INDIANAPOLIS — Ask students in a high school science class to explain college-level chemistry and you'll get a lot shrugged shoulders from confused teenagers. It's a subject they've heard of but never studied, as they've been too busy preparing themselves to master their own material.
At the NFL Scouting Combine, the draft prospects who have been grilled about the sport's current labor issues have been giving pretty much the same response. After playing last fall for their college teams, then preparing day and night for the past seven weeks to be ready for their workouts, most players here aren't thinking about league revenue sharing or an 18-game schedule.
"I only can control what I can control right now, and that's how I train and how I go out there and perform. So that's what I'm focused on," Alabama RB Mark Ingram said.
Purdue DE Ryan Kerrigan echoed those statements, saying, "All we can control right now is how we do at the Combine and how we interview. That's the only thing I'm focused on right now."
It might not be on their radar now, but the prospects might want to be brought up to speed on at least one of the important issues in the talks for a new Collective Bargaining Agreement: a rookie salary cap. The owners have proposed limiting how much players can earn in their first contracts, after being upset with the mega-deals that first-rounders Sam Bradford, Ndamukong Suh and Gerald McCoy received a year ago. Unlike the 18-game schedule, the rookie cap likely would be instituted immediately, taking change out of the players' pockets before they even have a chance to negotiate a deal.
"It's definitely different because we have never been through this situation," said Da'Quan Bowers of Clemson, the potential No. 1 overall pick. "It is something new for all of us, but we can't handle all of that. We are going to have to continue to train and whenever the teams call, we'll be there ready to work. We haven't really got into a lot of details about it. I'm sure when the time comes, all the players' agents and financial people will sit down and make a structured plan."
While the prospects have dodged the labor questions due to ignorance on the issue, others who spoke at the Combine are pleading the fifth for different reasons. As middle men between the people who sign their checks (the owners) and people who count on them for leadership (the players), many of the head coaches and front-office executives wouldn't take a side when asked about how a potential lockout has altered their draft and offseason plans, instead saying that they'd be ready to move forward when they are allowed to do so.
"I think everybody's in the same spot," Broncos GM Brian Xanders said. "If it does work out, then we're ready to go. If it doesn't work out, then we'll have to wait and see. I'm ready to go right now. So if we get a deal worked out, we'll be ready to go. If we don't, then we'll adjust."
Without a CBA in place, teams won't be able to offer contracts, make trades or meet with players. That is a huge potential setback for many clubs, especially those with new coaches and coordinators. OTAs are the times when coaches can teach new schemes to their players, GMs determine which positions need to be addressed further in free agency and for rookies to work their way up the depth chart.
Eight coaches are set to run their first training camp with their teams this summer, and just like the draft prospects, the coaches are going about their work without worrying about the labor issues.
"I'm basically putting together the calendar for the offseason with the idea that we're going to have minicamps and OTAs and then training-camp preparations," Browns first-year head coach Pat Shurmur said. "It's business as usual. That model I can visualize very well and that's (the one I'm) proceeding with."
New Raiders head coach Hue Jackson said he isn't even thinking about the CBA negotiations.
"One thing I've learned in this profession is you can't worry about something that you know nothing about, so my biggest goal is making sure that the next step for our team is in place, which is getting ready for our offseason program, and if somebody tells us we can't, then we can't, and then we go to Plan B," he said.
Just as there could be one kid in the high school class who knows something about the composition and structure of chemical substances, there was one prospect at the Combine who would give an in-depth commentary on the impact that missing time could have on both players and the teams. Alabama QB Greg McElroy, whose father Greg McElroy Sr., is the Dallas Cowboys' senior vice president of sales and marketing, understands both sides of the player vs. management issue. He said that the rookies are paying closer attention of the potential lockout than some are letting on.
"We're aware of it. I assure you that, but fortunately for us, we're all in the same situation," McElroy said. "We don't know a lot about what's going on with the labor situation. We know there's a lot of room in between the sides right now, and I think we're anxious just like all the rest of the players to find out what the situation is going to be."
Only time will tell how long the negotiations between owners and the NFL Players' Association will last and what impact a lockout will have on players and coaches. If months pass before rookies can receive their playbooks or meet with their coaches, there are bound to be setbacks for all parties involved. The prospects might not know it, and the coaches might not acknowledge it, but a lengthy lockout is sure to have a negative impact on first-year players.
"As far as the way you approach it as a rookie, it doesn't help you. With no minicamp, no OTAs, it's going to hurt you. It's going to leave you behind," McElroy said. "It's going to be the guys that get the playbook and the guys that study it meticulously and do everything they possibly can ,from an intelligent standpoint, to learn the things that they're going to be asked to do."
