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NFL players' trip to Congress a ploy that won't work

There were 20 current and former NFL players roaming the halls of Congress Wednesday. Lots of photo ops and autographs for politicians on both sides of the aisle.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) hosted some players and the new players' association director, DeMaurice Smith. So did Texas Republican Joe Barton, among others. But this wasn't a friendly visit or just some picture-taking. This was a bit of lobbying for perhaps the smallest, richest group of Americans ever to form a lobbying group.

Apparently, the NFL's 1,600 or so players are trying to gain the political upper hand in advance of a possible lockout by the owners before the 2011 season in reminding Pelosi, Barton and the others about Congress' "gifts" to the NFL, such as the 1961 law granting the league an antitrust exemption that allowed it to become the money-printing giant it is today.

Can't fault them for trying. But this is a public-relations battle they are bound to lose, because such a blatant attempt at trolling for influence and support right now looks bad for just about any union, much less one filled with guys whose average salary is $770,000.

Smith, whose political connections were a big reason he got the job as a long-shot candidate, seems to know what he's up against. "If I were working for the NFL," he told The Associated Press Wednesday, "I'd want to portray these guys as overpaid gladiators."

Well said. But Smith also reminded the public that owners would put stadium workers and other low-salaried folks out of work with a lockout. "I'm not sure in an economic downturn whether a business that generated $8 billion in revenue last year should be contemplating" putting hourly workers on the shelf, Smith said.

I'm sure that a hot dog vendor at the new Giants/Jets Stadium would profusely thank Smith and his players for keeping the little people in mind as they prepare to fight to keep 60 percent of the NFL revenues.

The owners do keep the bigger piece of the pie, so if they get to 2011 without a new labor deal and lock the players out, those millionaires and billionaires won't look too good, either.

But Smith's move Wednesday won't generate one ounce of good will. He's right about jobs being saved in this economic downturn, but none of the countless NFL fans whose jobs already have disappeared thanks to the maneuverings of millionaires and billionaires have any sympathy for the plight of the players.

Smith is trying to strengthen the union, traditionally the weakest one among the major sports. No problem with that, because the average NFL player's career is short and his money is not automatically guaranteed, as it is in the other three major sports.

But do it in private. All anyone's seen lately in the halls of Congress are a bunch of liars - either corporate (automakers, Wall Street) or athletic (steroid-shooting baseball players). It's the place to go when you want to be absolved of greediness or stupidity or both.

The union and the NFL are already in negotiations for a new labor deal, so this political side trip isn't the only thing Smith is doing in his new gig. Good thing, since this see-through ploy isn't going to help at all.

Arthur Staple
11:43 AM EDT, July 17, 2009

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