NFL Lockout – Always Have a Backup Plan

By Katy Fincham

As the NFL Lockout drags on, both sides remain at a standstill and little to no progress has been made. While players, such as Tom Brady and Drew Brees continue to battle it out in the courtrooms, other NFL players are finding ways to take advantage of their “time off” and coming up with creative backup plans.

Notorious for his on and off the field antics, Cincinnati Bengal receiver, Chad Ochocinco spent a week trying out with Major League Soccer team, Sporting Kansas City. The Kansas City Star reported today that the team has named Ochocinco as an honorary member, as he “showed enough potential” to continue working with the team’s reserve squad. Ochocinco said he used the opportunity as a chance to stay in shape during the lockout, but Sporting KC benefited most by the player’s decision to revisit his childhood passion for the game. ESPN has been running a six-minute special highlighting his stay, while his tryout attracted a number of local and national media outlets, never before seen at the team’s Swope Park training facility.

Baltimore Raven Tom Zbikowsi, found that the lockout was the perfect timing to dive back into his boxing career. Now known in the boxing world as “Tommy Z,” he is currently 3-0 with two decisions by way of knockout and gaining a lot of serious attention from boxing professionals. According to The Baltimore Sun, Zibikowski has recently “teamed up with legendary trainer Emanuel Steward and acknowledged he is working toward becoming the cruiserweight champion.” After winning bouts in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, he has even mentioned his desire to bring one of his matches to the City of Baltimore.

Pittsburgh Steeler receiver, Hines Ward, is the newest contestant on Dancing with the Stars and has already proven that he has a legitimate shot at winning the entire competition. The Mirror Ball trophy will never live up to the prestige of the Lombardi Trophy, but Ward’s presence on the show is allowing him a chance to explore a unique opportunity, while remaining relevant with fans.

Going from Gridiron to Glamour, Tim Tebow has recently taken on his new role as an underwear model. The Denver Bronco quarterback will be featured in commercials beginning this week for Jockey’s Staycool products.

At the end of the day, all of the players will presumably stick with their “day jobs,” and our Sunday’s will go back to normal. But the lockout is proving to be the perfect time for players to peruse outside interests, while finding the value in marketing themselves and building beneficial business relationships. Everyone’s professional career eventually comes to an end and having a backup plan is now proving to be more vital than ever.

Katy Fincham is an Associate Account Executive at Maroon PR. Contact her at Katy@MaroonPR.com

“The Comeback Kid”

By Chartese Burnett

In the world of sports, we often hear of great comebacks, including come-from-behind wins after a team has trailed its opponent in a matchup, a team that makes it to the playoffs after a dismal regular season, or a franchise that has been a perennial loser and then turns its fate around and claims victories season after season. Comebacks almost always tickle our fancy, and it makes us realize that, against all odds, great things can happen. Baseball fans may remember the 2004 Boston Red Sox, who were down 0-3 games to the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series, and then in game 4 launched a comeback, and went on to claim the remaining three games, clinching arguably the single biggest comeback in baseball playoff history. They went on the win the World Series when they swept the St. Louis Cardinals to end an 86-year championship drought.

A few years earlier in 1993, on the gridiron, in the 1993 AFC wild card playoff game, the Buffalo Bills were down 35-3 to the Houston Oilers in the second half. Frank Reich, a backup quarterback for the Bills, subbing for the injured starter in Hall of Famer Jim Kelly, and with their star running back out with a hip injury, threw for four touchdowns and led his team to a win in overtime.

I only mention here a couple of great comebacks. However, avid sports fans can certainly re-count dozens more. Today, I’d like to focus our attention on a “different” kind of comeback. I am talking about those circumstances that had nothing to do with on-the-court or on-the field feats; but everything to do the amazing tenacity demonstrated by some of the world’s finest athletes – in overcoming adversity and demonstrating why they are true champions and real heroes and heroines.

The late great civil rights leader, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, once said, “The ultimate measure of man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” So many courageous, committed and amazing things were born out of adversity, challenge and even defeat.

Having attended Georgetown University and subsequently returned to serve as Sports Information in the late 80’s, I have followed for many years the career of NBA All-Star Alonzo Mourning. Aside from being a “class act”, a dedicated and committed community activist and philanthropist, “Zo” has defeated the odds and has not only beaten, but has STOMPED adversity. If you’re not familiar with his story, here it is in brief: Prior to the start of the 2000-2001 NBA season, Mourning was diagnosed with a kidney disease which initially caused him to miss five months of that basketball season. However, he continued to defy the odds as his professional basketball career endured. Alonzo eventually underwent a kidney transplant, but later went on to win his first NBA championship with the Miami Heat in 2006. In 2009, Mourning was the first player in Heat history to have his number “33” retired.

That brings us to recent history. On Saturday night, many of us in the Washington, DC region, and the world (by virtue of the 24-hour news cycle, social media, and the good ‘ole traditional media) became of aware of an amazing comeback by one DC United soccer player in Charlie Davies. I immediately called him “THE Comeback Kid” after watching the replays (via traditional means of watching SportsCenter on television) of his exploits on the field in leading the DC United to a 3-1 debut win over the Columbus Crew. In front of a crowd of 18,132 at RFK Stadium, Davies scored twice, once on a penalty kick and another with his speed.

But here’s why this kid’s performance is awe-inspiring and truly ranks, in my mind, as one of the most thrilling comebacks in sports. In his rookie season with MLS, almost a year and a half ago, Davies was in a fatal car crash that almost took his life – when his car was struck by a drunken driver (the driver’s best friend tragically died in the accident). His body was broken and he suffered life-threatening injuries – the doctors thought Davies might never step onto a soccer field again. However, the first time he did – on Saturday night – he came back in a remarkable fashion. When the final whistle sounded at RFK Stadium Saturday night, Charlie Davies’ prayers had been answered. He gazed into the stands and cried. I am sure some fans cried; some viewers cried, and I admit, I cried as I watched replays of someone who achieved what seemed almost impossible.

That’s what comebacks are all about.

Chartese Burnett is Director of Non-Profit PR at Maroon PR. Contact her at Chartese@MaroonPR.com

MLS Avoids Lockout, Signs Labor-Contract

By Stefen Lovelace

A few weeks ago, I chronicled how much of a mistake it would be if Major League Soccer (MLS) had a lockout this year. At the time, players and owners were far off on labor-contract negotiations, and there was a very real fear of the players going on strike.

Luckily for the MLS, news came out this week that both sides have agreed to a new five-year labor contract.


Negotiators began intensive talks Thursday in Washington, D.C., and the deal was signed shortly after 1 p.m. Saturday, about 5½ hours before the opening of $200 million Red Bull Arena, the league's latest showpiece stadium.


This is obviously good news for the league and all soccer fans. My biggest concern for the MLS potentially not playing this year was it would miss out on drawing fans to its league during a time when all eyes will be on soccer - with the 2010 World Cup being played in June.

The new contract has its positives and negatives. The reason that the lockout was looming in the first place is that the MLS markets its players as legitimate professional athletes, yet hardly treats them like ones. Salary and player rights were the main reasons for the dispute.


MLS Players Union head Bob Foose said a majority of players will receive guaranteed contracts for the first time and there will be increased player rights within the league when contracts expire. Still, the union did not achieve its goal of free agency.

"From our perspective, these negotiations were always about players' rights," Foose said, with his members wanting to bring their rights "more in line with leagues from around the world."

"Soccer is a global game and we were adamant that these changes were necessary to make MLS as competitive as possible," Foose said.


MLS players certainly made some gains with this deal, but the lack of free agency needs to be considered a significant blow. Not having the ability to increase your value and move to different teams as you please after your contract is up is one of the most lucrative rights a professional athlete can have. The full details of the labor deal can be found HERE.

Ultimately, it's great that the MLS will get a product on the field this year, and the league has made important strides with this deal.

But the contract also proves that the MLS has a long way to go if its ever going to be considered a major player in professional sports.

Stefen Lovelace is an Associate Account Executive. Contact him at stefen@maroonpr.com.

The Repercussions of an MLS Lockout

By Stefen Lovelace

2010 should be the year for soccer in the United States.

The World Cup will begin this summer in South Africa, which always brings American viewers interest to a peak. The current US team is already gaining tremendous support, thanks to great play in qualifying leading up to the Cup, and our best players (Landon Donovan, Tim Howard, Jozy Altitore) all playing against the best in the world overseas.

Soccer’s always had a hard time gaining mainstream exposure in the US. One reason is that our professional soccer league, the MLS, has always been looked at as inferior when compared to the top leagues in Europe. Still, with soccer on the mind of most Americans, the MLS could have hoped to see a boost in popularity based on the overall hype of the upcoming World Cup.

It looks like the MLS may actually be going in the opposite direction. It was reported today by USA Today that the MLS is in very real danger of having to lockout its upcoming season.


The league's first collective bargaining agreement expired Thursday after the sides twice extended the five-year deal, which originally was to have run out Jan. 31.

The MLS Players Union failed to match league management's no-lockout pledge with a no-strike offer, leaving the start of the season on March 25 in doubt.


The owners - seeing the importance of getting a product on the field during a year where soccer will be on the front of sports pages around the world - have agreed not to lock out the players. The players though, have not agreed to not strike if the owners don’t make concessions.

In this case, the player’s have a legitimate gripe. The MLS tries to market itself has a major league composed of the best talent the United States has to offer. Yet, according to a SportsBusiness Daily story last week, some of the players make less than $30,000. That’s a laughable amount for a professional athlete.

The timing of this argument couldn’t be worse. The MLS will probably never have the popularity of the NFL or NBA in this country (or even the NHL for that matter). But it can certainly fill a niche, and utilizing the exposure of the World Cup to bring attention to the league is an absolute must if the MLS hopes to survive.

The owners and the players need to come up with some resolution, and quickly. If they want their league to hold a torch to the big guys, the owners have to open up their checkbooks a bit. And the player’s need to realize that they’ll never command the salaries of their counterparts in the other sports leagues and accept it.

Time is running out for both sides too, as the league opener is a mere three weeks away.


The Philadelphia Union plays at Seattle in the MLS opener on March 25 and [Major League Soccer commissioner Don] Garber acknowledges that talks could go on until then.

"It's conceivable, but my expectation is not to be negotiating an agreement an hour before kickoff," Garber said. "I would describe these as big-league problems. Years ago we had nothing to fight about, so we didn't have labor issues.

"Now that the league is growing and there is a bit more at stake, the players want to see improvement in their salaries and their working conditions. And we need to understand, we need to listen and take their issues into consideration."


It’s good to see that Garber realizes how important it is to get this issue fixed as soon as possible. Time will tell if the rest of the MLS see that importance before its too late.

Stefen Lovelace is an Associate Account Executive. You can contact him at stefen@maroonpr.com.