{"id":400060,"date":"2011-04-26T16:08:20","date_gmt":"2011-04-26T16:08:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/04\/26\/nfl-no-football-activities-for-now-ap\/"},"modified":"2011-04-26T16:08:20","modified_gmt":"2011-04-26T16:08:20","slug":"nfl-no-football-activities-for-now-ap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/26\/nfl-no-football-activities-for-now-ap\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL: No ‘football activities’ for now (AP)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

MINNEAPOLIS (AP)\u2014The NFL is a long way from playing football.<\/p>\n

One day after a federal judge ended a 45-day lockout, small groups of players showed up at team facilities Tuesday\u2014let inside but told they would not be allowed to work out. Most left in a matter of minutes on a strange day with more questions than answers and the judge said she will take at least another day to consider whether she should put her order on hold.<\/p>\n

The league issued a statement that called for players to be \u201ctreated with courtesy and respect\u201d if they show up. But the NFL said it needs \u201ca few days to sort this out\u201d before \u201cfootball activities\u201d can take place.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell leaves the federal courthouse in Minneapolis last week.
(AP)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Buffalo cornerback Leodis McKelvin<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> was turned away at the security gate, told to expect a call from his coach for clarity on when he could return.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I said I wasn\u2019t expecting it, I\u2019d be lying to you,\u201d said Bills teammate George Wilson<\/a>(notes)<\/a>.<\/span> \u201cThere\u2019s all kind of ways around and loopholes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Washington Redskins<\/a> wide receiver Anthony Armstrong<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> and linebacker Lorenzo Alexander<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> were met by general manager Bruce Allen and told they could come in but not work out. Both left after a few minutes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a little weird,\u201d Armstrong said. \u201cIt felt like you were sneaking into the club or something like that, and they knew you weren\u2019t supposed to be in there but they hadn\u2019t done anything about it yet. Just a little awkward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alexander said he would call other teammates to let them know there wasn\u2019t much of a point to showing up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do have a workout bonus, and since the lockout is lifted out,\u201d he said. \u201cI wanted to make sure I took full advantage to come up here and work out because I don\u2019t want some technicality to happen later: \u2018You didn\u2019t show up. You didn\u2019t come.\u2019 And then I\u2019m out of my workout bonus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tennessee right guard Jake Scott<\/a>(notes)<\/a>,<\/span> his team\u2019s player representative for the now-dissolved union, spoke to senior executive vice president Steve Underwood and left his team\u2019s headquarters 10 minutes later.<\/p>\n

Scott said he was told no staff was available to meet with players. This for a team with a new head coach, too, in Mike Munchak.<\/p>\n

Miami Dolphins<\/a> cornerback Will Allen<\/a> said he was told he can\u2019t work out on team property.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very chaotic for the teams right now,\u201d Allen\u2019s agent, Drew Rosenhaus said. \u201cIt\u2019s not chaotic for the players. Our position is the lockout is over, free agency should begin, signings should begin, offseason workouts should begin, everything should be going on. The longer the NFL doesn\u2019t do that and drags this out, the more there are concerns of collusion and violations of antitrust laws.\u201d<\/p>\n

U.S District Judge Susan Richard Nelson lifted the lockout Monday, writing in an 89-page order that she believed it is causing \u201cirreparable harm\u201d to the players. The NFL questioned whether Nelson exceeded her jurisdiction, and said it would seek an immediate stay of her ruling as well as relief from the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis.<\/p>\n

Nelson has given the players until 9 a.m. Central time Wednesday to reply to the league\u2019s expedited motion for a stay.<\/p>\n

But if her injunction is upheld\u2014by the judge herself or the appellate court\u2014the NFL must resume business in some fashion.<\/p>\n

It could invoke the 2010 rules for free agency, meaning players would need six seasons of service before becoming unrestricted free agents when their contracts expire; previously, it was four years. The requirement for restricted free agents would be four years rather than the three years before 2010. There also was no salary cap in 2010, meaning teams could spend as much\u2014or as little \u2014 as they wanted.<\/p>\n

All of this was in the background for this week\u2019s draft, which has a decidedly weird feel as teams prep for picks without free agency or the ability to swap personnel.<\/p>\n

Jim Quinn, an attorney for the players, said the pressure is on the league.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey better act quickly, because as of right now there\u2019s no stay and, presumably, players could sign with teams,\u201d Quinn said. \u201cThere are no guidelines as of right now, so they have to put something in place quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nelson\u2019s ruling was another rebuke of the NFL in the federal courts in Minnesota, which was established years ago as the venue for the league\u2019s collective bargaining system. Three weeks ago, NFL attorney David Boies suggested to Nelson that she shouldn\u2019t have jurisdiction over a dispute with an unfair bargaining complaint against the players pending with the National Labor Relations Board.<\/p>\n

In her ruling, Nelson rejected that contention and recognized the NFL Players Association\u2019s decision to \u201cde-unionize\u201d as legitimate. She even referenced her colleague, U.S. District Judge David Doty, who has frequently ruled for the players against the NFL. Not only did she declare that players are likely to suffer harm by the lockout, a legal requirement for granting the injunction, Nelson wrote they\u2019re already feeling the hurt now and cited their short careers.<\/p>\n

What Nelson didn\u2019t do, however, was address the issue of the antitrust lawsuit filed last month when the union broke up. That, she wrote, \u201cmust wait another day.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an opinion piece posted late Monday on the Wall Street Journal website, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell wrote that Nelson\u2019s ruling \u201cmay significantly alter professional football as we know it. \u2026 By blessing this negotiating tactic (recognizing the players\u2019 right to dissolve their union), the decision may endanger one of the most popular and successful sports leagues in history.\u201d<\/p>\n

Owners imposed the lockout after talks broke down March 11 and the players disbanded their union.<\/p>\n

Nelson heard arguments on the injunction at a hearing on April 6 and ordered the two sides into mediation. The owners and players, who failed to reach consensus after 16 days of mediated talks earlier this year, met over four days with a federal magistrate but did not announce any progress.<\/p>\n

They are not scheduled to meet again until May 16, four days after Doty holds a hearing on whether players should get damages in their related fight with owners over some $4 billion in broadcast revenue.<\/p>\n

With appeals expected, the fight seems likely to drag on through the spring. The closer it gets to August, when training camps and the preseason get into full swing, the more likely it becomes that regular-season games could be lost.<\/p>\n

The NFL, meantime, expressed confidence in its appeal.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we also believe that this dispute will inevitably end with a collective bargaining agreement, which would be in the best interests of players, clubs and fans,\u201d the NFL said in a statement. \u201cWe can reach a fair agreement only if we continue negotiations toward that goal.\u201d<\/p>\n

NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith said players were eager to resume court-ordered mediation to resolve the fight.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy hope is really is that there\u2019s somebody on the other side who loves football as much as our players and fans do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

AP Sports Writers Mike Cranston, Brett Martel, Joseph White and Barry Wilner contributed to this report.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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\nNFL: No ‘football activities’ for now (AP)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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