United they still stand - divided they're sure to fall - Ingles

So far, there's no indication that a great deal of players are under enormous financial pressure and getting so antsy with the lockout that they are ready to storm the doors of the NFL's Park Ave. headquarters or the NFLPA's office on 20th St. in Washington demanding that a deal gets done.

This is not a strike, so there is no picket line for the players to cross. This is not 1987, so there will be no replacement games to entice them back to work. This is a lockout, so it's not up to them to call it off.

And even though the lockout is reaching its three-month anniversary, it's still only late May and other than players missing out on their workout bonuses, the big money doesn't start rolling in until the regular season opens in September.

So the complaining hasn't really started yet.

But it will.

The NFL won a stay by a 2-1 vote in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis of the April 25 court ruling that had granted a preliminary injunction to lift the lockout. Now those same three judges will hear arguments Friday from the owners and players on the NFL's appeal of the preliminary injunction.

Based on the wording in the stay ruling by the judges siding with the league, the NFL is expected to win the appeal. A decision is anticipated within the next month. If the players pull off the upset victory, the lockout is over. But if the league wins, the lockout stays and it gives all the leverage to the owners.

Either way, I think negotiations will resume in early July and I've said all along that I think this nonsense ends Aug. 1, just in time for training camp.

But it's completely logical to believe there will be some kind of player revolt in August if the lockout is still in place, if there's still no sign of an imminent agreement and it becomes apparent that regular-season game checks will be missed.

It's just a question of how many players will speak up and who they are. The pressure will be on NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith to keep the players together. The strength is in their unity.

The owners can afford to think long-term, even though shutting down a $9.3 billion-a-year industry doesn't help those making big mortgage payments on those big new stadiums. The players have short careers and have to think in the present. And any money they lose will not be made up.

One former player who is keeping a very close watch on the labor situation thinks the players have it in them to hold it together. But I asked him what he thinks the player mindset will be on Aug. 1 if there is no deal.

"I think there will be increasing concern. To deny that is to deny the obvious," he said. "I still think De (Smith) and his staff and the player reps have done enough in communicating why the players are in this position that they are in. They may have to do more as the time approaches."

In 1987, superstars such as Joe Montana, Lawrence Taylor, Randy White and Howie Long crossed the picket line. But with current superstars Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees being three of the 10 named plaintiffs in the players' antitrust lawsuit against the owners, the former player I spoke believes that will help keep the players unified.

"If Peyton Manning isn't the Joe Montana of his day, then Tom Brady is. Drew Brees is the same caliber guy," he said. "Some of the biggest stars of the game have taken a very pro-player position."

But will players making $10 million or more a year be able to pacify the players who rely on their checks to make ends meet? Until now, there's been a handful of players calling for a resumption of negotiations, but there is not the player revolt that took place in 1982 and 1987 and crushed the strike.

Can the players force Smith back to the bargaining table? Will that uprising come? "I think the vast majority of the players will stick together," the former player said.

But he says it will be inevitable that some players will start speaking out, just as some owners have become more chatty recently about the need to get a deal done. And with all the social media avenues to get a point across, he is concerned that even if a few speak out that it will appear that the "entire 1,800 will pack up the tent and call it a day," when that won't be the case. "The squeaky wheel gets a lot of oil," he said. (source New York Daily News)