Idonije says NFL 'will be business as usual'

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07-14-2011, 04:48 AM
The Benjamin

Idonije says NFL 'will be business as usual'

Bears defensive end thinks all players need is practice and contact to get ready

Fred Mitchell's Around Town
11:31 PM CDT, July 13, 2011

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Bears defensive end Israel Idonije is confident "it will be business as usual" as soon as the NFL lockout is lifted after a collective bargaining agreement.

"There's going to be training camp and all of those things. Guys will get a chance to put in the work and get ready for the season," Idonije told me at the Better Boys Foundation fundraising gala Tuesday night at Carnivale Restaurant.

"It's like every year. Until the actual season starts … football is like no other sport. Those hits and that physical conditioning … you have to play to do that," he said. "You have to go through the regular football practices to really fine-tune."

Tuesday's event celebrated the 50 years of service the Better Boys Foundation, which is located in the disadvantaged Lawndale neighborhood, has provided. In addition to Idonije, the event was supported by Bears Hall of Famers Gale Sayers and Richard Dent among others.

The family of the late Walter Payton — wife Connie, son Jarrett and daughter Brittney — received a special award recognizing the contributions of time and money Walter made to the BBF before he passed away in 1999.

fmitchell@tribune.com

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Copyright © 2011, Chicago Tribune
07-14-2011, 12:26 PM
soulman

Now that individual players are beginning to express confidence in it my guess is that they'll wrap this thing up within the next week, the union will re-establish itself, and the owners will approve the new deal when they meet next Thursday, July 21st. You can hear it in what's been said lately. The players want to play and the owners want the money taps to start flowing cash and that can't happen until they kiss and make up.

What they finally decide about the rookie pay scale and lengths of their contracts doesn't interest me all that much right now. What I want to know is how much accrued service will be required for UFA this year. The number and quality of players available to fill in the holes we have is dependent on it. The Bears are in an excellent position cap wise to take advantage of teams who don't have the ability to sign all of their own. That's gonna come into play big time when we're looking for help at OG and WR.
07-15-2011, 09:08 AM
Dagan81

Quote:

Originally Posted by soulman

Now that individual players are beginning to express confidence in it my guess is that they'll wrap this thing up within the next week, the union will re-establish itself, and the owners will approve the new deal when they meet next Thursday, July 21st. You can hear it in what's been said lately. The players want to play and the owners want the money taps to start flowing cash and that can't happen until they kiss and make up.

What they finally decide about the rookie pay scale and lengths of their contracts doesn't interest me all that much right now. What I want to know is how much accrued service will be required for UFA this year. The number and quality of players available to fill in the holes we have is dependent on it. The Bears are in an excellent position cap wise to take advantage of teams who don't have the ability to sign all of their own. That's gonna come into play big time when we're looking for help at OG and WR.

Agreed soulman. Apparently, according to a post I read in one of the other threads, the NFL and the NFLPA have essentially come to an agreement on the terms of the rookie wage scale. The details are still in need of being ironed out, but I guess that will be what the lawyers will be paid to do once this all wraps up. Apparently, it's not going to be long before an agreement is going to be hammered out. If it turns out to be longer, I'm going to slice my wrists open and watch my life force spill from inside me.