NFL – Page 6 – North Platte Post Archive

NLFPA Pushes for Bargaining on Conduct Policy

Posted on November 13, 2014

NEW YORK (AP) — The NFL players’ union is pushing for collective bargaining with the league on the personal conduct policy.

In a memo sent to each NFLPA player representative and executive board member, and obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday, the union cites “the NFL’s mismanagement” of several incidents, including the Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson cases. The memo claims the league has “inconsistencies that have led to the lack of credibility and damage to our brand.”

The union believes the league has not complied with terms of the CBA reached in 2011 in regard to personal conduct discipline. The memo mentions “imposed superficial changes to the adjudication process,” apparently referring to Commissioner Roger Goodell installing stronger punishment for first-time offenders of the policy.

Goodell announced in August a stiffer penalty for players involved with domestic violence, with a six-game minimum.

More than 200 Opt Out of NFL Concussion Settlement

Posted on November 3, 2014

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — More than 200 former players or their families have opted out of the proposed settlement of NFL concussion claims, a small fraction of the retirees who are covered by the deal.

That’s according to court documents filed Monday.

Retired players who opted out of the proposed class-action settlement may pursue individual lawsuits against the NFL, but they presumably will have to show their brain injuries resulted from concussions suffered while they were playing for the league.

The NFL has agreed to pay at least $765 million over 65 years, and more if needed, to address claims the league failed to properly treat on-field concussions.

More than 99 percent of those who would be covered by the deal have agreed to take part.

NFL Seeks to Dismiss Ex-Players’ Painkillers Suit

Posted on October 30, 2014

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The National Football League is seeking to dismiss a lawsuit filed by former players who allege team officials gave them powerful painkillers and other drugs to keep them on the field without regard for their long-term health.

NFL lawyers on Thursday are expected to urge a federal judge in San Francisco to toss out the lawsuit filed on behalf of hundreds of former players. The NFL argues that the former players waited too long to file their lawsuit and that the statute of limitations to file a lawsuit has expired.

The lawsuit makes claims dating back to 1968. The former players allege that NFL physicians and trainers routinely provided narcotics and other controlled substances on game days to mask the pain. The lawsuit says many of the drugs were dispensed without prescriptions.

Union Questions NFL’s Domestic Violence Plan

Posted on October 24, 2014

NEW YORK (AP) — The players’ union has questioned why the NFL’s domestic violence training and education program “treats all players as perpetrators.”

In a memo sent to NFL Players Association members by Executive Director DeMaurice Smith and obtained by The Associated Press, the union also said the plan “doesn’t build a positive consensus to warning signs.”

Smith described two meetings this month with the league in which an NFLPA commission was briefed on the league’s approach to educating players, coaches, executives, owners and NFL personnel about domestic violence. He wrote that a “good overview of domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse” was presented. But “it did not address larger issues of violence in and outside of the home.”

British Government Wants an NFL Team in London

Posted on October 22, 2014

LONDON (AP) — The British government wants an NFL team based in London.

George Osborne, the British treasury chief, told the Evening Standard newspaper on Wednesday that the government will do whatever it can “to make this happen.”

The NFL has been playing regular-season games at Wembley Stadium every year since 2007, and this season there are three games on the schedule.

The NFL says it welcomes Osborne’s comments and his “strong support for the possibility of an NFL team in London.”

Detroit and Atlanta will play Sunday at Wembley, the home of England’s national soccer team. Last month, the Miami Dolphins beats the Oakland Raiders 38-14, and next month, the Dallas Cowboys will face the Jacksonville Jaguars.

NFL Creates Sportsmanship Award for Players

Posted on October 21, 2014

NEW YORK (AP) — The NFL has created a Sportsmanship Award that will be voted on by the players and presented to the winner on the eve of the Super Bowl.

The award will be part of the NFL Honors show in which The Associated Press presents its major league awards, including MVP and Coach of the Year.

A player “who best demonstrates the qualities of on-field sportsmanship, including fair play, respect for the game and opponents, and integrity in competition” will earn the award, the NFL said Tuesday.

Each team will nominate one player. A panel of former players will select eight finalists, four from each conference. Those finalists will be listed on the Pro Bowl ballot under the NFL Sportsmanship Award when the players vote on Dec. 19. As in Pro Bowl voting, a team cannot vote for its own player.

Players’ Lawyer Defends NFL Concussion Deal

Posted on October 15, 2014

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — More than a dozen objections have been filed over the NFL concussion settlement, but a lead players’ lawyer says he negotiated the best deal he could.

Lawyer Christopher Seeger says the plan was designed to help men with life-altering dementia or brain disease.

Lawyers challenging the class-action settlement this week say it doesn’t cover many of the neurological problems their clients face.

Retirees with serious dementia or Alzheimer’s disease could get $1 million or more. But former players battling depression or other mood disorders wouldn’t be covered.

A federal judge in Philadelphia will weigh objections next month. She declined Wednesday to let critics question Seeger under oath over the negotiations.

The NFL has agreed to pay at least $765 million over 65 years. The fund would offer awards or medical monitoring to nearly 20,000 former players.

NFL, Union Discuss Personal Conduct Policy

Posted on October 14, 2014

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and players’ union chief DeMaurice Smith have agreed to continue discussing changes to the league’s personal conduct policy following a four-hour session in New York on Tuesday.

In an email to player representatives afterward, Smith says he made it clear to the league that the union wants due process.

“While the league currently has great concern for its brand, fairness and justice for our members is more important,” Smith said.

“For us, the starting point for these discussions must be the desire to agree upon a fair personal conduct policy and domestic violence rules from a standpoint of prevention and education. We will not accept a world where all players are viewed as perpetrators first and husbands, fathers, sons and brothers second.”

Critics: NFL Concussion Deal Leaves too Many Out

Posted on October 14, 2014

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — More concerns are being raised about the proposed settlement of thousands of NFL concussion lawsuits.

Yet only a fraction of the nearly 20,000 ex-players are expected to opt out of the class-action settlement by Tuesday’s deadline. They would be left to sue the NFL individually over claims the league hid known concussion risks for many years.

Critics can instead raise objections at a Nov. 19 court hearing in Philadelphia.

The settlement would pay millions to young ex-players battling neurological disease, and an average $190,000 to older men with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia.

But ex-players exhibiting rage, depression or mood disorders would get nothing. Some brain researchers link those problems to multiple concussions.

The advocacy group Public Citizen weighed in Tuesday. Their lawyers say the deal leaves too many former players on the sidelines.

NFL, Union to Discuss Personal Conduct

Posted on October 13, 2014

NEW YORK (AP) — NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and players’ union chief DeMaurice Smith will meet Tuesday to discuss the league’s personal conduct policy.

Goodell and NFL officials will be joined by Smith, the NFL Players Association’s executive director, and Eric Winston, the union president.

At last week’s owners meetings, Goodell said a major topic was potential changes to NFL policies to make them more effective, and how to make decisions in a more timely manner.

Winston told The Associated Press last week that the league needs to “bring in the players in the process and collectively bargain a comprehensive and transparent personal conduct policy.”

One potential hang-up: Goodell’s role in the disciplinary process. The union favors a neutral arbiter in all such decisions, but the commissioner has been reluctant to cede power in those matters.