AP: It's getting harder for sanity to win in NFL talks

http://www.omaha.com/article/20110303/AP0405/303039993

Published Thursday March 3, 2011

By TIM DAHLBERG

(AP) - As the clock strikes midnight Thursday on the NFL's labor contract, it's probably safe to say the same fans who can diagram a 4-3 defense blindfolded don't have much of an understanding of the issues that could lead to empty stadiums next fall.

They're hardly alone, because at first glance the whole thing seems like a fight between millionaires and billionaires that is as unnecessary as it is ill-timed. Hard-liners on both sides have taken it to the brink, and there's no indication that sanity will prevail before the current collective bargaining agreement expires and things really begin to get nasty.

Some things, though, are easier to understand. Let's start with the news this week that Michael Vick signed a one-year deal that will pay him an estimated $20 million to play quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles next season - assuming, that is, there is a next season.

Not only will Vick be able to pay his debtors with a contract that would have been unimaginable when he was making 12 cents an hour in prison, but he'll help upgrade the salary range for his fellow quarterbacks in the process.

It's no secret that NFL players are well compensated. They should be, because their careers are generally short and they expose their bodies and heads to risks that athletes in other sports would never dream of.

But the owners aren't doing badly, either, despite their protestations that they gave away the farm in the current contract and must snatch back at least $1 billion of the money they now have to share with players.

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'despite their protestations that they gave away the farm in the current contract and must snatch back at least $1 billion of the money they now have to share with players.'