Not For Long

I don’t remember what coach said it was or what player was involved, but I clearly remember a great clip of National Football League video. The coach said, “This is the NFL, son, and that stands for Not For Long if you keep playing like that."*

This week is the deadline for the CBA, or collective bargaining agreement, which is the basic contract that governs the relationship between owners and players in the NFL. If the two sides can’t reach an agreement, NFL could definitely stand for Not For Long.

For over a year, NFL fans have been hearing that the owners have an insurance policy that basically guarantees income for them in the event that there are no games played during the 2011 season. What that meant is that the owners really have no incentive to compromise on their position, because they have nothing to lose.

In the event that the two sides failed to negotiate a new CBA, the owners could simply lock the players out for a year and lose little in terms of money. The prospect that 2010 could be the last NFL season for a while sharpened the focus on each game of the season for some of us. We kept wondering if pro football really was Not For Long.

As of last week, things don’t really look good for an agreement any time soon. There might really not be a 2011 season.

The National Hockey League locked out their players and effectively canceled the 1194-95 season. It took several years for hockey to regain its fans, attendance, and TV ratings after the strike.

1994 was also the year that Major League Baseball lost a chunk of its regular season along with the entire postseason. They didn’t even play the World Series that year. Major League Baseball didn’t begin to regain its fans until the 1998 season and the home-run record chase between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa.

Would the same thing happen to the NFL if it fails to  conduct a season this coming fall? Absolutely. What the owners and the players always forget is that fans can always find something else to do to occupy their time. A lot of NFL fans just might discover the beauty of fall foliage if there are no games on TV during those endless Sunday afternoons.

I hope the players and owners figure out a solution, because I’m a fan. Part of me, though, hopes they dig in, refuse to compromise with each other, and cancel the 2011 season. Part of me wants them to find out that, for many fans, a fall without pro football games would mean that the NFL is Not For Long.

*Update: A Twitter friend reminded me that it was Jerry Glanville, former head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, who delivered the line. He was talking to a referee and told the official he was "not for long" if he kept making bad calls.