Dear NFL Fan
When I wrote to you last on behalf of the NFL, we promised you that we would work tirelessly to find a collectively bargained solution to our differences. Well, that didn’t work out so good. With the player’s union decertified and the impending lockout we realize many of you will have nothing to do on Sundays this fall except go to Church and be with your families and we feel your pain.
We also realize that we live in difficult financial times and many of you are struggling to find subsistence level employment or any form of employment at all. We hear your criticisms about how a group of millionaires (and billionaires) cannot come to an agreement over how to share 9 billion dollars. We do not want to cast blame on our negotiating partners, but it is their fault. They are a union after all. Think of football players as teachers – teachers who make a shitload of money.
We realize your frustration, however we reject recent calls for the development of an NFL Fan Association to participate at the negotiating table with us. We say that knowing that you are important stakeholders at the table. When players and owners get together, we often thank our lucky stars that we have “dumb money” like you at the table — just not the negotiating table.
Therefore, please be patient with us as we sort out how to re-allocate our mountains of money. And rest assured, even though we have rejected the NFL Fan Association, we do not take you for granted. We take you to the cleaners.
Sincerely,
Roger Goodell
