As I learn more and more about the six-year extension of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, it's obvious to me that NFL owners understood that they were going to get a new deal done at all costs.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
What is true of the NFL is that it has been well-managed over the years. And that has been beneficial to the fans, it's been beneficial to the game itself, it's been beneficial to the players, coaches and everyone involved.
I would hope this experience would help me if that NFL opportunity were to arise. But I also know that it's a totally different league. There's a lot more to it.
The NFL is a unique work place. There are no secrets anymore. Technology has taken over, and secrets are exposed. People are going to know what you're all about. You have to make sure you have real honesty in the work place, or you're going to be exposed.
A significant piece of the wealth that the NFL owners garner is a result of the enormous TV revenues they get - and those revenues are supported by a legislatively granted exemption from the antitrust laws that has been made applicable to sports leagues, primarily the NFL.
Once you become an owner of a team, you get so much more into the sport and you can't help it. So I really love NFL football now to the degree of following it much more than I did previously.
The owners said that they wanted the salary cap and refused to promise that they would abide by the rules of the just-expired contract after the season ended. Believing we had no choice, the players went on strike in August of 1994.
As a part of the NFL, things change every year.
There's rule changes every year. I do wish, however, that the NFL did have a voice from the players' side, whether it's our players' union president, or team captains, or our executive committee on the players' side. Because we're the guys that realize the risk; we're the guys on the field.
There is no primer for being an NFL owner. It is learn-as-you-go.
In the NFL they talk about 'contracts,' but it's not really a contract, it's a one year agreement. If you have a 10 year contract, it means nothing. If you get cut in the NFL, you get nothing. People don't talk about that.