Maybe this will all seem quite obvious to the rest of you, but it was a realization for me over the weekend. I have written about the NFL labor power struggle between the players and owners a couple times now. Specifically, I wrote about how you shouldn’t really pick sides. (Part 1 – Part 2) I provided some of the counter-arguments to the largely pro-player commentary I was reading around the Internet – most notable from ESPN’s Rick Reilly and Bill Simmons. Then I read a poll at ProFootballTalk that shocked me. Despite what I have been reading in the media, fans aren’t really standing shoulder to shoulder with NFL players.
The PFT poll asked the question: Who do you blame for the NFL labor situation? the owners, players, both or neither. As I write this on Sunday afternoon, the results are currently as follows. With 31,482 votes in, 36.55% blame both, 38.22% blame the players, 24.79% blame the owners, and 0.34% (107 people) blame neither. [Read more...]
