media salvos begin in NFL

[cranrab]

Updated Mar 15, 2011 5:07 PM ET

i don't like the casual tossing around of the word. what do you think?

The NFL labor situation is "modern-day slavery," according to Minnesota Vikings star Adrian Peterson.

Mark Sanchez
LABOR WOES

The running back's explosive comments were quoted in a Yahoo! Sports story last Friday, the same day the NFL Players Association decertified and the NFL owners subsequently locked out the players.

Peterson vented his anger about the owners refusing to open their financial books.

“It’s like . . . well, show us. We want more information, and they want to (expletive), going around, saying this and that, just open it up and give us the information we want,” Peterson told Yahoo! Sports shortly before the NFLPA’s decertification last Friday.

“. . . If they have nothing to hide, just give us the information. Why not? Obviously, there’s a lot to hide — these guys are professionals, and they’re maximizing what they do. But they know that if all this information comes out, the information the players want, it’ll be right out there for everyone to see. It’s a rip-off — not just for the players, but for the people who work at the concession stands and at the stadiums.”

But Peterson didn’t stop there. Many NFL players feel that they aren’t being treated as business partners, but Peterson chose a different term for the treatment.

“It’s modern-day slavery, you know?” Peterson said. “People kind of laugh at that, but there are people working at regular jobs who get treated the same way, too. With all the money . . . the owners are trying to get a different percentage, and bring in more money.”

Yahoo! writer Doug Farrar apparently removed Peterson’s comments for a time shortly after they were published. The quote already had spread across the Internet, however. Yahoo! included an editor's note Tuesday that said it was reaching out to Peterson for context to his comments.

“I don't think he meant it in the way it's going to come across, but the word itself is a problem,” Farrar said via his Twitter account.

Peterson, who was selected in the first round of the 2007 draft by the Vikings, will enter the 2011 season — if there is one — in the final year of his rookie deal, a source confirmed.

 

[cranrab]

Updated Mar 15, 2011 4:57 PM ET
ASHBURN, Va. (AP)

Washington Redskins general manager Bruce Allen, a regular participant in the NFL labor talks that broke down last week, says the owners' decision to lock out the players was ''difficult but necessary.''

Mark Sanchez
LABOR WOES

Allen made his first comments on the lockout in a letter to Redskins fans posted Tuesday on the team's website.

''Unfortunately, the union's abandonment of bargaining and subsequent decertification led to the league's difficult but necessary step to lock out, something we tried hard to avoid,'' Allen wrote. ''We remain committed to getting a new deal done and believe that the fastest way to a fair agreement is through mediation and not litigation.

''We share your disappointment with the lack of progress. The offer that the union walked away from was fair and addressed many of the key issues, including a rookie compensation system, enhanced player healthy and safety measures, improved retired player benefits and compromises on the union's financial demands.''

Allen also wrote that the lockout ''will not disrupt our preparation for the 2011 season or swerve our focus from the Redskins' objective -- WINNING.'

 

[Spectrum]

Comparing the two completely disparages the hardships and obscenely immoral practices of slavery. These are sports that people VOLUNTARY play and get compensated extremely well for doing so. There are better ways of illustrating an unfair relationship. A.D. should have just said he feels like a bitch and the owners are his pimp.

 

[cranrab]

Updated Mar 18, 2011 3:31 PM ET
MARCO ISLAND, Fla.

Even during the current lockout, NFL players will be held accountable for their off-field behavior.

Mark Sanchez
LABOR WOES

NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told FOXSports.com Thursday the league plans to enforce its personal conduct policy even with players prohibited from reporting to team headquarters. Enacted by the league in 2007, the policy subjects players to fines and possible suspension at the discretion of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

"While players won't be able to get the benefit of our evaluation and counseling program during the work stoppage, the personal conduct of players and employees is an integrity-of-the-game issue," McCarthy wrote in an e-mail. "Any misconduct that is detrimental to the integrity of and public confidence in the NFL will certainly be addressed when play resumes."

Such enforcement will be done despite the NFL and NFLPA still not having agreed upon a collective bargaining agreement. Asked for comment, NFLPA executive George Atallah told FOXSports.com, "The best amendment the NFL and the owners can make to any policy at this point is to end the lockout."

The NFL already has one potential violator during the lockout. Minnesota Vikings cornerback Chris Cook was charged with brandishing a handgun during an altercation last weekend in Lynchburg, Va.

WHAT NOW?
Alex Marvez makes sense of the whole lockout mess.

With last Friday's expiration of the collective bargaining agreement, NFL players are no longer subject to league testing for recreational or performance-enhancing drugs.

In other business and football news from the NFLPA's annual meeting in Marco Island:

• NFLPA executives George Atallah and Kevin Mawae both stressed they are not urging top draft prospects to spurn invitations to the NFL draft April 28-30 in New York City. But both said they hope those incoming players consider the toxic environment between the league and NFLPA when making a decision.

"The potential draft picks are all men, and we've treated them as men," Mawae said. "They're soon to be equals with us. It's their decision what to do on draft day. But why would you want to stand on a stage with the man (Goodell) who's going to prevent you from making a living and shine yourself all over TV for the (NFL) shield when they're the ones who locked you out in the first place? That's something (the prospects) have to ask themselves."

While there are no official plans for a rival NFLPA draft function, Atallah hinted at what his organization may stage.

"If we do have an event, it will be a celebration of the players and the players' families," Atallah said.

GAME CHANGERS
Meet the key players behind the NFL's labor dispute.

• The NFLPA continued to take jabs at the NFL for the inability to strike a labor deal before the lockout. Mawae estimates that NFLPA representatives had only eight hours of face-to-face talks with team owners in almost three weeks of negotiations. Numerous players also questioned how much power Goodell had in making a deal because of how frequently he would confer with NFL owners.

"We would end the day with them saying, 'Well, we have to go talk to the decision-makers,'" said Baltimore Ravens cornerback Domonique Foxworth, who attended most of the sessions as one of the 11-member NFLPA executive committee. "We would say to them, 'Our decision-makers are here.'"

The NFL has claimed the NFLPA didn't negotiate in earnest before decertifying. Future negotiating sessions will not be set until after an April 6 court ruling about an antitrust lawsuit filed by 10 players against the NFL.

Goodell sent a letter to NFL players Thursday that was obtained by FOXSports.com spelling out details of the league's final proposal and imploring NFLPA members to urge leadership for more negotiations.

"You know of my respect and admiration for you as men and players," Goodell wrote. "We need to come together and soon. . . . I hope you will encourage (the NFLPA) to return to the bargaining table and conclude a new Collective Bargaining Agreement."

• Pittsburgh Steelers safety and team NFLPA representative Ryan Clark offered a level-headed perspective about Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson's recent comparison of the NFL's treatment of players to "modern-day slavery."

"No matter how much history we study, we'll never understand slavery because we've never been a part of it," Clark said. "There are people in other parts of the world who are 'modern-day slaves' whether legal or illegal. We don't want to make that comparison. Clearly, slaves don't get paid the way we get paid.

"But neither am I going to condemn Adrian for his feelings, emotions or statement. That's not for me to do. I think he was speaking and emotional. I'm not saying it came out the wrong way because maybe he believes in some ways (the NFL) is a form of it. But those (statements) are going to be scrutinized because he's Adrian Peterson and such a great player."

• Cincinnati Bengals left tackle and NFLPA team representative Andrew Whitworth said he has spoken to teammate Carson Palmer but not about the disgruntled quarterback's threat to retire if he isn't traded.

"We keep in touch with each other because he just had a child and my wife just had twins four weeks ago," said Whitworth, who has played with Palmer since 2005. "But we haven't really talked football or X's and O's at all.

"Carson is not the type of guy to speak out. For him to step out in this way, he's obviously very serious about it. I just hope he makes the best decision for him and his family. We'll go on as a team if he's not going to be there with us. We'd love to have him for sure, but if he really chooses to be away, we'll move on and find another way to be successful."

• Coming off a Pro Bowl season for Tennessee in 2009, Mawae said he had the chance to sign with San Francisco last August when center Eric Heitmann suffered a fractured fibula. A combination of personal and monetary reasons prompted Mawae to decline the offer and retire shortly thereafter after 16 seasons.

"It was a four-hour flight (each way) for a six-month season," said Mawae, who lives in Nashville. "I was going to be the starter, a team leader and coach on the field. All this — and it was for a one-year minimum (salary). Now, minimum for my age ($860,000) was really, really good. But at the end of the day, it wasn't worth leaving my family."

Hoping to make the transition to coaching, Mawae served an internship with Vanderbilt University's strength program. After unsuccessfully interviewing for a Vanderbilt staff position, Mawae was recently hired as the varsity offensive line coach and assistant to a dean at Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville, Tenn.

"The understanding before I took the job is that I have commitments to the NFLPA," said Mawae, who is slated to serve as the association's president until March 2012.

• Like all of his former teammates, New York Giants center Shaun O'Hara said he was surprised when running back Tiki Barber announced he is attempting an NFL comeback. The 35-year-old Barber retired in 2006 following 10 seasons with the Giants.

"People have been naysaying him his entire career. He's a very dangerous man when he's got something to prove," O'Hara said. "He was a good teammate while he with us. When he left the Giants, he did his own thing and ruffled some feathers I'm sure (with media criticism of the team). But as a former teammate, I wish him all the best."

 

[Majestic Lion]

Allen also wrote that the lockout ''will not disrupt our preparation for the 2011 season or swerve our focus from the Redskins' objective -- WINNING.'

I'm sorry, but...



lmaoooOoOoOoOooOooooo

 

[cranrab]

Updated Mar 18, 2011 2:05 PM ET
MARCO ISLAND, Fla. (AP)

The NFL Players Association says labor negotiations broke down last week because the owners' last proposal would have made salaries a fixed cost and eliminated the players' chance to share in higher-than-projected revenue growth.

Pete Kendall, the NFLPA's permanent player representative, describes the league's offer as ''kind of the old switcheroo.''

In response, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello writes in an e-mail to The Associated Press that players were in ''a hurry to get out of the room last Friday and file their lawsuit'' and didn't offer a counterproposal.

 

[cranrab]

Updated Mar 18, 2011 10:40 PM ET
MARCO ISLAND, Fla.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell's email to players about the current lockout and labor situation has started another war of words with the NFL Players Association.

Two NFLPA representatives from the Indianapolis Colts (middle linebacker Gary Brackett and wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez) were so irked Thursday after reading Goodell's letter that they worked overnight crafting an email response to all of their teammates that was sent early Friday morning. Brackett and Gonzalez refuted Goodell's claims of what the league offered the NFLPA before negotiations ended last week and a lockout began.

"Looking at what commissioner Goodell sent out, it would be pretty easy for guys to say, 'You know what? This actually looks pretty decent,'" Gonzalez said. "But we know as advocates for our players that we need to go point-by-point on this letter and show them how deceptive this really is.

"Deceptive isn't the word. To say there are half-truths in that letter is ambitious. They're like quarter-to-less truths. We're trying to fill in the gaps."

Goodell spelled out elements of an NFL offer that he said would increase player compensation by as much as $20 million per team by 2014. Other parts include year-round reductions in practice time, an indefinite extension of the 16-game regular season schedule, enhanced benefits for players who retired before 1993, and changes in disciplinary procedures for failed drug and steroid tests.

"We need to come together and soon," Goodell wrote. "We are prepared to negotiate a full agreement that would incorporate these features and other progressive changes that would benefit players, clubs and fans."

During a meeting with player representatives in Marco Island, the NFLPA told its constituency that the league's offer wasn't as attractive as it may seem. The NFLPA contends that future player salaries are going to dip and other information was, as Brackett put it, "misleading" or "misrepresented."

"When you just look at the email itself, it's really a joke," Washington Redskins defensive end and player representative Vonnie Holliday said. "That's why you see some of the players around the league speaking out. This does not tell the story. This is just another ploy by the NFL to make us look like bad guys, to divide us. But we're strong. Our leadership has been strong. Our players are informed.

"For the most part, I think (the NFL is) surprised at how strong we are as a group and what we've been able to accomplish so far. That's what's going to carry us throughout the rest of this process."

Gonzalez said the NFLPA is planning a mass email to players about Goodell's letter but he and Brackett beat them to the punch.

"A lot of guys have been responding all morning saying, 'Thank you for filling in the gaps. Keep it coming. It's very informative,'" Gonzalez said. "That's good to hear.

"Honestly, Roger Goodell has a huge voice. I don't have that platform. We have to be more personal where he can be more public and get the message out."

The NFL and NFLPA have exchanged barbs since talks for a new Collective Bargaining Agreement collapsed last Friday, resulting in the league's first work stoppage since 1987. The NFL instituted a lockout shortly after the NFLPA decertified as a union, leading to more charges that neither side intended to negotiate in earnest during almost three weeks of talks under a federal mediator.

NFLPA members weren't happy that Goodell urged players to "encourage your Union to return to the bargaining table."

"Commissioner Goodell knows we're no longer a union," Cleveland Browns tight end and NFLPA player representative Ben Watson said. "For him to put that terminology in there is very discouraging."

The NFL has filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board alleging that the NFLPA's decertification is a sham. The NFL believes the NFLPA will reform when a new labor pact is finalized and the decertification was done only to create a legal loophole for litigation. The NFLPA contends it was forced to decertify because that was the only way to effectively fight a pending NFL player lockout.

The next major development to set the stage for future labor negotiations is expected April 6 when a federal judge holds a hearing about an antitrust lawsuit filed by 10 players against the NFL. Depending on the court ruling, the NFL may be forced to lift its lockout and start the free-agent signing period.

"The proposal (Goodell) set out in the letter is not exactly the truth as we're being told," Watson said. "There are definitely a lot of things left out and some discrepancies. Both sides think they're right. Both sides can be right as long as we get a fair deal. But right now, it's about the court.

"He has the right to say whatever we want to say. We have a right to put out the truth."

 

[dzlkdd]

I think people can say whatever they want, but they have to accept that words have meanings, history,and context.

Brothers gotta stop using "slave" analogies, period. It just NEVER works. Too much history with us and slavery in America. Just like white folk shouldn't be shocked that they can't use the N-Word as freely as black folk can.

Jesse and Al DEFINITELY need to keep that word out of their mouths.