Union to Roger: Your statements are false
The angry rhetoric between the NFL and the players continued Saturday, with the NFL Players Association's executive committee firing off a four-page letter to commissioner Roger Goodell in response to his e-mail to the players Thursday.
The union's conclusion: "Your statements are false.''
The letter rebutted many of Goodell's claims that the league's proposal in negotiations March 11 would benefit the players greatly. It also explained some of the reasoning behind the NFLPA's decision to decertify as a union and pursue antitrust litigation against the league.
"The NFLPA did all it could to reach a fair collective-bargaining agreement and made numerous proposals to address the concerns raised by the owners," the letter read. "In response, the owners never justified their demands for a massive giveback, which would have resulted in the worst economic deal for players in major league pro sports.
"That is why we were very troubled to see your letter, and repeated press reports by yourself, Jeff Pash and the owners, which claim that the owners met the players halfway in the negotiations, and that the owners offered a fair deal to the players. Your statements are false."
The letter, signed by the NFLPA's executive committee, including former Jets center Kevin Mawae, Saints quarterback Drew Brees, Broncos safety Brian Dawkins and Colts center Jeff Saturday, said the NFL's latest offer would cause the players to lose billions of dollars.
"The players' share of NFL revenues would have suffered a massive decrease," the letter continued. "This is clear by comparing your proposal to what the players would receive under the 50 percent share of all revenues they have had for the past 20 years . . .
"Your proposal would have resulted in a leaguewide giveback by the players of $576M in 2011 increasing to $1.2 BILLION in 2014, for a total of more than 3.6 BILLION for just the first four years. Even if revenues increased at a slower rate of only 5 percent, the players would still have lost over 2 BILLION over the next four years."
The letter was crafted by the union Friday and e-mailed to Goodell Saturday. All NFL players received a copy.
Pash responded with a statement in which he continued to urge going back to the table.
"We are pleased to have received a reply to the comprehensive proposal we made eight days ago," he said. "The points made in the players' letter are precisely the kind that collective bargaining is intended to address. Debating the merits of the offer in this fashion is what collective bargaining is all about . . . This letter again proves that the most sensible step for everyone is to get back to bargaining."
Pash said he agreed with the suggestion by Chiefs linebacker Mike Vrabel that owners Jerry Richardson, Robert Kraft and Jerry Jones become more involved.
"If Mike will let us know when and where he and his colleagues would like to meet, we will be there,'' Pash said. "We are ready."
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