Just like any team, the Steelers have some issues this offseason to deal with. The Tribune Review points out the obvious ones today.
With an owner-imposed lockout threatening to shut down the NFL on March 4, Steelers backup nose tackle Chris Hoke said one of the chief concerns among players is what to do if they lose their health insurance. If no new collective bargaining agreement is reached between the league and its players union, owners plan to shut down all league business — except the draft — ending players’ benefits. “All of our health insurance is cut off March 4,” Hoke said. “Guys are worried about that, worried about whether there is going to be a season next year.” If the labor issues are not resolved, players will be unable to work out at their teams’ facilities or sign a new contract. That is especially crucial for the Steelers, who have 13 players eligible for free agency. That number includes outside linebacker LaMarr Woodley, cornerbacks Ike Taylor and William Gay and Hoke.
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DrGeorge
February 9, 2011 at 9:23 am
There may be a lockout in March, but if there is, there will still be an NFL season in August, even if the franchises have to use scab labor.
Think of the NFL as a sport version of Google. Google isn’t merely a search engine, it is an advertising medium. So is the NFL. It is one of the best advertising mediums on the planet. Without the NFL, the networks lose billions in advertising reveneue. Without TV, their could be no NFL in its present form; it has grown too big and stadiums are too expensive for any franchise to exist on gate receipts and fan merchandise. Worse, those gigantic stadiums are dinosaurs waiting to die. Meaning, without pro football, there is no profitable use for an 80-110,000 fan stadium on a consistent basis. Rock concerts, college football, outdoor hockey and local auditions for American Idol couldn’t begin to cover the nut. Most of the owners can’t afford to take a financial hit of that magnitude.
So there will be a season in 2012. The only question is what players will be on the field? My guess is it will be the same ones we saw last year. There is simply too much money at stake.
wardrules86
February 9, 2011 at 1:54 pm
If you ask me, I wouldn’t bring back Tayler, Gay or woodley. None of those players showed me anything in the Super Bowl. They came out with nothing!!!
Hopefully Ward can put behind him the poor QB play and decision making by the coaches and give us one more year.
We need to bring the lombardi trophy back home where it belongs!!!!
mark
February 10, 2011 at 8:25 am
wardrules86, I…… Never mind. I was going to comment on your not wanting Woodley back, but I just cant take you serious enough.
Jay
February 9, 2011 at 4:04 pm
I think it sucks in reference to how the owners want to monopolize and be megalomaniacs! It is American greed at its finest. Fact remains however and unfortunately, that they are still the bosses and get to dictate terms with less discretion than the players do. I am not one of those myopic and obtuse fans that says, “Oh the players make so much money and blah, blah, blah!” I realize that it is their livelihoods and, on average, are only around for 3.5 years. They should try to get as much as they can but pragmatically speaking, they (the players) when attempting to pursue what they are entitled to (i.e., benefits, higher salaries, etc.) makes fighting city hall look like a picnic! I hope they realize this and just play the game as troglodytic as that sounds. I am for the players on this one and despise American greed but the NFL is MUCH BETTER at stating cases and agenda setting than ALL OF THE NFL PLAYERS COMBINED. Case in point when Roger Goodell said he’d work for a dollar and then all these stories started surfacing about players being broke (as if they don’t know how to handle their finances) and other stories surrounding how players have like ten cars or 2,000 square foot pools, etc. No coincidence that this stuff came out at this time. It makes the players look fiscally incompetent and superficially shallow and lacking substance. Doesn’t make it true but it’s the perception the NFL is so readily, easily and willingly capable of flicking their collective and despotic fingers and voila, a new vision of the contemporary, American NFL athlete. I say this because I AM on the side of the players and think that there is no way the owners cave. Simply realize you get paid rather handsomely to yes, batter your body into seeming oblivion; but know it’s the path you chose. Unfortunately, you should expect nothing else from greedy egoists who masquerade as businessmen.