantastic job of coming up with an agreement that’s sensitive to their issues, strikes a balance between what I think are very important issues with player health and safety and the work rules, putting together the right kind of agreement that works for our retired players and also works for the growth of our game going forward and encouraging investment in our game. I think it’s an outstanding agreement from that standpoint.

On the final issues that needed to be resolved today:

Goodell:  Well, you work through it like you do any other issue. You address them. You try to understand the issues, and you try to come up with a resolution. We’ve essentially had the core of an agreement for well over a week, as you all know. What we tried to do is make sure our ownership fully understood that today. They understood all ramifications, put in a supplemental revenue sharing system that I think will be good for all clubs that will continue to have the competitive balance that the league is famous for and make sure we continue the great game of football.

On what his message is to fans who have been waiting for this to be resolved:

Goodell:  I understand their frustration. I hope they understand that we’re working hard to get that agreement that is going to secure the game of football for the future. We have a 10-year agreement, which I think is going to be great for everyone involved in the game, number one our fans. So I guess I’d say to them, we’re getting close to getting football back, and that’s what we want. We want to get started with football.

On whether or not this agreement will run through the 2020 season:

Goodell:  That is correct.
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Commissioner Goodell: “Let’s find solutions”

Commissioner Roger Goodell today discussed with Titans season ticket-holders his focus in the current labor dispute. “Let’s find solutions,” the Commissioner said in his 19th conference call with NFL team season-ticket holders.

“The best and fastest solution to the differences is to negotiate,” Commissioner Goodell added. “Let’s get together and let’s solve those problems in negotiations and with a collective bargaining agreement.  We are taking the initiative to make sure that we do everything possible to create that environment and to have those meetings but frankly, litigation creates delays and creates, unfortunately, an environment where a discussion can only happen in certain forums.  I think that is a shame.  We need to sit down and figure it out.”

 Following is a transcript of the Commissioner’s conference call with Titans fans:
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Commissioner Addresses NFL Economics

In his 12th conference call with NFL team season ticket holders, Commissioner Roger Goodell was asked several questions by Cincinnati Bengals fans about the league’s economics. He emphasized how rising costs have changed the NFL’s economics despite growing revenue.

One Bengals fan said, “My question has to do with the funds that the players are getting now from the profits.  Other than an economic turndown for the league and reduced profits and all of that, do the players in accepting a percentage, a high percentage I might add, of the profits, do they take any of the other economic risks that the owners face?”

A: No, they do not take the economic risk. The way the system works right now is it’s not a high percentage of profits – it’s a high percentage of revenues. That’s one of the issues that the clubs are raising. While those revenues continue to increase, unfortunately, they’re not increasing as fast as our costs, including player costs. But there are costs in building new stadiums, maintaining those stadiums, making capital improvements to those stadiums, continuing to have great facilities for the clubs – all of those things come with higher costs and that is something that we want to have recognized in the system. With those higher costs, instead of taking it completely as a percentage of revenue, there should be recognition of those costs before the sharing of revenue, and that’s one of the systems that was proposed and part of the discussion that we’re having with the Players Association. It’s something that we’ve got to get addressed.

On what the NFLPA is seeking financially:

They are looking for a share of the overall revenue and they don’t want to change their share in revenue despite the fact they acknowledged costs have continued to escalate, not just player costs but the costs of operations, which they have acknowledged and we have demonstrated to them in financial disclosures.  Clearly, they understand that the economics of the NFL have changed over the past 10 or 15 years but they do not want their percentage shared to change.

It is unrealistic in this kind of an environment where it takes a significant investment to create revenue, whether it is a new stadium or other new business opportunities.  You have to invest to do that.  You have to encourage owners or clubs to make those investments because that is how the game is going to continue to grow.  That is how we have been able to grow the game, particularly over the past five or six years, by making smart investments.  Hopefully, we can get back to that.

On how the NFL plans to prevent the lockout from affecting season ticket holders and pricing them out of seeing games:

It’s a great question, and it is one of the things that we’re obviously trying to address here. By controlling our costs, that gives us a better ability to manage our business and I think we have to recognize what our fans are going through, either season ticket holders or other fans that want to attend our event or participate in our event in some fashion. The economy has taken an impact on people and it continues to have that impact. The uncertainty out there and the rising cost of gasoline – all the things that you are dealing with and every other fan are dealing with are realities and we cannot continue to shift the cost, our increased costs, to the fans, to the season ticket holders. That’s something we’re trying to address here. By controlling our costs, by getting a better control over the way we manage our business, we hopefully can do a better job of making sure that we continue to make our game affordable for all fans.

Following is a transcript of the Commissioner’s conference call with Bengals fans:

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Panthers Fan: “Why does [DeMaurice Smith] feel NFL players are above being treated like everybody else?”

A Carolina Panthers season-ticket holder who is also a small business owner asked Commissioner Roger Goodell about the increased costs of doing business in a down economy.  Commissioner Goodell answered that question and many others Tuesday night in a conference call with Panthers season-ticket holders.

Below is that question and answer followed by a transcript of the Commissioner’s call with Carolina fans:

Q: “In addition to being a PSL owner, I’m also a small business owner. So I have a lot of empathy for the owners that costs go up and costs change, and boy, contracts change. My question, Commissioner, is from what I’ve been able to follow, DeMaurice Smith’s position is players are not going to take any change in their pay and any change in the agreement. And my position to him and question to you is, ‘If you look at the state level, employees have to take furloughs; government employees have had to take pay cuts and furloughs; private corporations, airlines have had to take pay cuts.

“So my position is why does he feel that NFL players are above being treated like everybody else?’ And I’m curious as to why I haven’t heard the owners push that position, that a lot of people – state government and private corporations – have had salary adjustments, furloughs? And do you think there’s any validity to that argument?”

A: “I definitely think there is validity to that argument. I think the world has changed for everybody, and I think that’s the point we’re trying to make, that there are great opportunities for the NFL and everyone associated with it to continue to be successful, but we all went through a difficult economic period and we’re still going through that economic period. And we know that from our fans. We know that from our business partners. We know that from the operation of our businesses.

“It’s a challenging environment still in this marketplace, and we can’t continue to have increasing costs and expect that’s just going to be relieved by increasing ticket prices. This escalation has to stop and we need to be more responsible in the way we’re conducting our businesses and managing our costs, and managing our revenues. So, as a small business owner you appreciate what’s happening in the economy. It’s clearly something that NFL owners understand, and I believe our fans understand. We have made that case directly to the players. Some of their union leadership has indicated – and I mean this from the attorney standpoint – that the bad economy is behind us. And I’m not sure others would share that view, and I know we’re still concerned about the future and want to make sure our business model works for the future.”

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Commissioner Goodell holds conference call with 49ers fans

Commissioner Roger Goodell spoke with San Francisco 49ers season-ticket holders last night in the second of his two conference calls with fans yesterday.

Among the topics was the impact of the economy on fans and labor negotiations.

Asked one fan, “I want to make sure that you guys don’t give in to these players and then you turn around and punish and pass the price on to the season-ticket holders. Because obviously if you have to pay them extra money, the money has to come from somewhere. So has there has been any talk about this economy and passing the cost on to the season-ticket holders?”

“It’s been a big source of our discussions,” Commissioner Goodell replied. “Everybody has been impacted by this economy and most importantly, our fans and we know that. We hear that from the fans directly, we hear that through our clubs and we recognize that’s happening and that’s one of the things that we have to address here. We cannot continue to push the rising costs of either player costs or the other costs that we have to our fans. There’s a limit to what you can do there and that’s one of the things we’re trying to address because our costs have risen more than our revenues and that’s obviously an unsustainable model. And we recognize that we have to be responsive to what our fans our going through.

“It’s one of the reasons that we’re trying to slow the growth of player costs so that we can continue to deliver our high-quality product,” the Commissioner continued. “The proposal we made on March 11 had the players’ salaries in 2011 slightly higher than last year’s and at the same level as 2009; and growing 14% over the next four years. I think that as you are pointing out, I think that’s a pretty healthy increase. I know a lot of our fans and a lot of us would be pleased with, so that’s something that we’ve got to continue to work with, with our players.”

Following is the transcript of the Commissioner’s conference call with 49ers fans:
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Commissioner Goodell press conference transcript

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell spoke with the media today in his annual Super Bowl press conference at the Super Bowl XLV Media Center in North Texas.

Following is a transcript of the press conference.

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FACT CHECK: How many plays?

According to a recent report by The Associated Press, “The medical director for the NFL players’ union says there could be about 250,000 additional plays – and therefore extra collisions and extra injuries – in the regular season if the league moves to an 18-game schedule.”

Said NFLPA medical director Dr. Thom Mayer, co-chairman of the Mackey-White Traumatic Brain Injury Committee, “It’s hard for me, as a physician advising the players, to say, ‘You’re not going to have more injuries, including concussions, with a quarter of a million more snaps.’”

However, the numbers cited in the story are inaccurate. In fact, they are off by a factor of 50.

This season, there have been 155 plays per game. Under the current 16-game format, that translates into a total of 39,680 plays vs. 44,640 plays in an 18-game regular season – a difference of 4,960 plays.

In addition, swapping two preseason games for two regular-season games in the current 20-game format means the total amount of snaps in those 20 games would be the same. Of course, the assumption is that starting players would play more in the regular season in an 18-2 format and that is why the NFL is emphasizing player safety as an ongoing priority.

For the complete story, click here.

Commissioner Goodell on illegal hits: “Even if we have to protect players from themselves, we have to enforce our rules”

Commissioner Roger Goodell discussed in a Thursday morning interview on Boston’s WEEI-Radio the NFL’s plans for stricter enforcement of the existing rules prohibiting hits to the head of defenseless players, as defined by the rules.

Following is a transcript of the Commissioner’s comments:

 (Regarding the NFL’s actions taken after the illegal hits from last weekend)

I don’t think it’s a perfect storm. I think it’s an unfortunate weekend, but I think the work the league has been doing over the last couple of years to bring greater awareness of these types of injuries and these types of hits have made sure everyone is conscious of playing the game within the rules and taking out certain techniques. That’s something we continue to emphasize, these requirements of the rules. We’re going to have to increase the discipline with possible suspensions.

(Regarding the NFL response to the hits)

There is no change of the rules. These rules are changed in the offseason after months of study with competition committee members that include coaches and front office executives and the players and medical personnel. We’ve identified certain techniques that we want to take out of the game. What we’re looking to take out are those hits to the head. We’ve extended protection to defenseless receivers in the offseason. And these were clear violations of those rules, that’s why they were disciplined. What we’re saying to the players very clearly — and information was sent yesterday, including to the media – [is that if] there is a violation of rules we will increase the discipline going forward.

(Will there be ejections going forward?)

I doubt it. It’s likely you’ll see the yellow flag first because we told our officials to air on the side of safety. If they think it’s a violation than they should throw the flag. If they don’t see it, or they miss it, than it won’t matter if there is no flag, we’ll continue the evaluation from a discipline standpoint once the tape gets back to the office on Monday.

(Could textbook, but violent, hits result in discipline under the league’s guidelines?)

It’s not a violation of the rules so why would there be discipline?

(Comparing the hits that drew disciplinary action from last weekend)

They were each violations of the rule. You could certainly distinguish any one of the three, but they are exactly the kind of techniques we have worked on eliminating from the game. Each of them are violations of the rules, they were penalized and disciplined beyond that.

(On the guidelines that are in place)

The defenseless receiver has protections while catching the ball, even while he’s caught the ball. This past offseason we extended it a little bit beyond once they gain possession to give him the chance to become essentially a runner, someone who can defend by moving. As you can see by that play he had no opportunity to defend himself. But we also understand what defenders are trying to do, which is separate the ball. But there are techniques that can be used to separate the ball without the helmet going to the head or neck area.
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