Green Bay Packers Hall of Famer Greg Koch sees possible NFL work stoppage as 'ridiculous' 
BY MIKE VANDERMAUSE MVANDERMAUSE@GREENBAYPRESSGAZETTE.COM SEPTEMBER 18, 2010

[img_r]http://cmsimg.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=U0&Date=20100918&Category=PKR07&ArtNo=100918025&Ref=AR&MaxW=318&Border=0[/img_r]In recognition of the Green Bay Packers storied past, nearly 100 former players will be honored at halftime Sunday at Lambeau Field as part of the annual alumni weekend festivities.

But its the future of the National Football League that has at least one former veteran player worried, if not downright angry.

Recently inducted Packers Hall of Fame offensive lineman Greg Koch speaks passionately about what he calls stupidity and greed as NFL owners and players inch closer toward a work stoppage next year.

If a collective bargaining agreement between the two sides isnt reached, there might be no football in 2011, and that possibility infuriates Koch.

Its totally ridiculous at this point in time for either side to even be thinking about a work stoppage, said Koch, who played for the Packers from 1977 to 1985. The money the guys are making, the money the owners are making, theres a big enough pie to split among each of them without one side being too greedy.

Koch, who lives in Houston and practices law, experienced the negative effects of two work stoppages during his playing career.

In 1982 the regular season was reduced to nine games, and not even avid Packers fans were very forgiving. Even though the Packers hosted a playoff game that season for the first time in 15 years, it wasnt a sellout.

In 1987 owners brought in replacement players for three games in what Koch terms a huge failure.

Since then the NFL has become a billion-dollar industry, and owners and players risk killing the golden goose by haggling over money and power. Koch said he would love to serve as a mediator between the two sides.

I would say Look, you get into a meeting, you hammer something out, and both of you feel like you got screwed a little bit, youve got a good deal, he said. Theres plenty of money for everyone to be happy.

One compromise Koch staunchly opposes is the idea promoted by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to expand the regular season by two games. Even if it means more money for players, the cost in shortened careers is too steep.

Your career is short enough as it is, said Koch. To sell your soul to the devil for a couple bucks now hoping youre going to make it up on the back end, thats the wrong game to be in to do that because youre lucky youre going to be there tomorrow. Ask Ryan Grant. Ask Kris Jenkins from the Jets.

Grant and Jenkins suffered season-ending injuries in Week 1. An expanded season would invite more major hits like that, according to Koch. Plus the resulting shorter exhibition season would hinder the development of younger players and force veterans to play more in preseason games in order to prepare for the regular season.

I think youre going to see more and more concussions, youre going to see more and more torn up bodies from the physical toll, said Koch. Players can keep getting bigger and faster and all that. Im just not positive the human body has caught up as far as tendons and ligaments and things like that.

As many of the former Packers limp onto the field at halftime Sunday, it should serve as a reminder the NFL is a brutal game and the health of players must be a priority. Lessons from the past should be carried into the future.

Koch, for one, isnt convinced that will happen.

I think its plain stupidity on both sides to ruin the No. 1 sport in the land, he said.

Mike Vandermause is sports editor of the Press-Gazette.