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
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
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?
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
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 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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