Category: NFL (Page 148 of 1282)

      Report: Players wanted to return to the negotiating table but owners declined

      April 4, 2011 /
      The NFL logo is seen on a trailer parked near the New Meadowlands Stadium where the New York Jets and New York Giants NFL football teams play home games in East Rutherford, New Jersey, March 14, 2011. The NFL has officially announced a lockout of players by team owners following the move by the players’ union to dissolve themselves and pursue court action against the league. REUTERS/Mike Segar (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT FOOTBALL BUSINESS)

      According to ESPN’s John Clayton in his latest Q&A, the players wanted to return to the negotiating table on March 28, but the owners declined. Apparently the owners refuse to negotiate unless the players recertifiy as a union.

      Q: I am a corporate attorney, and I have seen (and been part of) settlement negotiations while litigation is taking its course. Why can’t one or more attorneys for players (if not for the NFLPA, then for some of the named litigants) negotiate with the attorneys for the owners right now? At least in California, settlement negotiations cannot be used in trial, so I see no reason why negotiations could not be going on right now. In any event, isn’t the real problem the refusal of the owners to provide full financial information?

      Ed in Aladena, Calif.

      A: You are 100 percent correct. Lawyers for the owners refuse to meet with the settlement attorneys for the players unless the trade association identifies itself as a union, which the players won’t do at this time. The players, according to multiple sources, planned to meet with the owners March 28 and spend the week settling this mess. All that had to be done was have a short document go to federal judge Susan Nelson’s court saying that the NFLPA’s executive board would serve as advisors. The NFL’s answer was no. This will be the only way a deal can be reached. Like you, we all wish both sides would go to the bargaining table instead of the courts.

      As a fan, it’s frustrating to hear that one side was ready to head back to the bargaining table and the other refused. The quickest way to a resolution is at the negotiating table – not in the courts.

      But the owners must believe they have the leg up now that union-friendly Judge David S. Doty is not overseeing the players’ injunction hearing on April 6. As Rotoworld.com points out, if Judge Susan Nelson fails to grant the injunction, then the leverage swings heavily in the owners’ favor. So why would they return to the bargaining tables now? So that they can put an end to this charade and the fans can have a season next year? That’s not what the owners want. They want more money (and in the process, the players to have less of it), which is one of the many reasons why the NFL is currently in this mess.

      The momentum has shifted several times over the past couple of months and it appears as though each side is waiting for the other to eventual crumble. Meanwhile, the fans continue to wait.

      External Sports, NFL

      Raiders’ Louis Murphy arrested for Viagra possession

      April 3, 2011 /

      Here’s one you don’t read everyday.

      Raiders’ wideout Louis Murphy was reportedly pulled over for a loud stereo on Sunday morning. First he ignored the officer, then he refused to show his ID or put his hands behind his back. When he finally consented to a vehicle search, officers found 11 Viagra pills in a bottle with the label torn off because he apparently didn’t want his girlfriend to know that he needed the little blue pills to, uh, perform. (Cat is out of the bag now, Louis.)

      According to the Gainesville Sun, it took three officers to place Murphy into custody. This is the former Gator’s second arrest in Gainesville, with the first coming in 2006 when he was taken into custody for possession of marijuana.

      According to a Sports Illustrated article, Murphy vowed to turn his life around when his mother was diagnosed with cancer a second time in 2007. She died in on Valentine’s Day 2008. He grieved in the butterfly garden at UF’s Museum of Natural History when he worked there as an intern for part of his sports event management degree. He was also captain of UF’s football team that year, scoring a touchdown from a Tim Tebow pass in the BCS championship game.

      Murphy volunteers in his off hours. Last year, he spoke with inmates at the Pinellas County Jail annex in Clearwater, telling them that everyone deserves a second chance.

      Being arrested for possession of Viagra without a valid prescription is more embarrassing than an indication that Murphy is a bad egg. But there’s a lesson to be learned here: When a police officer pulls you over for cranking your tunes too loudly, just comply and apologize. Even if “It’ll never happen again, officer” is a flat out lie, tell them what they want to hear and get on with the rest of your day.

      Maybe then you won’t make the papers for being arrested for something as stupid as not having a prescription for Viagra, and your girlfriend won’t find out that the wood you’ve been sporting is performance-enhanced.

      External Sports, NFL

      Joe Flacco upset Ravens haven’t begun long-term contract talks

      April 3, 2011 /
      Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco (5) tries to avoid Cleveland Browns Joe Haden (26) during in the fourth quarter of their NFL football game in Cleveland, Ohio December 26, 2010. REUTERS/Aaron Josefczyk (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT FOOTBALL)

      Joe Flacco expressed some disappointed on Saturday that the Ravens aren’t planning to begin long-term contract talks with him until after the 2011 season. He told the Baltimore Sun that he would like talks to start this year.

      “I think I’ve established myself,” Flacco said at Haruki Nakamura’s Japan relief charity event at Ripken Stadium Saturday. “If you’re not confident with who I am, I’m not sure what a year is going to make.”

      Flacco added, “Ideally for me, I would like to start talks this year. Next year, I feel like they would have to throw something in front of me that’s going to be pretty legit in order for me to not play out my fifth year. If you don’t sign me this year, you’re making me play a whole year of my contract with no security. If you want to sign me after next year, what’s playing six more months.”

      “Ideally for me, I would like to do something as soon as possible because I feel like I deserve it,” Flacco said. “If you don’t feel like I’m going to be your quarterback for the next 10 years, what’s one year going to make. I don’t know what the deal is. We’ll have to let this play out and see.”

      “Personally and for what I’ve done, you would think they would feel comfortable with me,” he said. “Not that signing something next year wouldn’t say we feel comfortable with you. But the problem with that is you’ve just made me play another year.”

      “I would feel that after three years, you can make a decision on whether you want me to be your future quarterback or whether you don’t. It’s your decision,” Flacco said. “I wish and hope they would do what they want me to do, which is stay here. Obviously, I want to stay here no matter what. I would want them to do something as early as possible.”

      Flacco does raise some good points although in the Ravens’ defense, there are many teams that wait until a player is heading into the final year of his contract before approaching extension talks. It’s in teams’ best interest to wait as long as possible before heading to the negotiating table, just in case an injury occurs.

      Of course, that doesn’t give Flacco peace of mind. He deserves a new deal and although he needs to show some patience because of the CBA mess, it would behoove the Ravens to make their young quarterback happy. As Flacco noted, if he’s the guy that Baltimore wants under center for the next 7-10 years, then lock him up and show him you’re committed to him financially.

      External Sports, NFL

      Panthers’ GM defends Cam Newton after scathing PFW scouting report

      April 2, 2011 /
      Auburn University quarterback and winner of the Heisman Memorial Trophy, Cam Newton, attends a team practice in Scottsdale, Arizona, January 5, 2011. Auburn University will play the University of Oregon in the 2011 NCAA BCS National Championship football game in Glendale, Arizona. REUTERS/Joshua Lott (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT FOOTBALL PROFILE)

      While appearing on CBS Radio in Charlotte on Friday, Carolina GM Marty Hurney defended future Panther Cam Newton against Pro Football Weekly draft analyst Nolan Nawrocki, who had not-so-nice things to say about the 2010 Heisman winner in his annual scouting report.

      “I don’t pay much attention,” said Hurney. “(Nolan Nawrocki) has never met Cam Newton. So who’s he talked to? He says he’s talking to decision makers. We have the No. 1 pick. He hasn’t talked to me.”

      That’s a fair point by Hurney, although in Nawrocki’s defense he probably can’t get access to the Panthers’ GM either. Hurney did note that Nawrocki did his job, which is “selling books.”

      I was half-kidding about the “future Panther Cam Newton” remark, but it is interesting to see Hurney defend a player that many people will be the Panthers pick at No. 1. Not that that means they will draft him, but I only imagine that the Newton-to-Carolina sentiment will grow following Hurney’s comments. (Even if he was just answering a question honestly and wasn’t intending to give a hint as to whom he’ll take with the first pick at the end of the month.)

      External Sports, NFL, NFL Draft

      Report: Bowers “really struggled” at Pro Day

      April 1, 2011 /

      We knew that Da’Quan Bowers’ Pro Day on Friday was important after several reports have come out this month indicating that teams are worried about his knee. Unfortunately for Bowers, it doesn’t appear as though he put those concerns to rest.

      According to Pro Football Weekly, Bowers “really struggled” at his workout on Friday.

      He clearly looked fatigued, and left evaluators strongly questioning whether he will be ready in his first season. One evaluator in attendance estimated that Bowers’ knee appeared to be 70 percent healthy, at best.

      “If he falls to us, we would have to discuss it,” said one evaluator, whose team holds a pick in the back half of the first round, “and I’m not sure we would pull the trigger. We’ll listen to our doctors. He had a real difficult time bending. I question whether he will be ready.”

      Another evaluator added: “He’s not ready. He was hobbling around out there. The shuttles were bad. There’s no way to sugarcoat it. He cost himself millions of dollars.”

      Ouch. Once regarded as a top-5 pick, it appears as though he’ll fall considerably at the end of the month. There’s always a chance that teams are sending out negative vibes about him in hopes that he’ll fall, but there hasn’t been one positive report about his knee since he had it scoped following the 2010 season.

      Making matters worse for Bowers is that this year’s defensive end class is deep. North Carolina’s Robert Quinn, Missouri’s Aldon Smith, Cal’s Cameron Jordan, Iowa’s Adrian Clayborn, Ohio State’s Cameron Heyward, Wisconsin’s J.J. Watt, Georgia’s Justin Houston (considered to be a “tweener”) and Purdue’s Ryan Kerrigan are all regarded as first round picks. It would be easy for a defensive end-needy team to simply move Bowers down and one of those prospects up, causing Bowers to fall. Of course, depending on how far he drops, he could also be considered a major bargain. (Assuming his knee does eventually heal, of course.)

      We’ll see. There’s still a month before the draft and that means a month of recovery more of recovery for Bowers. This news is certainly disappointing but who knows what teams are thinking at this point? His draft fate will be decided soon enough.

      External Sports, NFL, NFL Draft

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