The long and bumpy road to Super Bowl XLVI

Sport
21

22

:clap:

23

Ochocinco - MLS superstar

think I might head to AMerica and make a shitload of dollars!

http://www.nfl.com/videos/cincinnati-bengals/09000d5d81f009fc/Ochocinco-MLS-superstar

24

That last cross was top drawer

25

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d81f2ccbf/article/florida-casts-tebows-legend-in-bronze-wuerffel-spurrier-too?module=HP_headlines

Surely Tebow is disgusted, “You shall not make for yourself an idol” and all that.

26

Any appetite for a Draft prediction competition?

27

havent been keeping much of an eye on the potential ups and downs over the last few weeks after the combine and practise days. suppose most of the hype will be on Newton still, and maybe where Fairley goes.

28

I’d be in for that, NFL related material is what will keep this forum alive. Lets hope there’s a season so we can have another epic TFK NFL Fantasy season.

29

I see my beloved Bears are lined up to play the Bucs at Wembley in October - that’s if the season goes ahead obviously

30

Any news on whether the season is actually going ahead? I tend not to read nfl.com between April and July inclusive.

31

The Wembley games are getting boring now. It’s time to give some place else a chance.

32

Schedule is out http://www.nfl.com/schedules/interactive?module=HP_cp3

The aim is to get to Foxborough on October 16th. Cmaaannn!

33

Outstanding.

34

ah if it wasnt for the curse Rodgers would have breezed through it. A paranoid lot are those football fans.

35

Kicking off with Champions vs [size=“1”][ex][/size]Champions.
Title for Title at Lambeau. Deadly

36

Peyton Hillis won the right to be injured this season by being selected as the cover for madden 2012. It’s disappointing that they didn’t go with the image at the top of this page.

Round 1 of the draft is tonight.
In the words of Bart Scott: Can’t wait!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJshw2Axsqc

37

CLD, in two paragraphs or less, can you sum up where the lockout stands at present?

38

No

39

Latest on the lockout.

Roger Goodell and the NFL have promised to appeal the judge’s decision to lift the lockout.
Reuters

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The NFL is falling behind in its court fight with the players over the future of the $9 billion business.
The federal judge who lifted the lockout two days ago dealt another blow to the league late Wednesday, denying its request to put her ruling on hold pending appeals and guaranteeing more limbo for all 32 teams, thousands of players and millions of fans.
U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson said the NFL had fallen short in proving a stay was warranted and dismissed its argument that it is facing irreparable harm because of her decision to end the 45-day lockout.
“The world of ‘chaos’ the NFL claims it has been thrust into - essentially the ‘free-market’ system this nation otherwise willfully operates under - is not compelled by this court’s order,” Nelson wrote.
And yet chaos there may be, perhaps as early as Thursday, the first day of the NFL draft.
James Quinn, a lawyer for the players, said free agency – the biggest immediate question for owners and players alike – should start immediately.
“We are evaluating the district court’s decision and will advise our clubs (Thursday) morning on how to proceed,” NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said.
The NFL Players Association, now a trade group and not a union, accused the league of stalling.
“On the eve of one of the greatest fan events in sports, the players moved another step closer to bringing the fans football,” spokesman George Atallah said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. “Owners seem determined to prevent that from happening. The NFL owners are not litigating to protect the game. They’re litigating to protect a lockout.”
Nelson’s ruling was not a surprise, given her questioning of NFL attorney David Boies during an April 6 hearing and her 89-page order lifting the lockout. She wrote another 20 pages in her denial Wednesday, declaring the public’s interest in the resumption of league operations.
The judge acknowledged that her decision will be appealed to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis, and Aiello said that step was being taken immediately. The appellate court is viewed as a more friendly venue to businesses like the league than the federal courts in Minnesota.
“We believe there are strong legal and practical reasons that support a stay and that the Court of Appeals should have an opportunity to address the important legal issues that will be presented,” Aiello said.
Late Wednesday, the league had no rules in place, shelved since the collective bargaining agreement ended on March 11 and the NFL’s first work stoppage since 1987 began.
Nelson said that needn’t be the case.
The judge said her order does not “obligate the NFL to enter into contracts” or oversee the league’s “non-lockout conduct in general.” She suggested that the NFL “make a decision about how to proceed and accept the consequences” of that choice and said she saw no evidence of “injury” to the league from the end of the lockout.
In saying the NFL could go about its business, Nelson used the league’s own steps against it, citing the draft, the announcement of the 2011 schedule and even Commissioner Roger Goodell’s proclamation that the NFL intends to play the full 16 games and the playoffs.
Nelson also pointed to the contract tenders teams issued to restricted free agents in March before the lockout, “treating them as if the league intended to operate with the 2010 rules in place.”
What the NFL will do Thursday was anyone’s guess, though Packers president and CEO Mark Murphy suggested the 2010 rules might be used.
“What we would probably do if Judge Nelson and the 8th Circuit deny our request for a stay would be play under the same rules that we had last year,” he said Tuesday. “It’s 2010 rules, those were agreed to by the players in the collective bargaining agreement, I think that’s probably the rules that make the most sense.”
Bears safety Chris Harris put it this way in a tweet: “With lockout lifted. Owners have to open doors. Its impossible to start the NEW LEAGUE YR without Free Agency.”
And agent Drew Rosenhaus tweeted: “Time to get busy! Let’s work!”
The NFL had argued that Nelson had no jurisdiction and that she shouldn’t make a decision while a complaint of bad-faith negotiation against the players was still pending with the National Labor Relations Board. The league also said it shouldn’t be subject to some of the antitrust claims leveled by the players with the collective bargaining deal barely expired.
The judge shot all of those down.
The league’s plea to Nelson for the stay was also based on a purported fear that an immediate lifting of the lockout would result in a free agency free-for-all that could create a mess that would be difficult to undo should a new collective bargaining agreement lead to different rules.
Nelson called that an “incorrect premise.” She insisted that her order was simply an end to the lockout, not a prohibition of the player constraints like franchise and transition tags that help the league maintain competitive balance.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, during an earlier predraft event in New York, said he wasn’t worried about the state of confusion tarnishing the league’s image but stressed his desire to “remove” the uncertainty.
“It’s one of the things I don’t think is healthy for the players, the clubs and most importantly our fans,” he said.
Attorneys for the players had ridiculed the NFL’s argument that it risks either violating antitrust laws by coming up with new league rules without a CBA in place or harming its competitive balance by allowing unrestricted free agency.
“If the NFL defendants are faced with a dilemma, they put themselves in that position by repeatedly imposing rules and restrictions that violate the antitrust laws,” the attorneys wrote. “Any alleged predicament is of their own making.”
The solution, the players argued, is to simply implement a system that does not violate antitrust laws.
Nelson agreed.
“Again, the NFL argues it will suffer irreparable harm because it is now 'forced to choose between the irreparable harm of unrestricted free agency or the irreparable harm of more treble damages lawsuits,”’ Nelson wrote. “There is no injunction in place preventing the NFL from exercising, under its hoped-for protection of the labor laws, any of its rights to negotiate terms and conditions of employment, such as free agency.”
The two sides had 16 days of talks with a mediator earlier this year and four more ordered by Nelson with a federal magistrate. Little progress has been seen, though the two sides are scheduled to meet again May 16.

40

So, we’re back, for the moment…

NFL statement on post-injunction operations

The NFL clubs have been notified that we have requested from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals a stay of the preliminary injunction issued late Monday afternoon by the Federal District Court. Pending further guidance from the Eighth Circuit, we believe it is appropriate for clubs to take additional steps in response to the preliminary injunction. The clubs were informed of the steps below that will be effective on Friday at 8 am ET following tonight’s first round of the NFL Draft. Clubs are free to contact players immediately to advise them of the hours that the facility will be open for their use, to schedule medical and rehabilitation activity, and to arrange meetings with coaches or related activity, such as film study or classroom work.
1.Players will be permitted to use club facilities for physical examinations, rehabilitation and medical treatment, as scheduled by the club.
2.Clubs will be permitted to distribute playbooks, game film and other similar materials to players.
3.Coaches may meet with players for the purpose of discussing any materials distributed to players under item 2 above, as well as the club’s off-season workout program, its schedule of mini-camps, Organized Team Activities (“OTAs”), and other similar matters.
4.Voluntary off-season workout programs, including OTAs and classroom instruction, may begin subject to the rules in Article XXXV of the 2006 CBA and Appendix L. Participating players will be paid $130 per day, provided the player fulfills the club’s reasonable off-season workout requirements. Such workouts will count toward the requirements of any off-season workout bonus in the player’s contract.
5.On days during which no official off-season workouts or OTAs are scheduled under item 4 above, nothing shall prevent the club from permitting any player to use the club facility to work out on his own on a voluntary, unpaid basis during normal business hours, or such other hours as may be set by the club, provided: (i) there is no participation or supervision by any coach, trainer or other club personnel; and (ii) the club has first verified that the player has an existing medical insurance policy in place. Players without such personal coverage should not be permitted to work out at the club facility on an unsupervised basis under this item 5, but may do so under item 4 above. Unsupervised workouts will not count toward the requirements of any off-season workout bonus in the player’s contract. This item 5 will apply both prior to and after the commencement of the club’s official off-season workout program.
6.Mandatory and voluntary mini-camps may begin subject to the rules in Article XXXVI of the 2006 CBA.
7.The league office will promptly make arrangements to resume counseling, rehabilitation and treatment activities in connection with the substances of abuse and steroid programs. We will advise clubs as to when and on what basis testing will commence.
8.Players may participate in club-sponsored charitable and community relations events.

With respect to player transactions (such as signings, trades of player contracts, terminations, tryouts, etc.), we plan to distribute to all clubs, likely tomorrow, a comprehensive set of procedures governing such transactions. This will include the timing for the commencement of the 2011 League Year, free agent signings and other customary player transactions.