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
If Kevin Kolb is traded before the NFL season begins (whenever that may be), the Eagles will be in need of another backup alongside Mike Kafka. And if Andy Reid and co. want to make another splash like they did with Michael Vick, NFL.com senior analyst Pat Kirwan suggested they sign a player similar to Vick: former Titans first-round pick Vince Young.
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Could Vince Young be the Birds’ backup?
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
As the NFL owners and players continue to negotiate in hopes of solving the labor impasse, the lawyer for a group of retired players has fired a shot across the bow at management and the union. Attorney Michael Hausfeld, who is representing Carl Eller and a cluster of other players who have sued to gain control of health, disability and retirement benefits, said that his group will not sign off on a court settlement until its demands are satisfied. More troubling is that Hausfeld said his side has not been involved in the mediation of the lawsuit. “If our side is not heard and our desire for change is not met, we will not agree to a settlement of this case,” said Hausfeld, whose suit on
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Retired players group threatens settlement 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
Very often in the NFL, there is a debate in the war room right up until the minute the ultimate decision is made on a draft pick, particularly in the first round. That was not the case in April for the Eagles, who failed to do as expected by both staying at their original position (No. 23) in the first round and then pulling the trigger on 26-year-old but relatively inexperienced Baylor tackle Danny Watkins, a Canadian native who only began playing the sport four years earlier. Head coach Andy Reid, offensive line coach Howard Mudd and general manager Howie Roseman all were on the same page from the moment they were on the clock. More incredible is their plan to make him a guard, a
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Eagles put first-round pick Watkins on fast track
It’s the fall of 1987. NFL players are on strike and Houston Oilers coach Jerry Glanville is sitting in a room with officers from the Houston Police Department. They’re about to watch a surveillance video of two alleged Oilers leaving the picket line to smash the windows out on a bus that brought Houston’s replacement players to their first practice. “The police say to me, ‘Coach, if you can identify these guys, we’ll arrest them and they’ll be in jail within two hours,”‘ Glanville said last month. “I said, ‘OK, boys, let’s do this.’ So we look at the video and I’ll be damned. It’s my two starting safeties.” Uh-oh. “The police say, ‘Coach, can you identify these two men?”‘ Glanville said.
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NFL strike of 1987 was full of drama and hilarity
Another new face showed up at the Eagles’ lockout workout Monday. No, not Donovan McNabb. Keenan Clayton, the Eagles’ second-year linebacker, worked out with several teammates for the first time this season at the Memorial Sports Complex, doing drills under the supervision of the Power Train staff. He joined fellow second-year linebacker Jamar Chaney, offensive tackle Austin Howard, defensive tackle Trevor Laws, running back Eldra Buckley and professional hockey player T.J. Brennan, a Buffalo Sabres draft pick. After the hourlong session on a muggy morning, Clayton discussed the benefit of working alongside Chaney, a staple of the lockout workouts, and made what sounded like a prediction
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Clayton brings big ideas to Eagles’ workout
Players involved in labor negotiations with the NFL traveled to Minnesota on Monday, but not just to meet with their legal team. They are there for a fifth round of “secret talks” with the league, a source with knowledge of the situation said. Minnesota is home to Arthur Boylan, the U.S. magistrate judge assigned to run court-ordered mediation and who has been present for the previous talks. Also constants in the room have been NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith, Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson, New York Giants owner John Mara, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, New York Jets fullback Tony Richardson, Baltimore Ravens
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Minnesota welcomes league, players for labor negotiations
If incoming draft picks can wait before signing their NFL contracts, they can do the same before making a large financial expenditures once the player lockout is lifted. That’s the message the NFL Players Association will send to its newest members Tuesday during a rookie symposium in Bradenton, Fla. A 90-minute seminar on financial management will stress that players be especially prudent in their early spending — something that wasn’t the case with some members of previous rookie classes. Karl McDonnell, the chief operating officer of Strayer University, said rookies will be told to “take a year off from making any big financial decisions.” “These players have a tendency to get
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Rookies urged not to make big purchase
The NFL and players groups have agreed to meetings during the next four days in Minnesota — with a twist. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and his staff and NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith and his staff will meet without players or owners there. This will be the fifth round of “secret talks” between the players and the league. Minnesota is home to Arthur Boylan, the U.S. magistrate judge assigned to run court-ordered mediation and who has been present for the previous talks. Constants in the room during past talks have been Goodell, Smith, Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson, New York Giants owner John Mara, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, New York
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Goodell, Smith and staffs will meet without players, owners
Joe Gibbs had witnessed the jarring scene too many times. “A player would be upset with his contract, (and) we’d be in serious discussions,” says the Hall of Famer who guided the Washington Redskins to all three of their Super Bowl titles during his 16-year head coaching career while recalling moments that typically unfolded in his office. “And during the conversation, it dawns on you, ‘Are you in financial trouble?’ That happens over and over again. “It played out a lot.” Even in retirement — Gibbs stepped down from his second stint with the Redskins after the 2007 season — he remained bothered that so many players were flirting with fiscal ruin. So he reached out to Redskins owner Daniel
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Joe Gibbs behind NFL rookie financial seminar this week
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