Morning Coffee Labor Wrap

It’s been an uncharacteristically busy day since I posted the Chris Kluwe comments about four members of the named plaintiffs being “douche’bags”.  Apparently that was enough to stir up the pot of hatred towards me as my Email was inundated with well, let’s just say the “effing *$Got” comment that was posted towards me in our comments section was rather tame.

I laugh.  Seriously.  So this morning as I punch delete in my Email account over morning coffee, I figured it’s best to get caught up on what’s going on, or what’s not going on.

First in regards to those four players.  Drew Brees has called the reports complete BS stating that he is not seeking any personal gain from this and is there to rep the players.  Logan Mankins and Peyton Manning have said nothing publicly, and Vincent Jackson said through his agent that he would not hold up negotiations or the signing of new CBA.

Many of the NFLPA executive committee were apparently irate over the news regarding these four and today it is supposedly old news as everyone seems to be saying that no one is seeking special “gifts”.  Yesterday it was widely reported by major news outlets that those four were seeking a lifetime exemption from the franchise tag.  Two of those four, Logan Mankins and Vincent Jackson, were seeking 10 million dollars for lost earnings from the 2010 uncapped year for their holdouts.  It was an “either/or” request.  These reports led to the Chris Kluwe “tweet” about the four.

The NFLPA is saying that it may have been the attorneys who were seeking those perks on behalf of the players.

Seems it’s all a forgotten issue now.

Moving on.  

Last night it was reported that the attorneys were simply dotting “i’s” and crossing “t’s” and that the new “CBA” would be presented to players this afternoon and to owners tomorrow.  As of this morning, there is nothing concrete that says everything is done.  So we are still waiting.

The Chicago Bears and St. Louis Rams have been told to push the start of their training camps back from the 22nd to the 26th and other NFL teams have been told to not make any concrete plans just yet as they expect a five day window from the time a deal is made to the start of camps.  The Miami Dolphins are due to begin camp on the 27th.  The Hall of Fame game is scheduled for August 7th and as of yet, that game has not been cancelled, however even the slightest delay could cancel that game and the 200 million plus that it will generate..

Moving along…again.

Apparently, my take on the lack of two-a-day practices wasn’t as far off as I thought it was after reading Emails and comments.  According to Michael David Smith of Profootballtalk.com, Bart Scott of the New York Jets is not happy that the players (those negotiating on his behalf) are asking for a reduction in camp two-a-day practices.  Scott told the Star Ledger that it makes players into wimps.  His exact quotes, as posted on PFT are below.

"“I think it’s wimping out; making football more soft, no reason to try and make camp easy.”“I get concerned you’re making football players weaker because you don’t push them past that threshold,” Scott said. “I get concerned with the same thing with the quarterback stuff, that they turn it into flag football; they turn it into little pansy stuff.”“Two-a-days, it’s what football is all about,” he said. “It’s about endurance, pain, will, putting yourself through something when your body is telling you it doesn’t want to go. Your mind controlling your body. That’s what camp is all about. With one-a-days, guys might not be in as good of shape as they would have been. Camp tears you down, and then a smart coach starts pulling back in enough time that allows players’ bodies to build back up.”"

Interesting, that was my exact feeling on the matter as well.  You can read that here.

Well, I’m out of coffee…come back throughout the day as I will keep you updated on all of the latest and breaking news as it pertains to the CBA and hopefully the end of the NFL Lockout.