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
All Jason Babin ever wanted to be while growing up in Paw Paw was a member of the Navy Seals. He developed asthma at an early age, putting an end to that dream. Now, Babin just wants to know who he will be playing football for this season … if there even is one. Babin, 31, is coming off a Pro Bowl season as a high-energy, 6-foot-3, 260-pound defensive end where he earned a career-high 12.5 sacks for the Tennessee Titans. He replaced Kyle VandenBosch, who moved on to the Lions. Babin finished sixth in the NFL in sacks, second-best among defensive ends, and should be up for a big pay day. He was ranked 85th-best player in the league by his peers. It was his lone season with the Titans, but
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Jason Babin exploring all of his options
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?
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?
Michael Vick is back in Nike’s good graces. “We have re-signed Michael Vick as a Nike athlete,” Megan Saalfeld, a Nike spokeswoman, confirmed to CNN in an e-mail. The Philadelphia Eagles’ quarterback, who lost his lucrative endorsement deals after serving 20 months in a federal prison because of his involvement in a dogfighting ring, was the NFL’s comeback player of the year in 2010. He has been active in speaking out about against dogfighting “Michael acknowledges his past mistakes,” Saalfeld said. “We do not condone those actions, but we support the positive changes he has made to better himself off the field.”
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Eagles quarterback Michael Vick makes a comeback with Nike, too
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
Nike Inc. said it re-signed Michael Vick, whom the world’s largest sporting-goods company dropped as an endorser four years ago after the quarterback admitted to his role in a dog-fighting ring. Neither Nike nor Chicago-based attorney Andrew Stroth, Vick’s marketing agent, would disclose financial terms of the multiyear contract, which was reported earlier by CNBC. “Michael has acknowledged his past mistakes,” Beaverton, Oregon-based Nike said in a statement. “We do not condone those actions, but we support the positive changes he has made to better himself off the field.” Nike will replace Reebok International Ltd. in April 2012 as the National Football League’s official apparel supplier.
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Vick Signs Endorsement Agreement With Nike Four Years After Being Dropped
The night before delivering a joint message to NFL rookies with commissioner Roger Goodell, NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith held an under-the-radar conference call Tuesday to update many of the league’s most prolific stars on the status of labor negotiations, FOXSports.com has learned. Perhaps the most important thing to emerge from the talks so far was this: While saying he was optimistic because the two sides were continuing to negotiate, Smith painted a different picture than that of a collective bargaining agreement being reached as soon as this weekend. Smith began the call by informing players — 50 Pro Bowlers were given call-in information, but the number
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Secret phone call dampens CBA hopes
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
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