Serby's NFL labor Q&A with ... Kevin Mawae
By STEVE SERBY
February 13, 2011
The Post's Steve Serby breaks down the NFL's labor issues with the former Jets center who is the president of the NFL Players Association.
Q: Do you fear Doomsday is coming March 4?
A: I am convinced the owners are willing to take this to a lockout.
Q: Why are you convinced of that?
A: I just think the tone of negotiations is one that is not promising that a deal is in sight any time soon.
Q: Why was last Thursday's negotiating session canceled?
A: You'd have to ask the owners that. I'm not at liberty to go into detail why it was canceled. . . . It wasn't canceled by the players.
Q: Why would the owners risk killing the golden goose?
A: It's greed. The Gordon Gekkos. There's a difference between losing money and your business falling apart versus greed.
Q: The owners refuse to show you their books.
A: The NBA just turned over everything to the Players Association. It's about money. It's about padding pockets and making money.
Q: Have you told the owners that the union is willing to participate in a 24-7 lock-in to hammer out a deal?
A: Yes.
Q: Their response?
A: No response.
Q: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell called for intensive, 'round-the-clock talks if necessary two days before the Super Bowl.
A: We said that same thing back in August.
Q: What would you tell the fans between now and March 4?
A: Keep your fingers crossed and hope we get a deal done. The fans are the ones that are gonna suffer. We understand that. We've been preparing our players for two years to get ready for this. If a player is not ready for this, it's the player's fault. The fight we gotta fight is educating the fans. If you want to be mad at anybody, be mad at the owners for putting us in this position. The players want to play. The players did not ask for this.
Q: As of now, you're scheduled to be meeting each Tuesday and Wednesday with the owners from next week until March 4. But there doesn't appear to be much trust between the sides.
A: You're telling me you're losing money but you won't show me how much you're losing. You're telling me it costs too much but you're not willing to show me the cost. . . . I was at the Super Bowl -- I saw Daniel Snyder's plane on the runway. He wasn't flying first class on American Airlines. It's a business deduction and you're writing it off and you're saying it's a cost the players should incur because you choose to fly that way. I'm being facetious . . .
Q: Any concern about players caving in?
A: It doesn't matter. You're still locked out. It would be an injustice to our players to take a deal that's worse now when the game is better than it's ever been before. We've asked for absolutely nothing. We've only been asked to give back.
Q: How united are the players?
A: I think our players understand the issues. If you have guys like (Antonio) Cromartie who want to pop off because they don't know what's going on, they haven't taken the initiative to understand the issues. I truly believe we're more united than ever before.
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