Tag: NFL lockout (Page 9 of 12)

      NFL, NFLPA will discuss the possibility of mediation on Friday

      April 8, 2011 /
      Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys, arrives to continue negotiations between the National Football League (NFL) and the National Football League Players’ Association (NFLPA) in Washington March 11, 2011. The parties were still negotiating a range of sticking points, including how to divide more than $9 billion in annual revenues, but the players’ union insist one issue, the NFL’s proposal to add two more games to the regular season, was off the table. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT FOOTBALL EMPLOYMENT BUSINESS)

      The NFL and NFLPA are scheduled to speak at 10:00AM Friday with Judge Susan Nelson to discuss the possibility of mediation. Rotoworld.com has the details.

      We’re not holding out much hope for immediate progress, but Judge Nelson is at least known for “settling standoffs,” per Judy Battista of the New York Times. The NFLPA stance is that the owners’ offer to resume mediation under George Cohen “makes no sense” as collective bargaining between the two sides is “over.” The players do hold the leverage right now, but they’re also missing out on a chance to hammer out a favorable deal through collective bargaining in lieu of litigation.

      Any progress is good progress at this point. Maybe Judge Nelson can convince both sides that it’s best to go through mediation rather than allow the court process to play out. If not, we’re right back where we were when the players decertified and we could be looking at a lengthy lockout.

      If the lockout does last another couple of months, I wonder if the owners will eventually crack. The players have been preparing for this moment for the past two years and even put a “lockout fund” together just in case. The owners have dug in their heels and have flexed their muscles a couple of times throughout the last couple of months (or tried to in the case of Jerry Jones), but they were also hoping to fund their lockout using TV contracts. Judge David Doty squashed that plan, so I wonder if the owners will eventually crack the longer the lockout resumes. (Or obviously if Judge Nelson rules in favor of the players and ends the lockout in a couple of weeks.)

      We’ll see. (I feel like I’ve said that a lot as it pertains to this CBA mess.)

      External Sports, NFL

      Derrick Mason: Roger Goodell is a “joke”

      April 7, 2011 /
      Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Derrick Mason is seen as the Ravens play the Cincinnati Bengals at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on January 2, 2011. UPI/Kevin Dietsch

      During a recent radio broadcast, Ravens’ receiver Derrick Mason said NFL commissioner Roger Goodell should stop worrying about blood tests and HGH and start worrying about getting a CBA deal done.

      Oh, and Mason also called Goodell a joke.

      Goodell said Monday that the new labor agreement will include rigorous testing for human growth hormone, with the possibility of a blood test as well.

      Referencing Goodell’s comments, Mason said “He needs to stop crying about blood tests and HGH. He needs to try to get a deal done, that’s what he needs to do.

      “To me, he’s a joke, because every time I look, he’s talking about performance enhancements instead of talking about trying to figure out a way to make sure football is played in August.”

      Fair enough, although in Goodell’s defense if he wants to ensure that there will be HGH testing in the next CBA, this is the time to do it. It’s not like he can spend all of his time working on a new CBA deal and then turn around and say, “Ah crap, you know what I forgot? HGH testing. I swear, I’d forget my head if it weren’t bolted onto my neck!”

      I think calling Goodell “a joke” was an irrational comment by Mason. Does he think that Goodell doesn’t want to get a deal done? Does he think that Goodell likes being perceived as one of the villains in this CBA mess? Does he think that Goodell isn’t focused or determined to ensure there’s a season next year? Does he think that Goodell wants to go down as a commissioner who couldn’t figure out a way for the owners and players to share billions of dollars?

      Come on, we’re all fired up about the lockout but let’s relax and think rationally here. Goodell wants a deal done just as bad as anyone so things can go back to normal. Comments like “he’s a joke” are unconstructive.

      External Sports, NFL

      Players open to mediation via court, but are the owners?

      April 7, 2011 /
      James Quinn (L), attorney for NFL players, speaks to the media after attending a federal court hearing regarding labor negotiations between the NFL and the NFL Players Association in St. Paul, April 6, 2011. Attorney Jeffrey Kessler (R) listens. REUTERS/Eric Miller (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT FOOTBALL CRIME LAW BUSINESS)

      It appears as though the players are willing to head back to mediation under federal court, but but it remains to be seen if the owners are prepared to do the same thing.

      A day after Judge Susan Nelson urged both parties to return to mediation as she takes a couple of weeks to decide a ruling on the lockout case, a lawyer representing the players wrote her a letter saying that their side is willing to do just that.

      Two people “familiar with the case” also told the AP that the NFL sent its own letter to lawyers for the players, although the people spoke on condition of anonymity because “they were not authorized to reveal the letter’s contents.” However, one person did tell the AP that the letter proposed that the two sides resume talks with federal mediator George Cohen.

      Once again, it looks like the two sides are prepared to butt heads. The players are willing to go back to mediation, but under federal court. The owners are willing to go back to mediation, but under George Cohen. The two sides can’t seem to agree on anything and we’re no closer to a resolution (or there being football next year) than we were when the players decertified on March 11.

      It’s amazing that when the two sides can finally agree to something (mediation in this case), they disagree on something else and throw up another hurdle to overcome.

      External Sports, NFL

      Judge urges players, NFL to keep talking

      April 6, 2011 /
      Jeffrey Kessler (C) attorney for the NFL Players Association leaves a federal courthouse with Vincent Jackson (left center), receiver for the San Diego Chargers and Mike Vrabel (right center), Kansas City Chief linebacker after hearing arguments regarding labor negotiations between the NFL and the NFL Players Association in St. Paul, April 6, 2011. REUTERS/Eric Miller (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT FOOTBALL CRIME LAW BUSINESS)

      Day 1 of the court battle between the players and NFL is in the books and the biggest takeaway is that Judge Susan Nelson advised both parties to return to mediation as she takes a couple of weeks to decide on a ruling.

      While it would have been nice for Nelson to come to a ruling on Wednesday, that was unlikely to happen. Now she must decide over these next couple of weeks to either side with the players and grant the injunction (which would effectively end the lockout), or side with the owners and either deny the injunction or wait for a ruling that the decertification of the players’ union was an improper bargaining ploy.

      Considering she was likely going to need a couple of weeks to make a ruling anyway, it’s nice to see that Nelson urged the two sides to continuing talking. Of course, the hang-up there is that the owners want the players to recertify before they’re willing to return to the bargaining tables. Thus, it seems rather doubtful that the two sides will talk over these next couple of weeks as they wait for Nelson to make her decision.

      But hey, one could hope right? Maybe both sides will come to their senses and they’ll come to an agreement over these next couple of weeks, making Nelson’s ruling moot. Then the lockout will end, free agency will start, the draft will go on as normal and everything will be right again in NFL land…

      …sorry, I just woke up. Let me check back to see what I just wrote…

      …bawahahahahahahahahaha!

      External Sports, NFL

      Tony Gonzalez contemplating retirement if lockout lasts through season

      April 6, 2011 /
      Atlanta Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez (R) makes a catch in front of Carolina Panthers linebacker Jon Beason in the first half of their NFL football game against the Carolina Panthers in Atlanta, Georgia January 2, 2011. REUTERS/Tami Chappell (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT FOOTBALL)

      Future Hall of Fame tight end Tony Gonzalez told NFL Network’s Rich Eisen that if there were no season in 2011, he doesn’t know if he would return in 2012.

      “That would be devastating because I don’t want to go out like that,” Gonazalez said Tuesday in a sitdown with Rich Eisen on “NFL Total Access.”

      Gonzalez added that he feels great physically, but he doesn’t know how his body would react if it were forced out of football for a year.

      “That would be the only reason I would more than likely not come back,” Gonzalez said. “If we miss the whole season and I have to sit out a year, I just think, at 35, sitting out a whole year of football and waiting for it to come back, I just don’t know if my body could. I just want to be smart about it.”

      Gonzo has lost a step over the years but thanks to his high football I.Q., his veteran savvy and his nutrition and workout habits, he still plays at an elite level. If the lockout forced him to retire (and I don’t blame him for thinking he couldn’t take a full year off and then come back in 2012), it would be a shame because he’s one of the classiest athletes in professional football. He’s what younger players should aspire to be, not only on the field but off it in terms of taking care of their bodies and conducting their business.

      As Gonzalez noted in his interview with Eisen, the Falcons are there. They have a solid core in place and if there’s a season in 2011 they will contend for another division title. Hopefully an agreement can be reached soon and we’ll see Gonzo donning red and black in a couple of months.

      External Sports, NFL

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