The Owners Hang Tougher

More money for the players, but no control of the game

After 57 days of an inglorious strike, the National Football League players settled last week for far less than they wanted but much more than they had before, and play resumed over the weekend. With the regular 16-game season trimmed to nine, a postseason Super Bowl tournament was devised in fairness to all 28 teams, but particularly to those with 0-and-2 records (including the world champion San Francisco 49ers). After only twelve teams are eliminated, eight entries from each of the two conferences will begin playing off Jan. 8 for the Super Bowl Jan. 30. The only unknowns were the physical condition of the players and the emotional state of the fans.

Technically, Players Association members have to ratify their leaders' agreement this week, but even the players who were grumbling about both the leadership and the agreement presumed that the contract would be accepted. For N.F.L.P.A. Chief Ed Garvey, who had hoped to revolutionize the way athletes are paid, the siege ended badly. "We are the game," the players proclaimed in September. Fifty-five percent of the gross was "etched in stone," until it became 50% of the television money. Finally, along with proposals for a salary fund and a wage scale, the percentage concept evaporated entirely. Owners will continue to pay their hired hands directly by individual bargaining, though they promised to spend a total of $1.6 billion over five years.

Minimum salaries were increased to $30,000 for a rookie (who used to be guaranteed $22,000), climbing $10,000 a year to $200,000 for an 18-year veteran (who used to have no guarantee). For the first time, severance checks will go to the fired and the retired, up to $140,000 for veterans of twelve years or more. But if cash was all that the players gained, the embarrassing likelihood is that this deal could have been struck weeks ago. In the delicate final week of negotiations, the catalyst--"escape valve," Commissioner Pete Rozelle called him--was Paul Martha, 40, a former Pittsburgh Steeler now a Pittsburgh attorney. Martha is a friend of Steeler President Dan Rooney, who had a large voice in management's negotiations and a much softer voice than Chief Negotiator Jack Donlan's. Martha also has a friendly relationship with Garvey. "Paul went back and forth," Rozelle said. "He was very helpful." Near the end, Garvey's willingness to accept help smacked of desperation. Individual teams were taking votes and signaling a growing inclination to embrace management's earlier offer.

"Nobody's excited with the contract we ended up with," said 49ers Player Rep Keith Fahnhorst, "but everybody's excited to get back to work." Though many players never stopped working out, Chicago Bears Safety Doug Plank noted, "it's one thing to be in running shape, and another to be in collision shape."

Just beginning to tabulate the other kinds of costs, Rozelle said, "A bunch of money was lost that the owners and players will never recover," at least $250 million. "I think there is going to be a fan turnoff." If, indeed, families have licked the habit of Sunday football, some would say that something good has come out of the strike. "At least one good thing has," New England Quarterback Matt Cavanaugh said. "My wife is pregnant."

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