Coming off the conference championship games, many fans are eagerly anticipating the Super Bowl in Arlington, Texas. With the hype and media attention focusing on the championship game, it’s easy to forget an even bigger story than the Super Bowl. What news story could possibly warrant more attention than the Super Bowl? For those of you who have not read into the Collective Bargaining Agreement story, there is some troubling news.

As of now, there is not a scheduled 2011 season in the NFL. This coming Super Bowl will be the last one until the NFL and the union can find some way of coming to an agreement. The agreement itself has come down to two major issues: money and an 18-game season. Both issues have serious flaws and both sides agree. The disagreement, however, is in the solution.

Recently in the NFL Draft, the team that selects a player early in the first-round expected to reward their new rookie addition with a fat contract, usually well over $60 million dollars over the course of five or six years.

In 2010, the St. Louis Rams selected Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford with the first pick of the draft. Bradford’s reward came in with a $78 million contract, with $50 million of that sum guaranteed. This contract was given before Bradford had thrown his first pass in the NFL. Certainly this was a dollar figure that Bradford had not yet earned but was given simply because he was selected first in the draft.

So where’s the problem in all of this? Long time veterans in the NFL that have earned Pro Bowl appearances and Super Bowl rings still do not have the contract that Sam Bradford has. They are proven players in the NFL. Bradford, at the time, was not. Currently the idea of a rookie salary cap has been batted around but no progress has been reported so far.

NFL Commissioner Rodger Goodell looked into the four preseason games in August and immediately wanted to shorten them. He proposed early in the 2010 season that the NFL should switch two preseason games to regular season games.

For the NFL fan, this is a dream come true. For the NFL player, this is a nightmare. Injuries are a huge problem for every team by Week 16. Adding two more games to that stretch without another bye week for incentive is just asking for trouble. Players do not want to add two more games to the regular season mainly because they want to protect themselves. From that standpoint, who could blame them?

As these playoff games have come to a close, teams go home with uncertainty in their future. They do not know when the CBA will be completed. At the same time, fans are starting to get anxious.

With 30 teams already out of the playoffs now, fans are left to wonder about the fate of their beloved football teams. Where do they go from here? And more importantly, how much longer until the NFL gets a deal done?

No one really has the answer to either of these questions, but one thing is for certain: fans and players alike are starting to put pressure on the NFL and the union to get something done. Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie already sounded off to reporters about his frustration with the lack of a CBA deal for next season.

Most fans agree with Cromartie’s assessment of the situation and are taking a similar approach by getting their voices heard as well. Unfortunately the longer discussions take, the more intense the pressure will become. Once the Super Bowl is over and all the teams head home, reality will finally start to settle in for both Green Bay and Pittsburgh.

These teams will be lumped together with everyone else as the future in the NFL is up in the air. Once this happens, players, fans and coaches from every team will be united one issue: ensure that the NFL gets this CBA deal done the right way.

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