NFL Capsules: AP sources: NFL players, owners making progress

NEW YORK (AP) — Making significant progress on one of the major sticking points in NFL labor talks, owners and players neared agreement Thursday on how to rein in the soaring salaries of high first-round draft picks, people familiar with the negotiations said.

Another person with knowledge of the discussions told The Associated Press that Thursday’s 12-hour-plus meeting at a Manhattan law firm was producing results but that other key issues remained to be resolved, such as what free agency will look like moving forward and new offseason workout rules.

The people spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the talks aimed at ending the NFL’s four-month-long lockout are supposed to be confidential.

With time running short to keep the preseason intact, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, NFL Players Association head DeMaurice Smith, eight owners and about a half-dozen current or former players were in their second consecutive day of lengthy negotiations. They were expected to meet again Friday as they attempt to resolve the impasse that created the sport’s first work stoppage since 1987.

On rookie salaries, four people familiar with the talks said first-round draft picks will sign four-year contracts with a club option for a fifth year. That represents a compromise; owners were hoping for five-year contracts, while players wanted highly drafted rookies to be under a team’s control for only four years.

NFL owners have long sought to restrict the huge bonuses and salaries paid to unproven rookies, particularly those selected at the top of the draft. Quarterback Sam Bradford, taken No. 1 overall in 2010 by the St. Louis Rams, signed a six-year, $78 million contract that included a record $50 million in guaranteed money.

Under the system discussed Thursday, people told the AP, clubs will have an option for a fifth year on a rookie’s contract for a predetermined amount based on the player’s performance during the previous years of the deal.

The NFL locked out players in March, after negotiations broke down and the old collective bargaining agreement expired, and now the preseason is fast approaching. The need to arrive at a deal becomes greater with each passing day.

The Hall of Fame game that opens the exhibition season is scheduled for Aug. 7 between the Rams and the Chicago Bears, who hope to be able to start training camp at the end of next week. Yet camps will not open without a new CBA in place.

Talks gained steam in May, overseen by a court-appointed mediator, U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan, who is on vacation this week. Boylan ordered both sides to meet with him in Minneapolis early next week, and the owners have a special meeting set for next Thursday in Atlanta, where they potentially could ratify a new deal — if one is reached by then.

Even once an agreement in principle on the core economic issues is drawn up, there will be more work to be done. That’s because there are certain issues that won’t be addressed in full until after the NFLPA re-establishes itself as a union — a process that might take a couple of days — and can then serve once again as a collective bargaining unit for the players.

Items that could fall under that umbrella include the league’s drug-testing program, health insurance, retired players’ pensions and other benefits, none of which is likely to be resolved completely while the union is still dissolved.

There’s also a chance the players could pursue a lockout injunction for rookies and free agents after an appeals court ruled last week that the work stoppage could continue.

Disruptions to the planned preseason schedule would decrease the overall revenue pie — by tens or hundreds of millions of dollars, depending on how many games are canceled. The parameters for how to divide the more than $9 billion in annual league revenues have been sketched out, but remaining hurdles include the owners’ desire to have more right-of-first-refusal tags for unrestricted free agents.

The players want to get back to free agency rules similar to 2009, when a four-year veteran whose contract expired was unrestricted. That minimum shifted to six years in 2010, when there was no salary cap because owners already had declared they were opting out of the old CBA.

This week’s talks in New York began Monday with two days of meetings involving primarily lawyers. Wednesday’s face-to-face session that was attended by Goodell, Smith, owners and players went nearly 11 hours.

On Thursday, Goodell was joined by eight of the 10 members of the owners’ labor committee, including Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys and John Mara of the New York Giants. Two new participants Thursday were Green Bay Packers CEO Mark Murphy and San Diego Chargers owner Dean Spanos.

Smith’s group included Indianapolis Colts center Jeff Saturday, Baltimore Ravens defensive back Domonique Foxworth, and New York Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora. Umenyiora is one of 10 named plaintiffs in a class-action federal antitrust lawsuit against the league.

Harrison apologizes for some of magazine remarks

Pittsburgh linebacker James Harrison apologized Thursday for using an anti-gay slur to refer to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in an interview with “Men’s Journal,” and says his critical statements about teammates were taken out of context.

Harrison posted a statement on his Twitter account, with the message: “This statement will be my only response to the Men’s Journal article.”

In the article, the Steelers’ star criticized Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and running back Rashard Mendenhall for their play in last season’s Super Bowl loss to Green Bay.

Harrison called Mendenhall a “fumble machine” for his fourth-quarter turnover and said Roethlisberger needed to “stop trying to act like Peyton Manning.”

“I did make comments about my teammates when I was talking about the emotional Super Bowl loss, but the handful of words that were used and heavily publicized yesterday were pulled out of a long conversation and the context was lost,” Harrison said in his statement. Obviously, I would never say that it was all Ben’s or Rashard’s fault that we lost the Super Bowl. That would be ridiculous. Both Ben and Rashard are great players and great teammates.”

Harrison’s harshest words in the article were aimed at Goodell, whom he called a “crook” and a “devil.” He also said in the article of Goodell, “I hate him and will never respect him.”

Harrison did not mention those insults, but did say the anti-gay slur directed at the commissioner “was not intended to be derogatory against gay people in any way. It was careless use of a slang word and I apologize to all who were offended by the remark. I am not a homophobic bigot, and I would never advocate intolerance of gay people.”

Harrison was one of the most vocal critics of the NFL’s crackdown last season on illegal hits. He was also heavily fined by the commissioner for delivering illegal shots. The 2008 AP Defensive Player of the Year was docked $100,000 for illegal hits last season.

In his statement Thursday night, Harrison again said that more penalties and fines for illegal hits will not make the game safer.

“I believe that the league may have been feeling increasing pressure about injuries and concussions last year, and that they panicked and put rules in place that weren’t fully thought out.”

MNF mainstay gearing up for start of NFL season

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Standing on a makeshift football field atop a soundstage in the middle of flashing lights, dancing cheerleaders and screaming fans, Hank Williams, Jr. lifted his cowboy hat and belted out the words that for more than 20 years have become synonymous with the start of the NFL season.

Hank Williams, Jr., the man who popularized the lyrics “Are you ready for some football?” was in Florida on Thursday recording the opening promo an upcoming season that, right now at least, is still in limbo, with owners and players trying to strike a new labor deal.

Williams said he has sympathy for both the fans who are crossing their fingers that the season begins on time and those around the negotiating table. In more than two decades associated with the league, he said he feels like a man in the middle of a fight between his friends.

“We were in there recording the audio and I said, ‘Why are we doing that, they aren’t gonna play it,”’ Williams joked. “But I know a lot of people in the football world — the owners, the players, the marketing directors, and some of the great retired (players). So I see where they’re coming from. I said, ‘Well if we’re going to Orlando to shoot this thing, I guess they’re gonna play.”’

Whether or not Williams is right, what can’t be disputed is that as much as famous broadcasters like Howard Cosell and Don Meredith were identified with “Monday Night Football,” now too is the 62-year-old country star, who originally signed a one-year contract to be a part of the production in 1989.

His song “All My Rowdy Friends Are Here on Monday Night,” is a remixed version of his 1984 hit song “All My Rowdy Friends are Coming Over Tonight.” The retooled version of the song won him four Emmy Awards in the early 1990s as the opening theme to Monday Night Football.

“You think about it, 22 years, there’s a whole generation of kids that are just getting out of college that don’t know Monday Night Football without Hank Williams, Jr.,” said Bob Toms, an ESPN vice president who was with ABC when Williams was initially hired. “That song has become an anthem and that line has become the catchphrase that says Monday night. Hank’s face and outfit, etc., kind of says ‘Monday Night Football’ to a lot of people.”

ABC last produced the show for network television in 2005 before handing it over to fellow Walt Disney Company property ESPN full-time for the 2006 season. It was a seismic shift for a show that thrived outside of cable television for 35 years.

“I’m the only one, everybody else is gone. The true ABC Monday Night Football — they’re gone,” Williams said.

He said he hasn’t always been a fan of all the bells and whistles that have been tried during his tenure.

“I’m not gonna name any names, but when they used some of those other things...some of the hosts they had — it didn’t go over,” Williams said. “But it’s still great, no matter if they have Frank (Gifford) or Al or Mike Tirico hosting.”

Dozens of extras were hired to be the background fans in Thursday’s promo shoot. Wearing jerseys of NFL stars like Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, among others, they ranged in age from children to seniors.

Toms said it isn’t lost on anyone involved with the production of the show that the sight of Williams in front of the cameras wearing his black and white cowboy hat enlivens their football spirit.

“I think the line ‘Are you ready for some football’ means a more this year than it has in a lot of years,” Toms said. “And when he says ‘Are you ready for some football?’ I think a lot of people are ready to stop the business discussion, and start talking about teams, games, talent and get into the fun part about football and the part we all love about it.

“I know we’re excited about it...and we’ll keep our fingers crossed that it’ll all be worked out and we’ll be on the air soon enough.”

No matter when the next Monday night game is broadcast, Williams said he will be watching from the comfort of his couch at one of his homes — in Montana, Alabama and Florida. He said he plans to keep enjoying his job, for as long as he has it.

“I don’t run to the TV anymore, I just wait for one of my kids to say ‘Daddy, you’re on!”’ Williams said. “The people I’ve worked with over the years, they know where I’m coming from and it’s been a wonderful ride. And hopefully it’s been very good for the game.”

-- KYLE HIGHTOWER

Retirees send letter to NFL asking for input

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Two weeks after they filed a complaint over their lack of involvement in the labor talks between the NFL and players, and as those talks appear to be gaining traction toward a new collective bargaining agreement, a group of retired football players sent the league a letter asking to be a part of the negotiations.

The letter was sent Thursday and a copy of it was provided to The Associated Press by Michael Hausfeld, an attorney for the retired players.

In it, the players refer to a letter they received from Panthers owner Jerry Richardson and Packers CEO Mark Murphy that said improving benefits and retirement plans were a “top priority.”

“Richardson and Murphy admitted that ‘some former players have struggled financially’ and it was incumbent upon the League and owners ‘to reach a new agreement’ to provide the retirees with the well-being they earned,” the retired players wrote.

A group of retired players, including Hall of Famers Carl Eller, Marcus Allen and Franco Harris filed a complaint on July 4 alleging that the NFL and NFLPA “have conspired” to set low retiree benefit and pension payments. They say the disbanded players’ union does not have the right to negotiate for them and are pressing to have a seat at the table.

The owners and players have been meeting in New York this week to try to hammer out an agreement and avoid delaying the start of training camps or losing preseason games. Retired players have not been included in those meetings.

Among their chief concerns are improvements to their pensions and disability plans, neurological and spine treatment plans and more programs that help players transition from the NFL to other careers.

“Richardson, Murphy and the League stated ‘these material improved benefits’ were a ‘top priority’ necessary to enhance the quality of life of ‘the people who made football great,”’ the letter read. “To do so, they said, was the ‘fair’ and ‘right thing’ because it addresses the needs of retirees off the field for their having given so much ‘on the field.”’

Retired players have long complained that current players do not make their needs enough of a priority, and asked the NFL to bring them into the negotiations as Murphy and Richardson allegedly promised to do.

“We appreciate the League’s recognition of our needs,” the letter read. “Now it must recognize our voice in the negotiation of, and any agreement concerning, our rights.”

-- JON KRAWCZYNSKI