FanHouse NflLaborTalks

The union's message to its players as the collective bargaining negotiations begin is coalescing. Union head DeMaurice Smith told FanHouse last month that he believes the owners intend to lock out the players in 2011. And according to Pro Football Talk, citing a "league source," Steelers QB Charlie Batch told rookies at the league's rookie symposium that there's a "100 percent chance" of a lockout that year.

Smith seems to have a solid handle on the media/message part of his job. He wants it made clear, to the players and the public, that any threat of a work stoppage is coming from the owners' end. The owners are the ones who opted out of the current CBA. The owners are the ones refusing to share the finanical information Smith is requesting. And if there's no football in 2011, it will be because the owners decided to lock out the players, NOT because the players went on strike. It is crucial for Smith to communicate this message to the players, because he believes it is crucial for the players to communicate it to the public.

The NFL and its players' union officially opened negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement Wednesday, but it looks like it was just the simple beginning of what should be a very long, drawn-out process.

Union representatives weren't making any comment, and the league said it would only confirm that the meeting took place and was "the first of many." But according to a person familiar with the meeting, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and new NFLPA head DeMaurice Smith were both present. The meeting was described as "procedural." Nothing was resolved, of course, and there is currently no date set for the resumption of talks.