{"id":336405,"date":"2011-03-24T21:32:16","date_gmt":"2011-03-24T21:32:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/03\/24\/nfl-players-conclude-annual-meetings-ap\/"},"modified":"2011-03-24T21:32:16","modified_gmt":"2011-03-24T21:32:16","slug":"nfl-players-conclude-annual-meetings-ap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/24\/nfl-players-conclude-annual-meetings-ap\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL players conclude annual meetings (AP)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

MARCO ISLAND, Fla. (AP)\u2014NFL players concluded their annual meetings
\nThursday while receiving words of support from former players.<\/p>\n

The NFL Players Association dissolved as a union hours before being locked
\nout by the league March 11. Now it looks toward April 6, when a lawsuit filed by
\n10 players requesting an injunction to end the lockout will be heard in U.S.
\nDistrict Court in St. Paul, Minn.<\/p>\n

Nolan Harrison, the director of former player services for the NFLPA, says
\n215 former players spoke with members of the organization\u2019s executive board,
\nexecutive director DeMaurice Smith and current players during the last few days.<\/p>\n

\u201cLetting our guys know what the course is from here and where we are as an
\nassociation, that\u2019s one of the main things this was about,\u201d Harrison said,
\nadding the former players have been briefed on the lawsuit.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of us realize we are teammates, from the guys who play today to the
\nguys who wore leather helmets. Every generation was represented, from guys my
\ndad watched play to my former teammates to guys who were in preschool when I
\nplayed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith met with leaders of the former players, held a question-and-answer
\nsession with all the veterans and gave a speech encouraging unity, Harrison
\nsaid.<\/p>\n

More than 100 current players attended nine days of meetings. Harrison
\nencouraged them to speak with former players who were involved in the 1987
\nstrike to \u201cget firsthand knowledge of what it\u2019s like and what will happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

No negotiations are scheduled, although earlier this week Smith did invite
\nNFL lawyers to discuss a settlement of the lawsuit, a request the league turned
\ndown. The two sides last met March 11 at a federal mediator\u2019s office in
\nWashington. Talks collapsed and the union decertified. Tom Brady<\/a>(notes)<\/a>,<\/span> Peyton
\nManning<\/a>(notes)<\/a>,<\/span> Drew Brees<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> and seven others put their names on the lawsuit, then the
\nNFL enacted the lockout.<\/p>\n

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell urged a renewal of negotiations several times
\nduring the owners\u2019 meetings this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe faster we can get back to mediation, the faster we will get an
\nagreement,\u201d Goodell said. \u201cWe made a lot of progress in mediation. The 17 days
\nwe were there forced us all to consider our positions, find the common ground,
\nnegotiate and come up with solutions for the issues that we\u2019ve all addressed
\nthat are important to the game, important to the players and important to the
\nclubs. I\u2019m hopeful that we\u2019ll get back there and resume them.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Harrison noted the optimism by the players\u2014current and former\u2014about
\nprospects for victory in court.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe put together an agreement between the leadership here that supports all
\nthe NFLPA is trying to accomplish in the class action,\u201d he said. \u201cThere was
\nunanimous support for the class-action suit.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Continue reading here:
\nNFL players conclude annual meetings (AP)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MARCO ISLAND, Fla. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-336405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nNFL players conclude annual meetings (AP) - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/24\/nfl-players-conclude-annual-meetings-ap\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"NFL players conclude annual meetings (AP) - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"MARCO ISLAND, Fla.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/5916fe14woah.jpg.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/24\/nfl-players-conclude-annual-meetings-ap\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/24\/nfl-players-conclude-annual-meetings-ap\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"NFL players conclude annual meetings (AP)\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-03-24T21:32:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/24\/nfl-players-conclude-annual-meetings-ap\/\"},\"wordCount\":476,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/24\/nfl-players-conclude-annual-meetings-ap\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/5916fe14woah.jpg.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/24\/nfl-players-conclude-annual-meetings-ap\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/24\/nfl-players-conclude-annual-meetings-ap\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/24\/nfl-players-conclude-annual-meetings-ap\/\",\"name\":\"NFL players conclude annual meetings (AP) - 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