NFL STRIKE : The Fans : Third Party Plans to Have Its Say in Strike

One pro football fan isn’t taking the NFL players’ strike sitting down.

“We support neither the owners nor the players,” said Dave Po-Chedley of Sunset Beach, who has organized “NFL Fan Strike” to demonstrate disgust for the dispute. “The fans are having a difficult time relating to the financial position of the owners and to the financial level of hardship the players are talking about.”

Po-Chedley, 33, a self-employed management consultant, started his campaign last week when it became evident that there would be a strike. Wednesday, he claimed to have “coordinators” for 21 of the 28 NFL teams and was working on the others.

“A week ago it was just me writing a couple of letters,” Po-Chedley said. “Now it’s mushroomed and grown almost out of control.”

The group’s plan is to boycott the first Sunday of non-union games Oct. 4.

“We’ll encourage fans to do something else that is fun and let us know about it,” Po-Chedley said.

The report would then be passed on to the NFL owners and players to demonstrate what Po-Chedley calls “the fans’ solidarity.”

An award will be given to the city with the highest level of participation. Buffalo, for example, is planning a Pete Rozelle-Al Davis look-alike contest, Po-Chedley said.

“What we want people to do is don’t go to the game, or if their team is on the road, don’t watch it on TV . . . do something else during those six hours when they’d normally be watching football.”

Two brothers, Len and Mark Chetlin of Key West, Fla., have written a theme song, to the tune of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.”

The chorus concludes: “ . . . and when the strike is over and the games begin anew, the quarterback won’t have to yell, there’ll be no fans to boo.”

Po-Chedley said, “Our goal is to cause a 10% dent (in attendance). We’re trying to be realistic. We don’t plan to do any picketing. We strongly discourage anything like that. We don’t want any confrontations with the owners or players.”

Po-Chedley said he is not a season ticket-holder, “But I go to both Ram and Raider games. Now I won’t be going to either one.”