Giants owner Mara urges sides to talk

Giants president and co-owner John Mara, who has been heavily involved in negotiations aimed at resolving the NFL's thorny labor problems, urged the two sides to get back to the bargaining table and end the litigation that he believes threatens the league's future.

"NFL fans are not hearing much about football these days. Instead, they are hearing about litigation, mediation, the lockout, the Norris-LaGuardia Act, injunctions, appeals and stays,'' Mara wrote in an essay to fans, posted on the Giants' website, Giants.com, and the league's website, NFL.com. "We need to resolve our differences with the players at the bargaining table, start the 2011 season on time and set a positive course for the future of our great game.''

Mara said the NFL's 2006 collective-bargaining agreement was "not balanced'' and needed to be rejiggered to reflect the economic realities of today's economy and league revenues. "A fair adjustment must be negotiated in a new CBA,'' he wrote.

Mara said the owners were willing to commit almost $20 billion to player costs during the next four years with a 14- percent increase from 2011 to 2014, but he said players walked out of negotiations.

Mara said the NFL Players Association attorneys, Jim Quinn and Jeffrey Kessler, threatened the league's future with an antitrust lawsuit that was filed against the league in March.

Mara believes the attorneys "want to wipe away fundamental elements of the NFL's appeal to fans by eliminating the draft and other rules used to foster competitive balance.''

Kessler had no comment.

Meanwhile, NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith, in a commencement speech at the University of Maryland Thursday, was greeted with the chant "We want football" from people in the audience.

Said Smith: "I want football, too."