It may be time to begin outfitting NFL league owners with mouthpieces, jock straps and Troy Polamalu wigs after they requested that players take a pay cut for the 2011 season due to low profits in the nation's most popular and lucrative sport.

Despite the exceedingly growing success of the NFL, league owners have insisted that players take a $1 billion pay cut to offset the so called "losses" several teams have incurred over the past several years.

The players union quickly responded to the proposal with an inquiry of its own; show us the book and prove it. But foolishly, as big corporate companies often do, the owners shot down the request and in turn have made the argument of "we're losing money" irrelevant, and moreover unbelievable; thus, leaving negotiations at a standstill.

I mean let's face it, keeping tight-lipped about the real financial status of the NFL's owners can do nothing more but hurt the argument they pose to the players union, that is, unless they are hiding something. Opening the books to reveal that teams are losing money and profits would seem to be logical, wouldn't it?  Unfortunately this seems to be just another ploy from a corporate giant to undercut its biggest assets, its product … the players.

"The NFL brought this fight to us -- they want $1 billion back. We just want financial information to back up that request," New Orleans Saints quarterback and union executive committee member Drew Brees said Friday via Twitter. "They refuse to give that information to us. They think we should just trust them. Would you?"

I mean how could they trust them? In a day and age in which our economy is in crisis, massive corporations are falling to bankruptcy, and Wall Street continues to screw over the little guys on Main Street, you think the NFL would display a little more cooperation with those who not only generate the $9 billion in revenue the NFL brings in each year, but also line their pockets.

It's the players who make the drama, excitement and peril we as football fans love – not the owners. Moreover, the players are not asking for more money, they are simply asking to see proof that teams in the league are flailing and at times losing money as they claim.

Ignorantly and without explanation a compromise has not been reached and the players association has filed paperwork to decertify. Owners have locked out the players, and the fate of a 2011 season continues to remain in jeopardy.

Time to see what you got owners. Time to see what you can do on the field. Let's see how many people show up to watch you play … my guess is zero.