European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 19, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday. September 19,1987 the stars and stripes Page 23 commentary replay the strike to end Oil strikes the last time nil players went on strike Beasley recce thought it would be he last time nil players would go on strike recce then a defensive Back with the new York giants and the team s player representative remembers the turmoil or eight weeks without Barnes in the autumn of 1982, the boredom the anger the questions and the waiting. Mostly though he remembers the Relief he Felt when the walkout ended. Coming in off the strike the big thing was this won t have to happen again said recce now sports director of tog television in St. Petersburg Fla. I thought to myself. The owners will know the players arc unified we had never been that unified before. But we were then. I remember think ing now the owners know the players will strike and they won t let it get that far again and i re member thinking we had Learned a lesson because the owners were willing to Lake a strike willing to make it Long and painful to win. Then i said to myself this won t happen again " guess again. The War to end All wars did t quite accomplish that and the 1932 strike May not have ended All nil strikes either. With the players on the Brink of another walkout. Recce recognizes the gathering Clouds. He has seen them before. Everybody thought lessons were Learned last Lime he said. But apparently not. I Sec the same things happening. Nobody believes it will happen when the Date is set. Nobody believes it will happen when the Date hits. The mentality right up to the Dale is that it s not going to happen. But they be got a mandate and they la use it. One Day they won t show up. It s Lough to interrupt the flow of a team. You re at a pitch. You be played a couple of games. A player has scored two or three touchdowns or made a Cou ple of interceptions. There Are personal things going on. The feeling is hey we can t Stop now then you think Well of we re on strike but tomorrow Well get a phone Call at 5 . They la Settle and Well be Back to work then the Days turn into weeks and the weeks turn into months. Nobody would have believed  certainly not most of the 1,400 players on nil rosters at the moment. Only about 400 of them went through the 1982 strike. Recce remembers How Tough it was to persuade the membership to walk last  Guys and old Guys weren t interested in striking he said. The Young Guy wanted to establish themselves. The old Guys had Loo much Money to lose. The Guys who would Benefit were the Middle Guys the bread and butter players making an aver age wage who were going to play four or five Yea Sand wanted some Protection. Guys like recce a Journeyman who played for three teams Over eight years never for superstar  Union s cause in 1982 was a percentage of the Gross. Recce figures the current free Agency and guaranteed contract demands arc easier issues to sell. The direction then was so foreign to the players he said percentage of the Gross. It was hard to explain. This Issue folks can understand. This time they re talking about the Normal rights of the working Man in America to move from one employer to another. They can Sec that. They can Sec things like getting Cui the first week into the first year of their contracts with no guarantee. They Llight for that. They can Sec these Basic rights being denied and they can Sec themselves striking even though recce never thought he would. Talks from Page 21 to join picket lines outside stadiums ocl. Upshaw talked As if the strike were already taking place. We Don t feel we caused the strike because the owners Are the ones that caused it by refusing to bargain with the players he said. We feel it could have been avoided but we can t sit around and wait for miracles to happen in the next Day or so. There will not be an Extension in another development the advisory Council of player agents was to meet with Union officials in Washington Friday to discuss the Union action in exerting its authority As the sole representative of All nil player. That Means that no agent can defoliate on behalf of a player Only the Union a right included in the 19s2 contract. One agent said he believed the Union look he action because it was worried about teams signing their clients for so called Scab games. The owners have said that even if the players strike they will go on Wilh the games starting the fourth week of the season with players already Cut or whatever player Are  the members of the agents committee Are Jack Mills Jim Steiner Leigh Stein Berg Bob Woolf Jack Childers and Brig Owens. Meanwhile the new York daily news reported Friday that according to television Industry sources a sizable amount of the j476 million payment by the net works to the league could be lost in a strike. Sources told the newspaper that the players chose sept. 22 As a strike Date because the owners would forfeit some or All of a scheduled j9b million pay ment due in october. The sources also said thai the nil would receive pay menu if the networks telecast games involving non Union players or those nil players who Don t Honor the strike but the payments would be reduced. The payments also would depend on ratings for the games. One network Ese Culive. Who was not identified said the payments would not be impacted by a  nil players expect strike but Many question issues by Dave Goldbe Gap football writer most nil players Are ready to follow their leaders and strike next tuesday but few seem to think that free Agency the main stumbling Block to an agreement is Worth a walkout. An associated press Survey of players from All 28 teams indicated that the believe there will be a strike and that they Wilt walk out if one is called. But few Are enthusiastic and Man seem to think the most divisive Issue free Agency is not the most critical item in the contract talks. Others noted that the current average salary 1230,000, up from $90,000 in 1982, would not earn them much sympathy front fans toil is simply not an Issue David Huffman a guard for the Minnesota Vikings and the team s player representatives during the 57-Day strike in 1982, said of free Agency who gives a Damn in baseball you be got Guys like Jack Morris a True superstar. Morris is out there and no one is bidding on him. What makes you think anyone would bid for bums like me i m More concerned about getting a piece of the pie. They re making millions of dollars and it s my butt out there. I want a piece of that Money. Free Agency would be a pipe  free Agency is ridiculous said new England comeback Raymond Claytom who said medical and pension benefits should be higher priorities. There s a monopoly in pro football and there Al ways will be. There Are Only a couple of owners that will bargain for Guys. Free Agency should be Down the list he said. I d like to see them work on a Solu Tion that would help the majority of  said cornerback Lupe Sanchez of the Pittsburgh us piers. I think free Agency would Only Benefit a Small percentage of the players in the  Deron Cherry the All pro safety of intr t anus City chiefs said arguing Over Frau Agency is like trying to explain pass  i would think there would be some room there for Compromise he said. The latest Union proposal presented tuesday moved away from the demand for total free Agency to one that would make four year players free agents with out their new teams having to give compensation. The owners have rejected that and insist they must stick with a modified version of the present system which requires compensation for draft choices. In the a Survey five players from each of the 28 teams were asked if they believe there will be a strike if they be Lieve the strike deadline will be extended / want a piece of that Money Huffman huf nun How Long they think the strike will last what would be a solution to the free Agency impasse and who they think the fans would favor. None of those queried arc currently player representatives. A majority said they believe there will be a strike that it will be a Short one and that the fans will blame the players. They also said they believed free Agency was being overemphasized. There ire Loo Many other issues said waiter Payton of the Chicago bears the leading rusher in nil history you can t solve this question and forget about the 01  but despite their reservations All said they would strike if one is called by Gene pshaw and the nil players association s Board of player reps and while most said free Agency in t Worth a strike there were Many who supported it in principle. All the other leagues have it. Why should t we asked fullback Wood Bennett of the Miami dolphins. It s a bad situation when a player out of College who signs Wilh a team is told that he can t work anywhere else said Richard Dent of the bears who held oui after being named the most valuable player in the 1986 super bawl and finally reported for his option year before signing a new mul year contract. No employer in this country Lias a right to Tell any worker where he can work and where he can t work. Once a player signs to play in one City and he decides he would rather play for another team he is just stuck and to me it s  Bui Dent also said he believes the so Lution would be salary arbitral Ion. As in baseball. Most of the player said they expected the strike to be settled More quickly than the walkout in 1982 that eliminated seven games of the 16-Gamc nil season. If there s a strike it will be Settle quickly said Johnnie Johnson of the los Angeles rams. We All have too much to  i think both sides arc aware of what could be a great Public outcry if the strike goes on week after week Dent said. It won t do us any Good just like it won t do the owners any Good and what is important is that both sides realize  the issues really Don t seem Zirong enough for us to strike but if we did t could t imagine it being a Long one said linebacker mall Millton of the los Angeles raiders. This year we Vegol Guys Wilh bigger salaries said Doug betters of the dolphins. They be got bigger checks to lose. In that sense hopefully it la gel done alot