The question to DeMaurice Smith was simple, coming from Cincinnati receiver Chad Ochocinco, asking how serious he viewed the possibility of football not being played in 2011.
Smith did not hesitate.
"On a scale of 1 to 10," Smith said Thursday, "it's a 14."
With that, the executive director of the NFL Players Association painted perhaps the bleakest picture yet regarding prospects of labor strife in the league, which could be looking at a 2010 season with no salary cap and, if the collective bargaining agreement expires as scheduled in March 2011, a lockout that year.
"I keep coming back to an economic model in America that is unparalleled," said Smith, who often repeated phrases for emphasis. "And that makes it incredibly difficult to then come to players and say, on average, each of you needs to take a $340,000 pay cut to save the National Football League. Tough sell. Tough sell."
Smith said the NFL would receive $5 billion from its network television deals even if no games are played in 2011. He regarded that as proof owners are preparing for a lockout.
"Has any one of the prior deals included $5 billion to not play football?" Smith asked, referring to previous contracts that were extended or redone. "The answer's no."
LT LIKELY DONE WITH CHARGERS: LaDainian Tomlinson says he believes he has played his last game as a San Diego Charger.
The running back told The San Diego Union-Tribune on Thursday that he has thought for a while he would be let go by the Chargers.
His comments come after more than a month of saying he did not know what would happen.
The NFL's most valuable player in 2006 has two years remaining on his contract. He is due a $2 million roster bonus March 5 and would be paid $5 million in total salary in 2010.
STEELERS HALL OF FAMER DIES: Bill Dudley, a Hall of Fame player who in 1946 with the Pittsburgh Steelers led the NFL in rushing, punt returns and interceptions, has died. He was 88.
He had a stroke Saturday and was admitted to Lynchburg General Hospital, son Jim Dudley said Thursday. He said his father had not been ill before the stroke and died in his wife's arms.
"Bullet" Bill Dudley was a runner, passer, punter, kicker and defensive back during his nine-year NFL career, highlighted by his 1946 season in which he was the league's Most Valuable Player. While with the Washington Redskins, he shared an apartment with NFL great Sammy Baugh. Dudley later served in the Virginia Legislature.
"He lived to a high standard," Jim Dudley told The Associated Press. "He was devoted to service and having a positive effect on those people he associated with, and he did. If that's the measure of greatness, he was a great man."
Dudley starred in college at Virginia and was the No. 1 overall draft choice of the Steelers in 1942. He played three seasons with Pittsburgh, a stay interrupted in 1943 and 1944 because of Army service during World War II. He later played three years with the Detroit Lions and three with the Redskins, ending with his retirement in 1953.
GIANTS STADIUM GOING DOWN: The demolition of Giants Stadium got started Thursday when a giant metal claw attached to a crane started taking bites out of the cement helix at one of the four gates around the 34-year-old facility.
Clouds of dust drifted in the air as concrete and rebar poked through areas where the concrete was ripped away.
The $10 million-plus demolition project will take about four months with the seats and sod being sold as memorabilia. Much of the concrete is being used to fill a 14-foot hole where the field is currently located.