I have written some "open letters" to various people -- some good, some bad -- in these posts, and I was going to write another one to Troy Polumlu, who recently said the strike wasn't about "millionaires fighting with billionaires," but about the players fighting against "big business;" but then I thought my head was going to explode, so I've just decided to write to anybody who cares ...

Can it really be that a man whose annual salary is bigger than the gross national product of many countries is talking about "big business" as though it is a bad thing?  Can it really be that football is no longer about sports and sportsmanship, but simply a new front in the battle between the communists and the capitalists ... the bourgeois pigs against the proletariat  heroes?  Can it really be that a multi-billion dollar business has become so inherently evil that it is going to implode on itself?  I think I just threw up a little ...

Until the owners and the players realize that they need each other, the fans are going to continue to get cheated:  The fans and the employees of many NFL teams.  Talk about the "evils of big business" to those people who have been put on involuntary furloughs, or who have had their salaries slashed, or who wonder how they are going to support their families.

This thing has gone from ridiculous to stupid in a heartbeat.  And now, to some of the unheralded workers in the NFL, it has become a travesty.

As a fan who spent nearly two decades watching you play, I have become a fan who enjoys watching you do your front office work with the same passion and intelligence you brought to the field.  I do have one particular bone to pick with you, though.  You have said that for Tim Tebow to become a great, championship winning quarterback in the NFL he must learn to play from the pocket.  I have two words for you ...

Roger Staubach.

It seems to me that what made Tom Landry a Hall of Fame coach was his willingness to let his players do what they naturally did with greatness; and what made Staubach a championship, Hall of Fame quarterback what the incredible way he played out of the shotgun formation.  For the life of me I can't understand why it seems as is the Broncos are so bent on turning TT into some kind of "cookie-cutter" quarterback, when he has proven how effective he can be from the shotgun.

Admittedly, I am not an expert on football.  I'm just a fan.  But it seems as if football is a very difficult game to play, and that it would behoove teams to make it as simple as possible for the players.  I'm sure TT can work himself into a decent pocket passer, but wonder if it wouldn't be be better to simply grow the talents he already has in abundance and let him do most of his work out of the shotgun.

From an article in a competing blog which, out of respect for MHR I shall not name, the story broke that the Tennessee Titans' running back Chris Johnson recently had his condo raided by the police.  All of the activity at the condo caused the cops to suspect some illegal shenanigans were happening.  Fortunately, for Chris Johnson, for the Titans, and for football, nothing illegal was going on; but Johnson's reaction to the raid just cut me to the bone.  It is in response to his comments that I write the following letter:

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In the immortal words of Rocky Balboa, "Yo, Adrian," you seem to have either forgotten or neglected your history.  How you can compare modern-day football players to slaves - presumably with a straight face - is way beyond me.  Nowhere in the history of earth have slaves been able to do what they say they love doing while being paid millions of dollars; nowhere in the history of earth have slaves been able to determine, after a short time, their place of employment and the salary they will be paid; and nowhere in the history of earth have slaves been able to retire after only a few years of 'service.'

When Kellen Winslow, Jr compared football players to warriors he was pretty soundly bi***-slapped for making that unfortunate comparison; but you have taken his lunacy to the extreme.  Please, consider the people who, in the sad history of our planet, really have been slaves, or currently are!

You are not a slave, Adrian, you are a spoiled brat.  You are an entertainer who has forgotten that without the audience the best play in the world is only a rehearsal.  Of course it is true that there would be no football without the players; but the fact is that, if there were no owners you'd be playing your games in sandlots, and if there were no fans you'd be playing for chump-change.

Quit throwing your little tantrum, Mr. Peterson, and get back to work.  Then all of us, players, owners and fans, can get back to the game -- yes, the game -- we all love and enjoy.