Ed Norris: NFL Labor Woes Could Penalize Economy

If the NFL lockout of players continues through the fall and affects scheduled football games, it could cause "tremendous economic downturn" in NFL franchise towns such as Baltimore, said Ed Norris, the radio host for CBS.

Norris, whose show is heard locally on Baltimore's FM Talk 105.7, spoke to about 25 members of the Pikesville Chamber of Commerce at Jilly's restaurant and bar Wednesday.

Norris said the Saturday lockout of NFL players is the most important issue in sports these days. If the disagreement continues, and fall football games aren't played as scheduled, "it's going to affect the whole country," he said.

Citing ESPN statistics, Norris said that each city with an NFL franchise, including Baltimore, could lose $140 million for the season. Nationally, he said, 150,000 jobs could be lost.

But the losses wouldn't stop within the borders of the cities. The absence of games would also affect businesses throughout the country, he said.

For example, businesses such as Jilly's—restaurants and bars—will not be attracting football fans. "People come to places like this on Sundays. They want to fill up the restaurants and bars ... every Sunday, " Norris said. "That's not going to happen if there is no football."

Also affected would be businesses including parking lots, beer distributors, chicken wing distributors, NFL apparel distributors and more, he said.

The NFL locked out its players Saturday over several issues, mostly money. For example, owners want players to take a smaller percentage of the NFL revenue. The matter will be heard in court April 6.

It's the first work stoppage in the NFL in nearly 25 years, according to the Associated Press.

What's the root issue behind the disagreement? Norris said it's "how the coddling of athletes is going to cause (this) tremendous economic downturn."

From the time some athletes are kids, and through the time they are in the NFL, NBA and other professional organizations, athletes are treated differently. They are favored, which means "they feel entitled" to special treatment and outrageously high salaries, Norris said.

The special treatment can start when high schools and universities allow athletes to get away with bad behavior—behavior for which most other people would be punished.

Norris said the NFL and players should be able to come to an agreement so their issues do not hurt the entire economy.

The last time Norris spoke before the chamber, he was superintendent of the Maryland State Police, which is headquartered in Pikesville.

Back then, he said, he gave a talk on "a day in the life of the NYPD," where he worked as a detective in the 1990s.

But since that past Pikesville Chamber of Commerce talk, Norris has spent six months in prison, six months on home detention, and performed 500 hours of community service after he pleaded guilty "to federal public corruption and tax charges stemming from his reign as Baltimore's police chief ... ," according to an Aug. 16, 2005 article in the Baltimore Sun.

Norris said during the talk at Jilly's that he was framed, and that it can happen to any citizen.

In 2005, Norris began his first day as a radio host.

These days, Norris often speaks about sports, but also about terrorism—a topic he became familiar with in the NYPD.

Following are Norris' takes on other issues discussed March 16 at Jilly's:

On Mayor Stephanie Rawlings Blake: "I like Stephanie. She's doing a good job. Things are getting better. After decades of problems, they create this mess and expect police to fix it," he said, regarding crime in the city.

Norris said he blames the war on drugs, and more imprisonments, for an increase in crime. "Men with felony convictions are now unemployable" so turn to drugs for money. "It's a cycle, it just goes on and on."

On the towing scheme recently in Baltimore City: "That's every city's issue," and often one unseen, he said of police who take kickbacks for towing referrals. "In New York City, you (as an officer) could not call a tow truck" when a citizen needed one. Rather, the dispatcher would have a list and call one, he said.

Norris' prediction for March Madness: Ohio State and Kansas in the championship.