Football through 2021!

The new CBA between the NFL Players Association and the owners cements football into America's autumns and winters through 2021. This time, there is no opt-out clause, which allowed the owners to lockout the players from summer training camp this year.

Despite the mainstream media fail which tried to make us think that the NFLPA was just being greedy (I will repeat it ad naseum: NFL players make an average, equivalent/estimated lifetime income of $89,000/year), by and large the fans knew that the players wanted to play, and stuck by them through this process. In classy fashion, the NFLPA created this video to thank the fans:



Details of the CBA are at Sports Illustrated. The players are making slightly less, with a slightly lower salary cap and restrictions on the earnings of rookies, but by and large, there are some really major wins for the players. Key among them is extension of health coverage options to retirees, a Legacy Fund to support pensions, and more protection of players' health during practices and pre-season.

Significantly, the controversial proposal to extend the season to 18 games has been scrapped, and cannot be approved before 2021 without NFLPA approval.

Are you ready for some football? Because the players are.

Most NFL players are not "millionaires"

Now that the NFL lockout is back in force and everyone and their dog is getting back in on what they think a "reasonable" compromise would be to get to a 2011-2012 season, I don't want to hear anymore of this "billionaires vs. millionaires" stuff. Most NFL players are not millionaires:

• Average NFL player salary: $1.9 million

• Median NFL player salary: $770,000

• Average NFL career length: 3.5 years

This means that most NFL players are making $2,695,000 for their *entire career*, which would come to a bit over $89,000 a year for a standard 30-year career (It's actually probably a lot less than that, since they'll get taxed at a higher rate for those years that they're playing). By no means are these folks impoverished, but they're also not "millionaires" in the way that most Americans think of that these days.

This is all before talking about dramatically above average medical costs (the NFL does not cover former player's medical costs, though it does help fund a heart screening program with other league and player affiliated organizations), increased risk of certain chronic and degenerative diseases, and an average of 2-3 years life expectancy lost for every season played.

Will Ochocinco last ocho seconds?

You've got to hand it to Chad Ochocinco. Even in the middle of a lockout, he manages to keep himself in the spotlight. After a short-lived attempt at a soccer career, number 85 has moved on to new challenges. Earlier this month he accepted a challenge from Professional Bull Riders to try his hand at riding a bull. If he stays on for 8 seconds, he'll get to name the bull. If he gets thrown off, breaks every bone in his body and jeopardizes his $6 million next season in the NFL... well, if anyone can go through all of that and still land on their feet, it's Ochocinco.

Does he really mean literally?