Since the NFL and NFLPA decided they could not come up with an agreement for how to split $9 billion on Friday afternoon I’ve checked in on the twittersphere from time to time and it’s not really helping either side win the public relations battle.

I was already irritated that a bunch of rich guys couldn’t come to an agreement with a bunch of richer guys on how to split a plenty big pot o’ cash. But then I started reading.

Some players, in between hollow apologies to fans or tweets of disbelief wondering why fans are irritated with them instead of or in addition to being upset with the owners, are posting “jokes” like Alex Brown (alexbrown96) did Sunday afternoon: So since I am unemployed and have a pregnant wife and 2 other kids can I go get WIC?

I find it hard to locate the humor in that statement from a player who, according to the USA Today’s database, Brown has made no less than $16 million in salaries and signing bonuses during his time in the NFL.

Sure. It was a joke. But for one of the eight-figure players to be making jokes about joining a program aimed at making sure low-income mothers can feed their babies and young children healthy food … Brown did nothing with that line to change the perception that players are out of touch.

Then you have owners like Jim Irsay (jimirsay) illustrating that being rich and being smart can be mutually exclusive.

6:06 PM March 11: I am shocked that the union has walked away from mediation n collective bargaining after the 16 – 4 format they wanted was offered today. WOW

Yeah, the results were so unpredictable. And anyone with half a mind didn’t realize that clearly wasn’t the issue that was going to end the standoff.

6:18 PM March 11: I guess D Smith wants to one up my old friend Gene Upshaw

Yep, invoke the name of the dead former union president who was often criticized, right or wrong, for being too close to the owners. DeMaurice Smith may be arrogant, he may be a jerk, I have no idea. But just because he doesn’t see things the same way Irsay does, he’s trying to one up Upshaw? This is a stretch of mythic proportions.

6:31 PM March 11: And come on, any NFL fan or Media peep agree, this “SHAM” decertification thing that ends negotiating is BS, even hockey union didn’t do that!

So in the span of 25 minutes Irsay expressed utter shock that the union didn’t immediately knuckle under at keeping a 16 game schedule when the main issue is the owners wanting another $1 billion off the top, he invoked the dead former union head and he mocked the union strategy.

Guess what – plenty of sham to go around in the NFL’s arguments and in the statements released by the official spokespeople for both the union and the league in the moments following the negotiations falling apart Friday evening. Particularly sham-ful have been statements both sides have made about how bad they feel for the fans in the wake of the negotiations falling apart.

Make no mistake – the players and the owners don’t give a royal flying crap about the fans right now. No matter what Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen might write in a letter to his team’s fans or whatever Drew Brees might tweet about how the players are telling the truth and the owners are trying to kill the goose with the golden egg, the bottom line is this: The owners want to get back some of their $9 billion a year. And the players want to make sure the owners get as little of the pie as possible. It’s as simple as that.

Anything else either side says is nothing more than trying to win the game of public opinion.

The bottom line for fans, in my opinion, is this: There’s $9 billion a year to spread around. $9-frickin-billion. Figure out how to get it done.

Denny Mezzapesa (@DennyMezzapesa) pretty much summed up my opinion and I think he said it as well or better than I ever could. His Monday, March 14 tweet at 14:17:

“@BobPapa_NFL @AdamSchein – Can someone Send a Memo to the NFL and NFLPA to SHUT UP. Sorry we cant share 9 billion is all they should say.”

So true.