Teams all around the league are releasing individual statements to their fans about the NFL lockout and the Kansas City Chiefs are no different.
The team released a statement on KCChiefs.com just about an hour ago.
"The Kansas City Chiefs still believe the fastest way to a fair agreement is through the mediation process. While we are disappointed that the union walked away from the clubs’ offer to split the difference and meet them in the middle, we remain confident that we can and will reach a deal that is good for the game.After a season that began with Monday Night Magic at the grand opening of the New Arrowhead, and culminated in a division championship, we are more focused than ever on improving every area of our team. We know there will be football in the future – and we have already started to plan for the 2011 season. Our football staff is continuing its preparation for the NFL Draft and our business operations staff is using fan feedback to make the Arrowhead experience the best in the NFL.We have great respect for our fans and our season ticket holders, and are committed to communicating openly and directly with them as we work to reach a long-term agreement with the players that is fair to everyone who loves this game."
My thoughts after the jump.
No big surprises here from the team’s PR staff. They love the fans, blah blah blah, we’re getting ready for the 2011 season, blah blah blah, it was the players fault, they walked away, blah, never mind that we stuck a deal years ago to get TV money in the case of a work stoppage so we could lock the players out and screw them until they started losing game checks and gave in to our demands and in the process breaking the CBA, which stated that we would always work in the best interest of the group (owners and players) during the term of the CBA, by turning down extra money from the networks during the 2009 and 2010 season that would have gone to the players and the owners so we could get that money all to ourselves in a 2011 lockout instead, blah blah.
Obviously I am siding with the players here. If you have been reading for a while, you may remember a month or so ago I was laying blame on both parties but the more I have read about the process and most especially after understanding what the owners did with the TV deal, I don’t blame the players one bit for not trusting the owners.
Regardless of which side of the fence you are on, we should all be rooting for the players now, at least in the short term. The players have filed an injunction to the courts for relief of the lockout. The owners will appeal that, calling the decertification of the union a sham. If the judge rules in favor of the owners, the lockout will continue and that could mean no football. If the judge sides with the players, football will begin again, starting with free agency, possibly by the middle of April, depending on how fast the court moves.
We want football and we want it as soon as possible so the players winning the injunction is best. Then the courts can settle all the other details while we enjoy another season.
If the players lose the injunction, then we need to start urging the players to go back to bargaining because otherwise we could be missing football games.
It is going to be a boring few weeks.