In any marital spat, it's the kids who suffer.
A case in point: The ongoing War of the Roses between the NFL owners and players, which last week dissolved from marital counseling -- courtesy of federal mediator George Cohen - to press-conference bickering to childish Twitter sniping. Now the two parties are estranged and fighting over custody of the kids -- the college players expected to be selected in the April draft.
ESPN reported the group formerly known as the NFL Players Association has recommended that players not attend April's draft at Radio City Music Hall in New York. Via Twitter, NFLPA spokesman George Atallah wrote two things. First that the players are "not asking anyone to 'boycott' anything. NFL Draft in particular." Later he wrote, "Players and their families will be in NYC. It just maybe different. We will provide details when we can."
So, the league and players will hold competing draft functions. Think of it as your mom and dad inviting you to separate Thanksgivings, both of them strained and tense and both of them leaving you longing for past Thanksgivings.
The sad thing is that draft-day events at Radio city Music Hall - while a teense maudlin - were about as pure and wholesome as the NFL gets. Players and their families got all-expense-paid trips to the Big Apple. They toured the city, attended charity events and dressed up in their Sunday best for the big day. It was their "I made it" moment.
It's where Vernon Davis, upon being drafted by the 49ers, broke down in tears and hugged the grandmother who raised him. It's where Aaron Rodgers - excuse me, Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rodgers - sat awkwardly in the green room while team after team passed him by in the first round.
Now all those nice moments, all that draft-day drama, all the tears are getting eclipsed by lawyerly cynicism. Yuck. Think of the kids ...
-- Matt Barrows
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