NFL Rookie Class Seemingly Unconcerned Over Impending Lockout

↵↵NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was yesterday’s opening speaker at the 14th annual NFL rookie symposium. Following his address to the conference room full of rookies on such always-pressing topics such as player safety, off-field conduct and the importance of playing a leadership role, the commish opened the floor up to questions, none of which happened to be about the elephant in the room for the upcoming season:↵

↵↵⇥As for the biggest issue on the league’s landscape, the possibility of a work stoppage in 2011? That didn’t come up.↵⇥↵⇥“I opened it up for questions and nobody asked about that,” said Goodell, who spoke to a small group of reporters afterward.↵⇥

↵↵↵You could chalk the lack of questions up to rank indifference, but it’s just as likely that representatives from the union have already been in touch with these players and given them their version of ongoing negotiations. If the league hasn’t already articulated its stance to the player’s union itself, it’s unlikely that the commissioner will be able to furnish a rookie coming into the league with any new details regarding the biggest issue facing the sport at the moment.↵

↵↵Still, it’s interesting that incoming players wouldn’t express more curiosity from the figurehead of the league, given that many of them won’t have a great opportunity to save money should the 2011 season not end up happening. The vast majority of these players aren’t first round picks with huge signing bonuses, which means that they stand to be among the most vulnerable to the effects of a prolonged work stoppage. That is unless they’ve received some mighty convincing assurances from the union or a lot of them are confident in their ability to save this year’s pay.↵

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