Right, Everbody Out!
by CJ Sanchez
4/4/2008
 
I feel like a high school teacher this week. One who has to break up a raucous bunch of students in the classroom next door, because their teacher has had to step out for a few minutes. And who are those students? Why, they're all of you out there of course. Be you a regular reader (bless you!), a fan, or a media pundit, you're all doing the same thing this week and it's driving me crazy.
 
At around the same time each year, almost every person I know with an interest in the NFL seems to lose his mind. They forget, albeit briefly, that the draft is just around the corner and that free agency is still on the go and instead their thoughts move to those of doom. And by that I mean the impending doom of the NFL of course.
 
It's all brought about by the annual NFL owners meeting, where all the big decisions are debated and discussed. For some reason, this regular meeting of the NFL minds sends people into a spin that's filled with crazy ideas that circulate around the end of the NFL 'as we know it'.
 
The pundits love it of course, because it gives them something to write about other then mock drafts and anyone with a pessimistic persuasion is also drawn to it. But fortunately, your old buddy Sanchez sees things with a more rational view and is here to put you straight. You can thank me later.
 
This years hot topics appear to be the 'collective bargaining agreement' and the 'salary cap'. These are two things that have helped make the NFL one of the best sporting leagues in the world and there is sheer terror among fans that they may both disappear. Everyday this week there is fresh speculation in the papers and on the message-boards that the NFL owners are on the verge of pulling out of both commitments and that we're on the precipice of an end to football.
 
You see, I can already hear your heart rate increasing and your huge sighs of despair. But calm yourself faithful reader, for all is not as it seems.
 
Perhaps the most important thing for us to realise is that these are not new issues. In fact, they're not even recent issues. There have been rumblings about the nature of the collective bargaining agreement since it's very conception. The stories you've read about battle lines being drawn up and owners squaring off against the league over it are the very same ones that could be read last year. There is little else to talk about until the end of April and predictions of doom will always sell papers.
 
But if we take a step back and take a second to compose ourselves, we might consider that there will always be arguments and disagreements when large amounts of money are involved. There will be flare-ups and there will be times when neither side looks likely to budge, but when the sun sets, compromises will be made.
 
How can I be so sure of that? Well, my reasons are two-fold. Firstly, the people behind the scenes of the NFL are not stupid. They know what makes the league great and they know what gives them the edge over the competition. They are smart people, business minded men and women who have worked hard to reach the top of the NFL tree. People like that know when they are on to a good thing and to borrow a term from poker, they 'know when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em'.
 
Secondly, history has shown us that year after year the NFL has improved and grown. This is largely down to the constant miniature rule changes and discussions that go on at these annual meetings. They'll bring in a rule here, drop a rule there, tweak the system slightly and during the regular season we'll all spend our time marvelling at yet another 'best season ever'.
 
There may standoffs, there may even be a dreaded 'cap-free' year or two or a labour strike or whatever else is said to be on the cards, but when the dice stop rolling, the NFL will still be the best league in the world. If parity ever slipped, the league would do something about it. If we lost the current collective bargaining agreement, the league would work on a new and perhaps fairer one and the same goes for the salary cap system.
 
Sometimes we fans forget that we're not the only ones who realise what makes the NFL so brilliant. But those guys at the top, the ones who gave us this league in the first place, realise it too and they're not about to throw it all away. So calm down and get back to work, or you're all off to see the principle…