A few hours after NFL owners filed a complaint against the players union last week alleging that it was not bargaining in good faith, Houston Texans right tackle Eric Winston took to his keyboard to react.
“The NFL has reached that point where the kitchen sink is getting opened and every ridic claim will be tossed out,” Winston wrote on Twitter. “Enjoy the comedy people.”
More related to this storyNFL, union meet for third day with federal mediator NFL, union mum on progress Steelers place franchise tag on LaMarr Woodley And then: “Walking out of a bargaining session. These guys are a real hoot to deal with. If anyone screams, ‘I want my cake and eat it too’ it’s them.”
Winston is just one of the dozens of players and agents who have taken to Twitter during the NFL’s labour strife, opining on everything from the court skirmish over how the NFL’s television contracts were structured to the 18-game regular season to players having to pay for their own health insurance if the league imposes a lockout when the current collective bargaining agreement expires March 4.
The NFL’s labour negotiations are the first of a major sports league being played out in the social media age, giving hundreds of players, dozens of agents, millions of fans and even a handful of owners the equivalent of a gigantic microphone to offer instant -- sometimes frustrated -- analysis of the once-cloaked minutiae of contentious negotiation. The real-time reactions on Twitter may sometimes give the impression that events surrounding the labor talks are moving quickly -- in fact, they have been barely moving at all -- but they are also opening a filter-free pipeline with fans that players have long said they wanted.
“People are going to say what they want to say,” said Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker LaMarr Woodley . “It’s like live news. Players can interview themselves.”
The results are not always pretty. The risks of unfettered communication were most evident even before the season ended when Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie, in an interview as he cleaned out his locker, criticized with expletives negotiators from both the league and the union for not getting a deal done. That drew rebukes from fellow players, including one Twitter message from Seattle Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck , who has long been active in the union, questioning whether Cromartie knew what CBA meant. Hasselbeck quickly deleted the post, but a tiny fissure that might otherwise have played out only in the privacy of a locker room or a telephone call had been exposed before thousands of onlookers.
Members of the union played down the significance of Hasselbeck’s Twitter message -- “If you know Matt personally, you know he’s being sarcastic, but you can read words on Twitter, you can’t read intent,” said Kevin Mawae, the president of the union -- but Cromartie and Hasselbeck are surely not alone in their viewpoints. That raises the question: Might Twitter create a problem maintaining cohesion among a diffuse and dispersed group of players in the face of a lockout? After all, the few owners who are on Twitter are less likely to reveal internal disagreements than such a large, far-flung group of players who are open to influence from families and friends back home during the off season.
In a publication called NFLPA Guide to the Lockout, the players union warned that its battle could not be won at the negotiating table or in the court of public opinion if there was even a hint of division in the ranks. It offered a short list of talking points for players and came with this sobering reminder:
“In this modern world of media and social networking, know that the nature of comments you make on Facebook, Twitter and text are taken seriously by the public. One negative comment by a player can be detrimental to the negotiation process and confuse the public and media on the position of our players.”
