Hypocrite Owners Lead to a Hypocritical League

   No doubt most of you have heard some rumblings about the pending NFL labor negotiations but as time goes on, we seem more and more headed to a lockout. Although these owners have ridiculous amounts of money and don't really stand to lose much if there is a lockout because of lucrative TV deals (which is why they hold the upper hand), they still want more money. They also want more games, even though they try to claim that they are merely changing two preseason to two regular season, don't let it fool you, they're adding two games to the season. How can the league preach a league of practicing safety and reducing head trauma but add games and decrease salaries AND not provide health benefits for retired players? Do the owners not realize that the NFL is made of the very players they mock, that they are the reason for the exorbitant amount of money they make or are they so caught up in this one moment that they simply forget? When people think NFL, they don't think Robert Kraft, or the Rooney family, or even the tyrant Jerry Richardson who insists on being the bully in these negotiations when he can't even construct a winning team, how is he going to construct a winning NFL?

 Then these owners (and Roger Goodell is included when I say owners) talk about reducing concussions and reduced head trauma when they simply look at the short term effects and refuse to examine the long term effects of these injuries. Their solution is to pad the helmet more and more thinking its going to protect the head on collisions with other players. They're right, its not going to hurt at the moment. However, if I put on one of those helmets and bang my head on the wall everyday, sure my head isn't going to hurt then, but what are the long term effects of me continually hitting my head against the wall? Couple this with scientific reports that not only multiple concussions will cause long term emotional and physical instability but the fact that multiple subconcussive injuries, meaning head collisions that cause damage but not strong enough to produce a concussion, will produce a near same effect as multiple concussions would. Maybe there is a reason that old school NFL player wore small, leather helmets without a face mask, so they wouldn't lead with the helmet. If the NFL wanted to be radical and see a significant drop off in concussion and concussion like symptoms, they would remove the face mask on helmets. Players would certainly be more scared to lead with their helmets because who want to mess up their own face? But they won't. That would reduce big hits, and even if they don't want to admit it, the NFL is built upon big hits. I love big hits. However, I hate hypocrisy like the hypocrisy that oozes from anything that the NFL owners say.

Why would owners think more games would benefit the NFL in any way except their wallets. The games would be diluted and more players would be injured, things I don't think any fan would enjoy. The truth is the players are dependent on these owners and may have to submit to the owners' demands if a deal is not completed by March 3rd and with owners storming out over some of the less complex issues in the CBA, its looking more likely they will. Fans should be worried because its looking like we might finally see "The Replacements" play out in real life, something no fan should want to see.