The legal teams and staffs for NFL owners and players met for 7½ hours Tuesday in Manhattan, with the pace quickening and deadlines approaching as the lockout nears its fifth month. Among the headliners were NFL Players Association outside counsel Jeffrey Kessler and general counsel Richard Berthelsen, and NFL outside counsel Bob Batterman and senior vice president of law and labor policy Adolpho Birch. The parties filtered in before 10 a.m. ET and left in the 5 p.m. hour, with league officials staying behind and working into the early evening to prep for Wednesday’s meeting, which will take on a similar format to Tuesday’s session. The idea is clear away some of the underbrush, taking
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Pressure mounts as legal teams return to labor negotiations
Marty Mornhinweg spent three seasons as the offensive coordinator of the 49ers, with Steve Young running his offense. Now Mornhinweg has the same title in Philadelphia, with Michael Vick running his offense. Young is a Hall of Famer and one of the NFL’s all-time great quarterbacks, but Mornhinweg thinks Vick can be better. “I thought he could be a Steve Young-type player,” Mornhinweg told Philly.com. “Mike’s got a long way to go, but, you know what? I think he can be better than Steve.”
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Marty Mornhinweg: Michael Vick can be better than Steve Young
Negotiations toward a labor deal that would end the N.F.L. lockout were confronted with a new hurdle Monday when the group of retired players involved in the antitrust lawsuit against the league — angered because they say their interests and representatives are being shut out by both sides in the talks — filed a separate complaint against players and owners. The class-action complaint was filed in Federal District Court in Minneapolis against the teams, the league, the players named in the Brady v. N.F.L. lawsuit and DeMaurice Smith, the head of the N.F.L. Players Association. It asserted that the sides were violating antitrust laws by negotiating settlement terms that improperly
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Retired players file complaint, complicating the N.F.L. talks
At one point Thursday, the condition of the NFL labor talks — or at least the perception of them — had frayed to the point where word was the dispute could be “going back to the courts.” Then some dirty work by U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan led to a late-night negotiation session that went until 1 a.m. CT. Boylan wanted the owners and players to stay even later, but they convinced him they were too tired and met Friday morning instead, and the talks were saved. So, what can we learn from all of that entering this week’s talks in New York? First, there clearly is a deal to be done between these parties, because if there wasn’t, then reasons to continue talking after five weeks would
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Nearing preseason puts pressure on parties to seal labor deal
While the ink was drying on his new Nike contract last Friday, Eagles QB Michael Vick was speaking at a youth football camp run by former Falcons teammate Keion Carpenter in Baltimore. “I probably should have known better,” Vick told kids at Woodlawn High School of his involvement with dogfighting, which led to his incarceration in federal prison for nearly two years. “I put my family in a bad situation, I put myself in a bad situation, and I had to deal with it.”
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Eagles’ Michael Vick speaks at youth football camp in Baltimore
Connection or coincidence? While perusing Twitter on this Fourth of July, we came across a blog post (thanks Eagles Insider) from Iggles Blitz, which could shed some light on the Birds’ new defensive scheme. One of the criticisms of Sean McDermott’s defense was its complexity. His replacement, Juan Castillo, is expected to simplify the scheme. “We’re here to teach,” head coach Andy Reid said in February after promoting Castillo. “We’re here to take complex things and make it simple so guys can play fast. You won’t find a better teacher than Juan.” Or maybe Juan’s son. Castillo’s son Greg is a cornerback for the Iowa Hawkeyes, whose defense has been coordinated by Norm Parker since 1999.
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Will Birds’ defense resemble Iowa’s?
The NFL and NFL Players Association aren’t taking the weekend off, according to league spokesman Greg Aiello. According to Aiello, talks are ongoing even though they aren’t face to face over the weekend before negotiations resume Tuesday in New York.
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NFL, decertified union keep working over the weekend
Michael Vick got to write his comeback story on the field. Now, he has seen his image come full circle off of it. CNBC has learned that, in a remarkable move, Nike, which severed Vick’s contract in 2007 after he admitted to his involvement in a dogfighting ring, has re-signed the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback. “Michael acknowledges his past mistakes,” said Nike spokesman Derek Kent. “We do not condone those actions, but we support the positive changes he has made to better himself off the field.” Vick’s longtime agent Joel Segal told CNBC that “Michael is excited to have a long-term and strong relationship with Nike.” The deal was done by Chicago-based attorney Andrew Stroth. Nike [NKE
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Nike Re-Signs Michael Vick
The most contentious and bitter feud during this ongoing NFL lockout? Owners vs. players? Commissioner Roger Goodell vs. NFL Players Association head DeMaurice Smith? Not even close. The Giants vs. Eagles running back LeSean McCoy wins — and it’s no contest. Consider the long-range verbal and Internet warfare a prime and silly example of what happens when football players have too much time on their hands, too many social media platforms at their fingertips, and too much pent-up aggression in need of release. Now Giants defensive end Justin Tuck has joined the fray, all-but calling McCoy a coward. After Osi Umenyiora’s claim in a sworn affidavit became public that he felt Giants general
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Giants’ Tuck calls Eagles RB coward
The Eagles are popularly linked to Nnamdi Asomugha in free agency speculation, but they may be eyeballing an in-state cornerback option instead. Citing multiple sources, Adam Caplan of FOXSports.com reports that the Eagles “will show strong interest” in free agent Ike Taylor when the lockout ends. Taylor, of course, has spent the first eight years of his career with Pittsburgh. Caplan also hints that Philadelphia is considering playing more zone coverage under first-year defensive coordinator Juan Castillo in order to complement changes up front. Along the defensive line, new position coach Jim Washburn is implementing a “wide-nine” philosophy in which both ends line up well outside of the
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Report: Eagles will show "strong interest" in Ike Taylor
Legal teams for the NFL and players have met for three days at a Minneapolis-area law firm under the auspices of U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan, marking the first time that owners and players haven’t been involved in the clandestine talks. But owners and players will return to the proceedings Thursday. A number of owners and players arrived Wednesday in the Twin Cities to prepare for scheduled talks that will include NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith and the legal teams. The parties are scheduled to meet only on Thursday for now, but they’re prepared to continue into Friday if it’s deemed necessary to help the league-imposed
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NFL owners, players will rejoin Goodell, Smith in labor talks
It’s not exactly the Hatfields making peace with the McCoys, but in the contentious world of National Football League labor negotiations, what’s happening right now is a pretty significant step. DeMaurice Smith, the National Football League Players Association executive director, asked NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to speak at the NFLPA rookie symposium, and Goodell agreed. The commissioner’s appearance is scheduled for Wednesday morning at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Sarasota, Fla. The symposium, titled The Business of Football: Rookie Edition, is being held at the IMG Academy in nearby Bradenton, Fla. Goodell and Smith, in Minneapolis on Tuesday for the first of four days of labor
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Goodell agrees to speak at NFLPA’s rookie symposium on Wednesday
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