Bolts' Esposito understands both sides of NFL's labor dispute

If NFL owners ultimately decide to take the air out of the football for an extended period, Phil Esposito will understand.

The Hall of Fame center and current Lightning radio analyst has been observing the NFL's lingering labor dispute with keen interest.

The two sides now have until Friday to forge a new agreement, and Esposito can't help drawing comparisons between pro football's impasse and the stalled negotiations that led to the cancellation of the entire 2004-05 NHL season.

"Why should we begrudge these owners, who pay exorbitant amounts for their franchise and pay out salaries and debt on their stadiums, a decent return on their investment?'' said Esposito, who served as president of the NHL Players Association during his final two seasons as a player, more than 30 years ago.

In 2004, shortly after the Lightning paraded the Stanley Cup through the streets of downtown Tampa, the NHL turned to an outside counsel by the name of Bob Batterman to assist in talks with the NHLPA.

If you've been watching TV updates on pro football's ongoing labor dispute, you saw NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell walking into a Washington office building last week accompanied by his league's outside counsel.

Yes, that Bob Batterman.

"If you really want to bring about a major change in the way you do business, shut it down,'' a longtime NHL executive told me, referring to the NFL's labor strife. "Shut the game down for a year and NFL owners will get what they want - on their terms.''

For Esposito, union negotiators have approached these talks with misplaced priorities.

"Personally, I'd be bargaining for guaranteed contracts ... that should be the focal point,'' said Esposito, who served as the Lightning's inaugural general manager. "What we went after in the NHLPA was benefits and a better health plan.

"We were an association, not a union. I'm not a union guy.''

When Esposito switched places at the bargaining table 25 years ago and became GM of the Rangers, he began to view labor issues from a different vantage point.

"I've been on both sides of the fence and I can't agree with the players,'' he said. "NFL players should be looking at guaranteed contracts and health care. They're getting paid well. In hockey, something had to be done because contracts were getting out of hand.''

For an entire year, Esposito watched NHL fans suffer through withdrawal pains.

Rinks were dark and prospects for a new labor agreement appeared even darker until the sides agreed on a new deal in mid-summer of 2005, after 310 days of hostility.

"In the long run, the NHL lockout was positive,'' Esposito said. "Players are still making a ton of money, but the game's on better footing. Fans came back quickly in markets like Toronto, Montreal and New York, but it took a while in other places.''

Half of the NFL's owners are listed on the Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans, and even the NFLPA acknowledges players are in no shape to outlast management in a protracted standoff.

As usual in these types of negotiations, the side that believes it has leverage will try to impose its will. Last week's seven-day extension hardly guarantees the 2011 NFL season is no longer in jeopardy.

"The NFL is probably going to end up locking out the players and they'll come back stronger than ever,'' Esposito said. "Believe me, owners are going to be around long after the players are gone. An NFL player's career averages, what, four years?

"Players aren't going to give up one quarter of their careers just to make a point.''