Concessions for Brady suit plaintiffs not an issue in labor talks

WASHINGTON -- Things still are standing in the way of NFL labor peace. The issue of placating the named plaintiffs in the Brady antitrust lawsuit no longer is one, for now.

Requests for concessions for numerous players -- including but not limited to San Diego Chargers wide receiver Vincent Jackson and New England Patriots guard Logan Mankins -- remained earlier in the week. But Jackson and Mankins appear to have dropped their demands, leaving less standing in the way of a new collective bargaining agreement that would end the four-month-old NFL lockout.

A source involved said Saturday that some of the unresolved issues involve injury protection, workers' compensation, opt-out rights for players and the process for finalizing benefits, discipline and drug-testing agreements, which can't be made binding until after the NFL Players Association recertifies as a union.

A league source told NFL Network insider Michael Lombardi that league owners are expected to have a conference call Saturday to discuss the outstanding issues.

Wyche: Four areas of agreement

NFLPA lawyers and officials are digesting the league's proposal for a new CBA this weekend, and NFL Network insider Jason La Canfora reported Friday that no vote on ratification was imminent. Some player reps have advised their teammates that it could take several days for the NFLPA to agree to terms with the league and begin the union recertification process. Of course, that could change if major gains are made in negotiations.

The major economic framework for a 10-year deal was worked out a week ago. That included how the $9 billion-plus in annual league revenues will be divided (about 53 percent to owners and 47 percent to players over the next decade; the old CBA resulted in nearly a 50-50 split); a per-club cap of about $120 million for salary and bonuses in 2011 -- and at least that in 2012 and 2013 -- plus about $22 million in benefits; a salary system to rein in spending on first-round draft picks; and unrestricted free agency for most players after four seasons.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and league owners expressed hope Thursday night that their 31-0 vote -- the Oakland Raiders abstained -- to approve the proposed CBA would lead to a speedy resolution to the NFL's first work stoppage since 1987. They called it an equitable deal that improves player safety and allows the sport to prosper even more.

"It is time to get back to football," Goodell said.

But even when players decide they're OK with a final agreement, their approval process is more complicated than the owners' was. The 32 player reps will have to recommend accepting the settlement. Then the 10 named plaintiffs -- including Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees -- in the players' suit against the league must officially inform the court of their approval.

Eventually, all 1,900 players would take a majority vote to approve returning the NFLPA to union status. When talks broke down in March, allowing the old collective bargaining agreement to expire, the players dissolved the union, turning the NFLPA into a trade association. That's what allowed the players to sue the owners in federal court under antitrust law.

The issue of how and when the NFLPA would reform as a union remains paramount. There is a difference between the players and owners as to how that process would occur. NFLPA lawyers and brass believe there are "major problems with the process of reforming the union and settling the lawsuits," as spelled out in the proposal presented by the owners, one source told La Canfora.

Complicating matters is the fact some players have been referred to an illegitimate website that is posing as a vehicle to help players vote to reconstitute a union. The NFLPA sent a letter to all players and agents Friday advising them to ignore the site and that it isn't affiliated with the organization or the NFL.

NFL Network insiders Jason La Canfora and Michael Lombardi and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Retired players ask court to involve them more in labor talks

MINNEAPOLIS -- While NFL owners and players appear to be inching toward a resolution of the league's lengthy lockout, a group of retired players is clamoring to be more involved in the discussions.

The group filed a class-action complaint against the owners and current players in federal court Monday, saying they have been excluded from the mediation sessions taking place in an attempt to end the lockout.

With the scheduled opening of training camps and preseason games fast approaching, Albert Breer writes that owners and players feel pressure to strike a labor deal. More...

Named plaintiffs including Hall of Famers Carl Eller, Franco Harris, Marcus Allen and Paul Krause are asking U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson to put a halt to the mediation she ordered and declare that the current players cannot negotiate on behalf of those who are retired.

Owners and current players have met five times over the last few weeks as they work to put together a new collective bargaining agreement in time to avoid the loss of training camps and games. They met with U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur J. Boylan in Minneapolis last week, including for more than 15 hours Thursday, and will resume meetings Tuesday in New York.

The retired players say that NFL owners; the NFL Players Association and a group of current players, including star quarterbacks Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees, are "conspiring to depress the amounts of pension and disability benefits to be paid to former NFL players in order to maximize the salaries and benefits to current NFL players."

The NFL declined comment on the complaint, which was first reported by The New York Times. The Associated Press left a message for an NFLPA spokesman seeking comment.

The complaint gets to the heart of an issue that has been building for quite some time. Retired players have felt marginalized in the dispute over how to divide more than $9 billion in revenue.

After the owners locked out the players in March, the NFLPA disbanded, and a group of them sued the league for antitrust violations. A small group of retired players, including Eller, Obafemi Ayanbadejo and Ryan Collins, filed their own lawsuit against the league seeking more help for medical treatments of former players and better pensions.

Nelson combined the two lawsuits, and several representatives of the retired players, including Eller and attorney Michael Hausfeld, were present at early mediation sessions in Minneapolis. But as talks have heated up and the venue has shifted from the Twin Cities to Maryland, Massachussetts, Illinois and back to Minneapolis again over the last month or so, the retired players haven't been present.

This hasn't sat well with them, and lawyers for the group have sent letters to Boylan, lobbied NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and held intense media briefings to make their feelings known.

The complaint said the players' decision to decertify their union makes it an antitrust violation for the owners and current players to negotiate for retired players.

It also alleges that the NFL had said it would tap revenue streams both from within and outside the salary cap to help retired players, but union representatives, including executive director DeMaurice Smith, want all the money delegated for the cap to be given to current players.

"Through the settlement they are forging, the Brady plaintiffs, the NFLPA and the NFL defendants are conspiring to set retiree benefits and pension levels at artificially low levels," the complaint alleged.

If Nelson rejects the motion for an injunction on the mediation, the retired players are asking for treble damages.

It wasn't immediately clear what kind of impact the filing would have on the continuing talks between the owners and current players. They were scheduled to resume Tuesday, with the open of training camp less than three weeks away and the preseason opener between the Chicago Bears and St. Louis Rams slated for Aug. 7 in Canton, Ohio.

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press

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Nearing preseason puts pressure on parties to seal labor deal

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.

Bears kicker hopeful of new CBA Bears player representative Robbie Gould believes a labor deal will be reached between owners and players, saying, "We're not going to miss the season." More ...

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 have dwindled. Second, that hardly means that deal will be done in time to beat the clock on saving the preseason, which means the parties remain in a very precarious spot with plenty of work left to be done.

The negotiations continued Tuesday morning in Manhattan. Legal teams and staff from each party are meeting Tuesday and Wednesday. They will be joined by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith, Boylan, owners and players Thursday and Friday.

And it appears that now, finally, the parties locked in a battle that has produced a fourth-month-old lockout are arriving at the 11th hour.

The reason why lies in the money that would be lost with the cancellation of the preseason. The owners project the number to be close to $1 billion. The players say that number is inflated. Either way, no preseason means a significant chunk will be taken out of the revenue pie, which the owners and players have proven unable to divvy up throughout this whole process.

Asked if it's likely that would affect the owners' offer to the players, one management source said: "No, not likely. It's automatic."

Conversely, in a league where the rank and file see their future as tomorrow, not next year, with the risk of injury and lack of guaranteed contracts, it's pretty unlikely that players would be willing to surrender money in 2012 -- when a down 2011 revenue-wise would hit the salary cap -- or even 2013 in exchange for prosperity for others down the road.

The bottom line: If we make it past July 15, and preseason games are taken off the calendar, the long-term deal the owners put on the table will start looking a lot worse in the short term, and the culture of the sport makes it so Smith would have an exponentially harder time selling the deal if it works only later and not now.

So, in that spot, each side would go looking for leverage, and that could mean this battle would, indeed, head back to the courts.

As one league source said, "The deal erodes as revenues erode." What has happened up to this point can be addressed. But the real damage is coming -- and coming fast -- which is why the next two weeks are critical.

The good news is that the parties left last week's talks seemingly ready to return this week in deal-making mode.

Boylan's efforts helped the parties come a lot closer on the revenue split, to the point where it's not nearly the issue it was last Monday or Thursday, and reach a real definition of "all revenue" in the "all revenue" model. Indications are that many of the "fringe" terms -- ideas pushed by one party and found unacceptable by the other (i.e. sneaking cost credits back in by owners, or players asking sales tax be part of "all revenue") -- were coming off the table by the time the parties left Minneapolis on Friday.

But there's still significant work to do, and a recognition that the process needs to speed up, and it needs to speed up now.

There's the issue of funding improvements on retirees' benefits, and pressure from the retirees that they not be sacrificed to help the owners and players strike a deal. There are details and language to work out as well.

There's also the question of who had their hand in the cookie jar over the weekend. The owners are still leery of the players' lawyers, most notably Jeffrey Kessler, and the players believed a "bait and switch" was pulled on them last week, with certain terms coming off the table after one weekend away from talks.

The hope is that the calendar will prevent that from happening again, with the stakes raised as the time before the scheduled opening of training camps dwindles. For those keeping score, the St. Louis Rams and Chicago Bears are supposed to report to camp July 22.

The mutual understanding that this is a very important time should help push along the negotiations. When one party looks at another's proposal with a month left, it's easy to believe there's a better one coming closer to a deadline, or that it might be able squeeze more out of the negotiation.

With time running short, that train of thought becomes less valid.

It all adds up to this being the time. Maybe it's this week. Maybe it's next week.

There will be ups and downs that might be blown a bit out of proportion, as last week's were. But everyone knows that if a deal is going to be done during this phase of negotiations, it has to happen soon.

The alternative would put much more than the preseason in peril.

Follow Albert Breer on Twitter @albertbreer.

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Bears player rep Gould believes labor deal will be reached

With the NFL lockout about to enter its fifth month, Chicago Bears kicker Robbie Gould, the team's player representative, believes there's still hope that training camp will begin on time.

"We're not going to miss the season," Gould told the Chicago Tribune on Saturday after leading the Wrigley Field crowd in singing "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" at the Cubs-White Sox game.

"The players want to get a settlement done, but they're not going to take an unfair settlement," Gould told the newspaper.

"And if we miss a season, that's really unfortunate," he said. "I think at the end of the day, when you get a group of people in the rooms working like they're working to get a deal done, a settlement will be reached and we will be playing football. It's just as to what date we're going to be back and when."

Gould isn't concerned about lower quality of play after the lockout.

"I know guys have been working out really hard, getting ready for the season, to earn their spots, to win a Super Bowl and to make a run," Gould said. "I don't think there's going to be anything (where) quality of play is going to go down."

Bears quarterback Jay Cutler also attended the game with fiancée Kristin Cavallari.

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Bills player rep Wilson 'definitely optimistic' about labor talks

Buffalo Bills safety George Wilson likes what he sees and hears about the players' recent discussions with NFL owners to end the lockout. He also cautions against being swept away by expectations of an imminent settlement.

Leber: Season will start on time

"We're definitely optimistic we're moving in the right direction," Wilson, the Bills' player representative, told The Associated Press on Saturday. "Right now, we feel like we're having meaningful discussions. ... We feel we have the right people in the room, discussing the right things, and both sides want to get a deal done. But even though we're moving in the right direction, we're not there yet."

Wilson said conference calls held in the last two days mark the first time in a while that players have been briefed on a lockout that's in its fourth month.

"That's because there haven't been any developments the last little while," he said.

The players also were told that more updates will come next week, when NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith, several owners and players are scheduled to meet again at an undisclosed location.

"There's definitely going to be talks every week because time is of the essence," Wilson said.

One NFC team executive told NFL Network's Albert Breer on Wednesday night that he believed the sides were "within striking distance" of a deal. However, another AFC team executive said: "There are enough legitimate issues to where it could all fall down still. They're dealing with that stuff."

One such issue is the rookie salary system, which was broached for the first time Thursday since the secret meetings began May 31. The parties have spent much of the last four weeks discussing the biggest issue, which is how to split revenue and account for growth in the players' take.

"The CBA is far from just a percentage of revenue," Wilson said. "There's so much more."

Training camps are scheduled to open in about one month, with two teams -- the Ravens and Jets -- already announcing they will remain at their in-season facilities rather than stage out-of-town camps because of the lockout. The Ravens won't go to Westminster, Md., and the Jets won't go to Cortland, N.Y.

The first preseason game, which pits the Chicago Bears against the St. Louis Rams, is scheduled for Aug. 7 in Canton, Ohio.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Chargers' Rivers shocked labor situation has come to this point

Philip Rivers, the San Diego Chargers' resident Pro Bowl passer and straight shooter, has had enough of the NFL lockout.

In Rivers' mind both the players and owners have everything to lose in the current stalemate, and he believes he echoes the sentiments of a majority of his helmet-wearing brethren.

"I'm about to reach my limit, I'm going stir crazy," Rivers told cbssports.com recently. "I think it's just unfortunate we've come to this. The game is at an all-time high. I'm not talking about revenue. I'm talking about popularity. We're essentially putting all of that at risk. I don't mean just players. I mean owners, everyone. I didn't think we'd ever be here. I'm still shocked we're at this point.

"I grew up loving football as a game and I still do. The business side of it never appealed to me but I can't be a hypocrite. The business side has been beneficial to me, but I always hated this part of it. It's not me. I don’t think it's a lot of players. Most players just want to get back to football."

Rivers has been a fixture this offseason at the Chargers' informal player-run practices, which are a small consolation to the real thing.

"When I see Chargers fans, many of them ask me the same question," Rivers told the website. "They say, 'We're playing football this year, right?' I tell them I really don't know and I'm getting a little worried.

"The bottom line is that I don't know what's going to happen. Players don't know if we're playing this year. As players we want to know but we don't. There's very little of this we can control. So you sit tight, work out and hope for the best. But I think every player in the league feels the way I do. We're all frustrated."

Rivers deals with it by working out, spending time with his family and planning this Saturday's Philip Rivers 5K Walk and Fun Run, which benefits his Rivers of Hope Foundation. The foundation works with foster care and adoption programs in San Diego County.

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Brady happy to rejoin fellow Pats, hopeful of labor resolution

Tom Brady is putting in some football work this week.

After three days of workouts with some of his New England Patriots teammates, the quarterback headlined a charity touch football game at Harvard University.

Brady took a break during halftime of Friday night's game benefiting Best Buddies International, which supports programs for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, to briefly comment on the NFL's labor stalemate and when it will end.

"Nobody knows. Hopefully soon," Brady said. "There's been a lot (of) positive moves from both sides. Everyone is working hard toward a great outcome. And I'm confident that a lot of reasonable people will come to a very reasonable agreement."

Brady's comments were rather polite compared to the arguments made earlier in the day before a three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis.

Brady, who's among the 10 plaintiffs in the antitrust lawsuit filed against the league, said he's looking forward to the 2011 season, even if fans and some players are growing restless during the nearly three-month work stoppage that's threatening it.

Brady said veterans and young players alike have a responsibility to leave the NFL in better conditions than when they entered.

"We all stick together and we realize how important each one of us are to each other," he said. "A lot of guys really care about the game."

More than 40 Patriots players joined Brady for workouts Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at Boston College's Alumni Stadium. Coaches couldn't attend because of the lockout, leaving Brady in charge.

"It's been fun to see a lot of the guys," the quarterback told the Boston Herald. "I think there's a lot of good work."

Brady also said his right foot is fine nearly five months after he had surgery to repair a stress fracture.

"I feel good," he said. "Good enough to run around here and have fun, and I'm excited for football season."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Goodell considers recent labor talks to be 'a positive sign'

FORT BRAGG, N.C. -- NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will spend the weekend preparing for the next set of labor negotiations, energized by this week's secret talks that he believes show both parties are committed to ending their dispute.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell (right) shares a laugh with troops Friday while visiting Fort Bragg in North Carolina. (National Football League)

While the owners and players spent Friday in a St. Louis courtroom arguing over the legality of the league-imposed lockout, Goodell visited with troops at Fort Bragg, a U.S. Army base in North Carolina, with Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera.

At the end of a long day that included trying on -- but not using -- a parachute, Goodell took questions from soldiers before telling reporters there's some reason for optimism following the clandestine talks in suburban Chicago.

"The importance is to have the principles talk," Goodell said. "That's what we were interested in doing, have the owners and players talk to one another. That was accomplished this week. ... That's a positive sign for us."

Goodell was far from specific -- he wouldn't say when the next round of talks would be held or if the owners will prepare another offer -- but he acknowledged both parties showed a willingness to work toward a deal.

Goodell wouldn't say how the league and its players will compromise on the stumbling blocks in the negotiations, mostly notably how to divvy up $9 billion in annual revenue.

"I would just tell you that both sides are committed to continuing the dialogue," Goodell said. "In negotiations, you're making different suggestions, recommendations and proposals from time to time. I think both sides will do that in a responsible fashion."

Goodell agreed that having the lawyers absent and the players and owners directly meet -- Rivera acknowledged that Panthers owner Jerry Richardson was there -- helped get the talks rolling.

"I still believe principle to principle is the best way to really get the kind of dialogue you need so people understand the different perspectives," Goodell said.

Feldman breaks down Friday's events Lawyers representing the league and its players met before a three-judge panel in St. Louis, but what transpired and what does it mean? NFL Network legal analyst Gabe Feldman cuts through the legalese to answer that and other questions. More...

But time is running out. Already, free agency has been delayed, minicamps canceled and optional workouts put on hold. Training camps are scheduled to open next month.

Goodell wasn't spared from the fans' frustrations at Fort Bragg. One soldier accused the owners of being the players' "No. 1 distraction" and asked Goodell, "Where's the passion, the love of game?"

"I understand the frustration and criticism because people want football," Goodell said. "You hear that everywhere you go. I heard that all day today. That's what we're in the business of doing. You have to make sure you're taking the right steps, though, to protect the game for a long-term basis."

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press

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Friday's labor fight: What to expect in 8th Circuit courtroom

ST. LOUIS -- NFL general counsel Jeff Pash said last week that he worried, without negotiation with the players, one court date would just lead to another. The parties restarted mediated talks this week, but Friday's hearing before the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is a critical one because of timing.

Ultimately, the 8th Circuit's ruling will be needed to send talks to the next level, and no matter the result, the losing party's next step would be to push the labor dispute to the point where the 2011 NFL season could be in real peril. As much as the league-imposed lockout and union decertification have been painted as "nuclear options," staying in court past the appeals court's ruling (and the pending TV rights fee ruling from U.S. District Judge David Doty) really would be one.

We enlisted NFL Network legal expert Gabe Feldman, director of Tulane University's Sports Law Program, to help guide us through what to look for in the courtroom.

The NFL has, in effect, turned this 1932 law on its head, taking a statute intended to defend workers and using it to protect an employer, in interpreting that the act says an injunction lifting a lockout can't be granted in a situation "growing out of a labor dispute."

U.S. District Judge Susan Nelson disagreed with the NFL's interpretation. The 8th Circuit, in its stay ruling, sided with the league. So the players will have to get one of the two George W. Bush-appointed judges (the Clinton appointee, Kermit Bye, already dissented) to change his mind and uphold Nelson's ruling to end the lockout.

Feldman's take: "The first thing we have to see is if the panel is going to, as expected, follow the reasoning they laid out in the stay opinion and deny the injunction. You're looking to see if anything that (players attorney Theodore) Olson says may change one of those two judges' minds. The expectation is the court will extend the stay to deny the injunction, so you're looking for clues that someone's mind has changed. ... It's a purely legal issue. It's just the interpretation of a federal statute and how it applies to these circumstances. The world hasn't changed, so the only thing that can change is a judge's interpretation of the statute. That'd be uncommon and is unlikely. An extreme long shot."

The 8th Circuit judges didn't tip their hands on the other two foundation pieces of the NFL's case -- the non-statutory labor exemption and primary jurisdiction -- in the stay ruling. The former moves for dismissal of the larger Brady et al antitrust lawsuit. The latter asserts that the National Labor Relations Board must rule on the NFL Players Association's March 11 decertification first, and a favorable ruling for the league there also would end the antitrust suit.

The players likely will try to focus on Norris-LaGuardia. Chances are, the NFL will focus on the non-statutory labor exemption and primary jurisdiction to try to shoot down the antitrust case. If the 8th Circuit again leaves these issues alone, it could level the playing field for the players in the face of a potentially negative ruling on Norris-LaGuardia.

Feldman's take: "The panel didn't mention these things at all in the stay ruling, so we really have no idea how the panel will rule on them in the appeal, if they rule at all. We may get a similar ruling -- only addressing Norris-LaGuardia, and nothing else. Or the panel could go further and put language in the opinion saying the non-statutory exemption applies, or that the decertification is a sham, or that these issues have to be assessed by the NLRB. Any of these outcomes would mean the players' antitrust case couldn't go forward, which would be crippling for the players. It eliminates all their leverage."

Each side is permitted 30 minutes to argue -- and that's including rebuttals. So time will be at a premium.

The good news is that each party's position is clearly stated, as is the position of the judges, so it should lead to an efficient hearing that dives right into the issues.

Feldman's take: "This is a little unique, given that the panel has already ruled on the Norris-LaGuardia issue. I think the argument will be quickly focused, and not much time will be spent on background. They'll get right to the issues. The players have an uphill climb. It's not unlike being down 30 at the half and needing a remarkable comeback to have a chance. The players realize they have to convince one of the two judges to change his mind. What I'm looking for is whether Olson is able to make progress in convincing the judges on Norris-LaGuardia, and how much time the judges spend on the other legal issues."

On April 6, Nelson spent time telegraphing her decision, in what could be construed as an effort to show where leverage would go and persuade the sides not to waste time waiting for a ruling. The 8th Circuit judges could do the same, particularly with time growing shorter before regular-season games are put in jeopardy.

Will the three-judge panel show its hand? It could be what's best for both parties. Really, this hearing is about the aforementioned leverage points, and the fact they aren't yet defined is what's holding back talks. It'll be interesting to see if this notoriously business-minded court tries to help in that regard.

Feldman's take: "I think it's possible that they do that, but they also could do that by issuing a quick ruling and opinion, so it will be key to see if they give any indication as to when they will rule. But we'll probably not get the finality that the parties want until we get the opinion, which will define where the leverage points are. And I don't think negotiations will kick start until we get that opinion. Since it's a panel of three judges, they're going to want to discuss the ruling amongst themselves, and that complicates it a bit."

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Citing job security, coaches side with players in labor dispute

INDIANAPOLIS -- The NFL Coaches Association filed an amicus brief with the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday, supporting the players' cause as the league appeals an injunction granted to lift the lockout.

The NFLCA's contention, as stated in the brief, is that the NFL "is attempting an end-run around a unanimous Supreme Court," saying that the court clearly stated the league is subject to the Sherman Act in the American Needle case last year and held it responsible for subsequent antitrust violations.

"To me, this is a real simple deal: Coaches are opposed to the lockout because it's negatively affecting coaches," said Larry Kennan, director of the NFL Coaches Association. "If it were a strike, we would be against the strike, like we were in '87. This just happens to be the owners, and we're opposed to them, because they're locking out. But if it was a strike, we'd be against the players."

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More ...

The brief does not have the names of any current coaches attached to it.

"It's not something you need names to do," Kennan said. "We are by definition a friend of the court, we're telling the court we're doing this because we'd like the strike to end. It was never a requirement to put names on it."

Kennan confirmed that the association filed an AMICUS on American Needle. He also said that his belief is 10 to 12 teams have cut salary/benefits of coaches already.

The trade association representing the coaches went on to say that its members are suffering irreparable harm as part the lockout, now in its third month.

The brief reads: "Coaches who cannot produce immediate results suffer irreparable harm. They must uproot their families to seek employment elsewhere, and they have difficulty overcoming the perception of failure. The hours and effort demanded of assistant coaches are justified only by the prospect of lucrative and stable employment that follows proven success. Failure at an early stage of one's career, however, can falter career aspirations for many subsequent years."

In particular, the brief cited the NFL's eight new head coaches -- two of whom were promoted from positions as interim coaches -- as being in a particularly precarious situation.

Of those eight, only John Fox has previously been an NFL head coach, something that was also raised in the brief.

"To me, it's simple: The league mandated new coaches get an extra minicamp, because they realize they need extra time to get everything taught," Kennan said. "This is not the NFL of 20 years ago, where coaches have five years to get the program up and running. They have two or three years max, and then they're fired."

Kennan acknowledges there will be some "mixed emotions" among coaches regarding the association's decision.

"Some coaches will get nervous about it, most of them will probably be on teams not having salaries and benefits cut," Kennan said. "And those who are having those things cut will probably be more for us than against us. The reason we formed the coaches association is so we could speak with one voice, and guys didn't have to do that themselves."

The brief reads: "The lockout, if left in force, will prevent the coaches from meaningfully preparing and readying themselves for the season. While all coaches will be exposed to greater risk of failure, the eight teams with new coaching staffs are at particular risk. Since unforgiving expectations for immediate results will persist regardless of any lack of opportunity to prepare, these eight coaching staffs are losing irreplaceable time to prepare for a job that demands success.

"Thus, a lockout that prevents coaches from preparing their players for the season will inflict irreparable harm on all coaches; coaches on the eight new staffs -- especially the new assistant coaches on those staffs -- will suffer even greater harm that will be even more impossible to repair."

The coaches' brief also included charts showing an uptick in coaches fired after two and three years in an effort to show how important a single year with players can be.

From a legal standpoint, the NFLCA used the irreparable harm argument, as well as its stance on the Sherman Act and also the Norris-LaGuardia Act, to seek protection for its members as "nonunion employees."

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello released a statement making it clear the league wasn't caught off guard by the Coaches Association's stance.

"The Coaches Association offices with the Players Association in Washington. So this comes as no surprise."

Kennan made it clear coaches just want to get back on the field.

"We want to get back to coaching; If there's a normalcy to coaching, we'd like that to return."

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NFL tells court only talks can end lingering labor dispute

The NFL filed its reply brief to the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday -- the final piece of business due from either party before the June 3 hearing in St. Louis -- and the league took the opportunity to reiterate its core arguments.

The NFL told the appeals court that U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson lacks the jurisdiction to rule on the lockout-lifting injunction and that the NFL Players Asssociation's decertification needs to go before the National Labor Relations Board first. The league also said Nelson can't issue an injunction to end a lockout that "grows out of a labor dispute," per the Norris-LaGuardia Act, and the non-statutory labor exemption bars the antitrust claims made in the Brady et al lawsuit against the NFL.

Debate: When will NFL's lockout end? Soon? Sometime in July? Will the 2011 season even start on time? Our experts try to provide the answer that fans -- and Commissioner Roger Goodell -- want to know. More ...

The league's conclusion reads: "This Court should vacate the District Court's grant of a preliminary injunction and remand with instructions to dismiss or stay the action."

A dismissal of the entire antitrust suit would deal a devastating blow to the players' side, and the NFL additionally asked that the court make clear a resolution to the situation "lies with the labor laws and not the antitrust courts."

The next round of court-ordered mediation between the parties is scheduled for June 7 in Minneapolis.

However, league sources indicate an appeals court ruling in the NFL's favor wouldn't necessarily discredit the whole of Brady et al. Rather, specific language in such a ruling would dictate any fallout on the larger antitrust suit.

Nelson granted the players the preliminary injunction and chose not to stay that decision in late April, leading to a brief lifting of the lockout. The appeals court first granted a temporary injunction of Nelson's ruling, leading to the lockout being reinstated, then on May 16 granted the NFL a stay-on-appeal, which preserves the league's right to lock out the players until a ruling on the appeal.

Last Friday, just minutes before the midnight deadline, lawyers for the players filed their response to the league's original appeal. In that document, the players described the NFL as a "cartel" that has skirted antitrust laws and damaged their careers with a work stoppage that has lasted more than two months.

In its Thursday filing, the NFL called that brief a "straw man" attack that made blanket suggestions and ignored important pieces of legislation.

The league combated the players' contention that the previous collective bargaining agreement included a provision that the league couldn't dispute a union decertification. The NFL says it agreed only not to dispute a decertification that came following the expiration of the CBA, and that provision isn't applicable because this one came hours before the labor deal expired March 11.

The primary argument of the NFL on the Norris-LaGuardia Act is that the lockout "involves or grows out of a labor dispute", which under the law would preclude Nelson from issuing the injunction. The league says labor disputes aren't limited to those involving unions and also dismisses volumes of cases that the players provide as precedent against the league's argument because of a lack of specific involvement of Norris-LaGuardia in those.

The NFL's argument on the NLRB's jurisdiction is fairly straight-forward, saying the labor board must rule on the validity of the NFLPA's decertification before any aspect of the Brady et al suit moves forward. The players' argument is that it's unlikely the NLRB would rule against them, on a claim that was filed over three months ago, that the decertification was valid and that deferring to the NLRB would only work to slow the process.

On the non-statutory labor exemption, the NFL claims it shouldn't have been subject to the antitrust case in the first place. The players' argument is that the exemption "lasts only until the collapse of the collective bargaining relationship," which they say happened at the time of decertification.

"No student of the history of this industry -- and no one familiar with the NFLPA leadership's very recent statements of purpose and intent -- believes that the Union is gone, let alone gone forever," attorneys for the NFL wrote.

Much of the brief was spent attempting to dispel precedents the players presented to support their case.

Judge Kermit Bye dissented on the decision to grant the NFL the temporary and the longer stays, and he's the only appointee of a Democratic president (Bill Clinton) on the three-judge panel. Judge Steve Colloton and William Duane Benton were appointed by President George W. Bush.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Labor lawyer sees similarities between NFL, NHL owners

DALLAS -- An outside labor lawyer for the NFL says the league's owners are as unified right now as NHL owners were when that sport lost an entire season to a lockout.

Bob Batterman said Wednesday that the owners of the NFL's 32 teams "know what's wrong with the business today, and know how it needs to be changed."

He said the "only other time" he has seen team owners show such "complete unity" was when he worked for the NHL during its labor problems that led to the 2004-05 season being wiped out.

Batterman spoke after a pre-Super Bowl news conference held by Jeff Pash, the NFL's lead in-house negotiator. Pash emphasized the "considerable significance" of reaching a deal with the players' union by early March, when the current collective bargaining agreement expires.

For more NFL labor news, visit http://NFLLabor.com

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press

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Owners, Goodell want new labor deal with players soon

CHICAGO -- For now, optimism is the NFL owners' approach in negotiations with the players on a new collective-bargaining agreement.

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft said Tuesday that it's a realistic goal to reach a new labor deal before the end of the season. At the conclusion of the NFL Fall League Meeting, Kraft said: "We're moving ahead. I'd like to see this get done before the season ends." Asked if that was a realistic objective, he added "to me it is."

Even as the 32 team owners discussed strategies for negotiations with the NFL Players Association and the possibility of a work stoppage, many of them expressed confidence that the league isn't headed for a lockout. The CBA expires in March, and union officials steadfastly claim they expect to be locked out if a new deal isn't reached.

"It's taken a lot of time and energy to build the league into what it is, and we want to keep it going," Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay said Tuesday. "I don't think it's doomsday, and we're taking it a day at a time. Everybody is engaged, and from my perspective, the key thing is to find a solution. That's where both sides are.

"I know that energy (to reach a deal) will be there."

Added Commissioner Roger Goodell: "Our issue is to get there sooner rather than later, bargaining in good faith and get an agreement with the players that is fair."

NFLPA president Kevin Mawae, who recently retired after a 16-year playing career, also called for an early agreement.

"We should recognize the business we are both in, and for our fans and workers, let's wrap this up by the holidays," Mawae told The Associated Press in an e-mail. "I agree on both time and energy. Since 2006, the players contributed almost $3 billion to stadium construction and improvements, so our investment is at risk, too. The players are the ones losing their health care, and yet it was the owners who opted out of this deal and are threatening a lockout."

Expanding the regular season to 18 games wasn't discussed, except when Irsay joked about it. Colts president Bill Polian recently said that it was a "fait accompli," then was admonished by Goodell.

"There's nothing else to report," Irsay said with a laugh. "My president said some things, and then the commissioner said some things to him, and I said some things."

Goodell reiterated Tuesday that the league wants all of its partners involved in such a decision.

"We're trying to do it the right way, in a comprehensive fashion and understanding all perspectives of this," Goodell said. "We recognize the player-health-safety issues and what we do to prepare our players in the offseason. I think we've been both thoughtful and intelligent. We made a proposal to the players on this.

"Every day you go by without implementing it, that's probably another day it is into the future. We're not as focused on when as much as doing it properly."

Goodell and the NFL Alumni also announced a partnership to benefit retired players that will include the Gay Culverhouse Players' Outreach Program. Efforts will include hiring case workers, establishment of a toll-free hotline and personal contact with retired players and their families through events sponsored by NFL Alumni and the Culverhouse program.

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"There are very comprehensive benefits and services available," Goodell said. "But too often former players and their families don't know what they are or how to gain access to the programs."

Hall of Famer Mike Ditka spoke to the owners about treatment of retired players. Ditka is an active critic of how the league has handled taking care of retired players.

"Ain't no one going broke in football," Ditka said. "Greed is a great sin."

For more NFL labor news, visit http://NFLLabor.com

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press

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