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NFL season's back as labor rift settled
Source: Agencies |
July 27, 2011, Wednesday
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THE National Football League and its players ended their months-long row over how to carve up their financial empire on Monday by agreeing to a multi-billion dollar, 10-year deal.
Key players from both sides shook hands and hugged each other like old friends during a news conference in Washington that signalled America's richest and most popular professional sport would proceed next season as planned.
"This has been a long time coming," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell trumpeted. "Football's back and that's good news for everybody."
Although the new collective bargaining agreement still had to be ratified by the players, the 4-1/2-month-old lockout ended with confirmation the NFL Players Association and player representatives backed the deal.
"Obviously, we have a collective bargaining ratification process that has yet to start," said NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith. "But our men believe that they should make this decision as players."
The players cannot vote on the deal until the NFLPA is recertified, but that was considered a formality.
The league set a deadline of August 4 for recertification but normal service will resume almost immediately with teams set to open doors yesterday for training while the annual free agency frenzy gets off to a belated start. "This is a fair deal that we're excited to present to our players," said Indianapolis Colts' Jeff Saturday, a player representative.
Both sides have been heavily criticized in the United States for trading insults and squabbling over a fortune at a time when many families are struggling to make ends meet.
The regular season will begin as scheduled on September 8 when the Green Bay Packers host the New Orleans Saint while the preseason will start on August 11. The only game lost as a result of the lockout is the annual Hall of Fame Game between the Chicago Bears and the St Louis Rams that was set for August 7.
Key players from both sides shook hands and hugged each other like old friends during a news conference in Washington that signalled America's richest and most popular professional sport would proceed next season as planned.
"This has been a long time coming," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell trumpeted. "Football's back and that's good news for everybody."
Although the new collective bargaining agreement still had to be ratified by the players, the 4-1/2-month-old lockout ended with confirmation the NFL Players Association and player representatives backed the deal.
"Obviously, we have a collective bargaining ratification process that has yet to start," said NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith. "But our men believe that they should make this decision as players."
The players cannot vote on the deal until the NFLPA is recertified, but that was considered a formality.
The league set a deadline of August 4 for recertification but normal service will resume almost immediately with teams set to open doors yesterday for training while the annual free agency frenzy gets off to a belated start. "This is a fair deal that we're excited to present to our players," said Indianapolis Colts' Jeff Saturday, a player representative.
Both sides have been heavily criticized in the United States for trading insults and squabbling over a fortune at a time when many families are struggling to make ends meet.
The regular season will begin as scheduled on September 8 when the Green Bay Packers host the New Orleans Saint while the preseason will start on August 11. The only game lost as a result of the lockout is the annual Hall of Fame Game between the Chicago Bears and the St Louis Rams that was set for August 7.
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