Two-time Super Bowl winning quarterback (!) Charlie Batch recently spoke at the NFL rookie symposium, and warned the youngsters that there’s going to be no football in 2011. Per PFT:
“Although NFLPA Executive Director De Smith chose to talk to the 2009 incoming class of rookies not about the status of the Collective Bargaining Agreement but about Shakespeare and Nicholas Sarkozy, we’re told that at least one of the other guys who spoke at the Rookie Symposium addressed the issue of labor unrest.
Per a league source, Steelers quarterback Charlie Batch warned the new players that there’s a “100 percent” chance of a league-imposed lockout in 2011.
We continue to think there’s a chance (albeit less than 100 percent) that the owners are bluffing about their intention to prevent the players from working once the current CBA expires.
If it’s a bluff, it’s apparently working.
We think it’s a bluff in part because of the reality that, unlike the strike years of 1987 and 1982, more than a few owners are carrying significant amounts of debt. Shutting down the games will make it very difficult to make ends meet, especially if the economy hasn’t recovered significantly within the next two years.”
So yeah, that’s kinda out there. Charlie might be outta the game by 2011, but he’s looking out for the welfare of the kiddies trying to make their own names in the league.
I have no inside information either way on this one, so let’s just make up what we think is going to happen. In 2011, there WILL be football, but all the players will have pistols like that one dude from The Last Boy Scout. Making up baseless rumors is fun.
