Alumni leader feels NFLPA's Smith hasn't communicated well

George Martin was in a celebratory mood this weekend as he attended a 25th anniversary celebration of the New York Giants' 1986 Super Bowl championship team. But the former standout defensive end and current director of the NFL Alumni Association had tough words for NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith.

Martin has been vocal in his displeasure with the lack of communication between the players union and the former players that Martin represents.

"When you don't have a conversation with the recognized leader of the NFL alumni, how can you say you have the best interests of retired players at heart when you won't even sit down and talk to their leadership," Martin told The Star-Ledger (Newark, N.J.) in Sunday's edition. "That to me flies in the face of that rationale."

Martin's frustrations stem from a now more than one-and-a-half year fruitless effort to schedule a one-on-one meeting with Smith. Earlier this year, Martin resorted to outside help to facilitate a sitdown, getting three congressmen -- including former NFL quarterback Heath Shuler -- to send a letter to Smith calling for a meeting with the alumni association.

Martin speculated in March that the NFLPA viewed the alumni association as "a pawn of the league," according to the New York Daily News.

“I’ve never been given the opportunity to sit down with him and talk about some of the similarities or some of our objectives,” Martin said. “I really resent the fact that that opportunity hasn’t been presented to me despite his pledge to do so. You have to be a man of your word. You have to have the integrity. I think that calls into question where Mr. DeMaurice Smith resides.”

The NFLAA continues to have a strong relationship with the league, something Martin isn't afraid to admit. Martin told The Star-Ledger the NFLAA has met with Commissioner Roger Goodell at least 20 times.

“When that’s the only open door to you, when that’s the only receptive door to you, you have a tendency to take full advantage of it,” Martin said. “We’ve done that and we are doing that. It seems instead of DeMaurice Smith following suit and saying let’s do likewise, he has criticized those meetings -- which I think is deplorable.”

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St. Charles feels blessed after hosting secret NFL-player talks

St. Charles, Ill., population of 31,834, had a few more people in town last week -- and they caused quite a stir.

NFL owners and players chose the small Chicago suburb as the site for their clandestine labor talks Tuesday through Thursday, and the locals did their best to keep the secret while the parties tried to end the league's nearly three-month lockout.

The parties stayed at Hotel Baker, where the employees were excited about their new guests but honored their request for privacy. Rowena Salas, the hotel's general manager, told the Kane County Chronicle that she couldn't tell her 15-year-old twin sons, Antonio and Emilio, the truth when they asked if NFL owners and players were in town.

"They didn't make us sign anything for confidentiality, but they requested that it be kept confidential," Salas told the newspaper. "We had to adhere to that, and they were pleased with how we kept it so private."

News of the meeting broke Wednesday night, when the Chicago Tribune spotted New England Patriots owner Bob Kraft and a plane belonging to Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones at nearby DuPage Airport. The parties confirmed the talks Thursday as they left town, some of them bound for Friday's hearing before the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis.

Salas said the owners and players kept to themselves -- "they were private, and we didn't have the nerve to ask how things were going," she said -- but on Wednesday night, Jones asked about a place to hear some music. Salas recommended McNally's Pub, where Jones drew a crowd.

"I looked at him, and I kind of recognized him." Shay Clarke, the pub's manager, told the Chronicle. "You just don't believe it."

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who also participated in the talks, said Friday that he was happy the parties could come together without lawyers present. And if the meeting in St. Charles leads to labor peace in the NFL, Salas won't forget the town's part in the whole deal.

"It was exhausting and exciting and something we will always remember," she said. "It'll go down in our books as one of the things that was very memorable at the Hotel Baker."

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