For the NFL's own good: Cheer for owners

ORLANDO, Fla. — Speaking on behalf of the millions upon millions of football fans out here, I have just one request for NFL owners as they race to settle this festering labor dispute with the players:

Crush them.

Pulverize them.

Annihilate them.

Please, guys, whatever you do, don't allow the NFL to turn into the NBA. Don't let the players have too much money and too much power. Keep them humble and hungry.

"We'd love to have a deal like the NBA players have," admits New York Giants wide receiver Amani Toomer, who is in town for "ESPN The Weekend." "What the NBA has is unbelievable. Those guys sign these guaranteed contracts and get paid no matter what. That's where we'd like to head."

Toomer's stance is understandable from a player's standpoint — undesirable from a fan's. I've always said that if any set of professional athletes deserve guaranteed contracts, it's NFL players. Every week, these guys literally put their necks on the line — not to mention their ankles, knees, shoulders and spinal cords. They deserve every million they can get for the gnarled, mangled bodies they will have by the time they turn 50.

But you know what? Even though they deserve all they can get, I don't want them to get it. There's one reason why the NFL is light years ahead of the NBA and Major League Baseball economically and in popularity: Because the NFL's owners are stronger and its union is weaker.

In my real life, I love unions even though I'm not in one. Either directly or indirectly, unions are the reason many of us have decent salaries, good working conditions, health insurance and a retirement plan.

In my sports life, I despise unions. Either directly or indirectly, they are the reason we have exorbitant ticket prices, taxpayer-funded stadiums, watered-down $5 Cokes and worthless $10 million-a-year players.

Take the Orlando Magic as an example: Do you realize they are still paying nearly $7 million this season for Doug Christie, who was acquired in a trade last year and played 21 games before he unilaterally decided he needed surgery for bone spurs and walked out on the team? Not only that, but the Magic are paying another $7 million this season for Penny Hardaway, who isn't on the team but whose expiring contract was obtained in the trade for Steve Francis.