Throughout the process of this NFL lockout, we've seen fans blame the owners, players and (like me) both sides for the mess we're currently in. Fans have said plenty of negative things about NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and the league as well as NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith and the players.
Much of it is warranted and our anger is legit. But will it last? When the NFL lockout ends, will fans have any long-term negative feelings toward Goodell, Smith and the rest of the owners and players?
Mike Silver of Yahoo! Sports has a good piece on the NFL lockout that touches on the fans and their feeling towards both sides if/when the lockout ends:
As the owners and players prepare to reconvene this week in New York City following the Fourth of July holiday, a deal is very much there for the making. And if NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith and their respective table mates can pull it off in the next few weeks, they'll all be heroes, and this Lost Offseason will be forgiven and forgotten before you can say fantasy draft.
This is probably going to be the case. It's important to keep in mind the big picture when looking at the lockout. We knew (or should have known) a deal wasn't coming in March or April because that wasn't a real deadline and there wasn't much to lose. And we should have known that, eventually, the squawking from both sides would end and they'd act like professionals.
And we should know that most fans will probably quickly forget about the lockout and rejoice in the re-emergence of football. It doesn't hurt that, shortly after the lockout ends, we'll likely have free agency, training camp, preseason and then the regular season -- there won't be time to remember how much the owners and players made us upset.