Who’s to blame in NFL’s lockout? Everyone

There are a few moments in life that every person just deserves to experience.

Every child deserves to be given a Sunday picnic in the park on a beautiful 70-degree day.

Likewise, every first-time parent deserves to tuck their newborn child into bed on the first few nights of his/her life.

And every top NFL draft pick deserves to walk onto a stage inside a sold out auditorium to shake the hands of Commissioner Roger Goodell, before putting on a baseball cap to showcase his new team to the football world.

The fact that the Players Association can’t see that proves why we’re in a lockout in the first place – they don’t see the big picture.

OK, I get the premise. The rookies will be future NFL players and Goodell is the enemy – who is allegedly blocking the players from going about their business.

I understand that it’s all a brotherhood and that like any fraternity, they need to recruit new members into the fold and these incoming rookies are just that.

But let’s stop and look at the big picture here and look at what the Players Association has done for the rookies in the past two weeks.

This is the same NFL Players Association that agreed on only one topic in mediation among the dozens discussed. They agreed to set a rookie pay scale that would be put into effect immediately. AKA, they agreed to give these incoming players a pay cut as they get set to start their careers.

Way to have the rookie’s backs, players. Thanks a million.

Aside from that, the more obvious answer is they’ve also helped partner with owners to jeopardize the 2011 NFL season. Guess what that means for a struggling 20-year-old who has been looking forward to the wealth and riches of the NFL, who has in no way asked for these labor hardships? That means they possibly will have to wait another year because their millionaire “brothers” are too stubborn to work out a deal with the also stubborn billionaire owners.

Again, way to look out for your little brother, guys.

Let me preface this by saying that I don’t necessarily favor any side in these issues, because personally, I think both sides are dead wrong.

I believe the owners should be more open with the players. I believe that they need to understand that the game has grown exponentially in the past two decades and that they aren’t the only group of people who deserve credit for that.

I think they need to realize that it isn’t their option, but their responsibility to provide a fair workplace environment for their players – and asking for 18 games from already battered players just isn’t wise or smart.

I am 100 percent in favor of players getting the same share of the pie that they’ve always gotten, because that is a formula that works and TV ratings support my theory.

But with that said, I also believe in working through problems. If I had a problem with my employer or with a coworker, I wouldn’t pout and cry until they offered to sit at a table and talk things out. I’d instead work through my issues and make the best of the situation.

The players like to talk about “the future of the game” and protecting that future for later generations.

OK, that’s fine. But how about protecting the legacy that the REAL heroes of the game made for you, you bunch of spoiled brats.

The real heroes of this game played for next to nothing – both financially and physically, sacrificing their unpadded bodies for the growth of the sport.

Nowadays, you can’t even touch a quarterback in the head, because he’s not able to get a scar on his $18 million per year smile.

What a disgrace.

Someday, somehow, these players need to realize that they are playing a GAME for a living.

That’s right … A GAME.

They are playing a sport that hundreds of people would play for free. Except these guys aren’t playing for free, they are making millions upon millions of dollars.

They also need to realize that this was their career choice. It was their choice to forego education and other opportunities to play for this select group of 32 owners.

Don’t tell me about the 26-year-old who blows out his knee after two years and has to go to the workforce. You know why? Because like myself, my coworkers and every other “normal” American, that person had the opportunity to be educated to do something other than play a game for a living.

If he wasted that opportunity, that’s his tough banana, not mine. He still has plenty of adult years to start a normal career working 9-to-5. And you know what he will have that no one else will have? Approximately $1 million of the NFL’s money in the bank for his efforts.

So the point of the story is that both sides are wrong and this really is a lose-lose proposition.

So walk across those stage and enjoy your moment in the sun, rookies.

Because once you join the so-called brotherhood, you’ll never be the same again.

And no, that’s not a good thing.