Hebert's gamble in 1990 paid off big for NFL's players

Four-hundred thousand dollars changed the landscape of the NFL. Think about that. A $400,000 raise per year for then-Saints quarterback Bobby Hebert from stingy general manager Jim Finks.

It would have saved the owners a lot of trouble.

That $400,000 eventually turned into a $200 million windfall for the more than 1,000 players stuck under the archaic -- and what turned out to be illegal -- Plan B player protection program preventing players from becoming free agents.

After joining the players' strike in 1987, Hebert made a bigger sacrifice in 1990 by sitting out the entire season. (Getty Images) All it took was Hebert, the admittedly stubborn, hard-headed Cajun from Cutoff, La., to risk his NFL livelihood by sitting out the entire 1990 season simply to prove a point. What he became was an unknowing trailblazer for the modern-day players as they sought their fair share of the $9 billion pie, the centerpiece of today's NFL unrest.

Hebert was the then-decertified player union's lead and most compelling witness in the benchmark McNeil v. NFL court case in 1992. This case paved the way for Reggie White to eventually finish off the NFL in court a year later to open up free agency for players.

He battled the NFL in court.

And he won. He won for all the players. He won for himself.

All it took was the biggest gamble of his life.

Hebert simply sought market value after the 1989 season, the end of Hebert's contract. Hebert would have been perfectly happy with a $400,000 raise per year, making him the first million-dollar player in franchise history.

"I'll never forget this," Hebert said. "I knew my contract was up. After eight games in 1989, I was the No. 1 ranked quarterback in the NFL after eight games. ... Then I had a couple of bad games and then I knew that Finks was going to bring up, 'Well, I don't even know if you're the starting quarterback for the team.' That's because I knew he didn't want to pay me. I knew I was ranked somewhere around ninth through that three-year period. Out of 28 quarterbacks, I was only paid around No. 19 and so I looked at it as I should be paid somewhere around where I was ranked. I was confident that if Finks wouldn't take care of me, that I knew I could play."

Finks was having none of that, and he knew he could get away with it back then.

Under the Plan B rule, teams could protect 37 players for basically as long as they lived -- contract or not. Hebert's contract was up and Finks could just sit on Hebert until he caved to a low-ball offer. The Raiders reportedly were willing to trade for Hebert. Finks stood his ground. Hebert wasn't going anywhere, and he wasn't going to be paid, either.

"[Finks] thought he could crush me," Hebert said. "He thought, 'You're going to sit out and rot.' So I almost wanted to prove to him that you're not going to hurt me. You think you're going to hurt me, but you're not."

So Hebert took the year off. Saints fans hated him for it.

"I was rolling the dice [by sitting out] of how was I ever going to make up that money," Hebert said. "But it was more of a matter of being hardheaded and the principle. I knew this was the right thing."

Hebert sat out once before, to no avail during the 1987 NFL players strike. Hebert missed all three games during the strike period while high-profile players like Lawrence Taylor and Joe Montana had either already crossed the picket line or never went on strike at all.

And of all people, Hebert said Finks wouldn't have shoved him right back in line with the picketers even if the Saints quarterback would have wanted to.

"In '87, I lost $185,000," Hebert said. "I never made up that money. But even if I would have wanted to cross that picket line, Jim Finks would not have let me. He would have said, 'What are you, crazy? You've got to play with these guys. When they come back, you come back.' "

During Super Bowl XLIV media day, Hebert shows his appreciation for current Saints QB Drew Brees. (Getty Images) It opened the door for Finks three years later to try to pull one over on Hebert. John Fourcade filled in for Hebert during the three replacement player games in 1987 and remained with the team as Hebert's backup through the 1989 season. The two players had been rivals dating back to high school football in south Louisiana.

With the Saints out of the playoff hunt in 1989, coach Jim Mora sat Hebert and started Fourcade during the final three games. Fourcade helped give Finks the ammunition he needed to stonewall Hebert as Fourcade guided New Orleans past Buffalo, Philadelphia and Indianapolis to give the Saints a 9-7 mark.

Hebert said Finks tried to tell him that he might not even be the starter going into 1990 because of Fourcade's solid play. In turn, Finks wouldn't have to pay Hebert starting quarterback money.

(To say Hebert didn't see Fourcade as a starting quarterback, well ... "I just looked at it as that Fourcade wouldn't have even been playing if there wasn't a strike," Hebert said. "I looked at it like if Finks thinks that Fourcade in the quarterback, well you kind of get what you pay for. He didn't even last a month [in 1990].")

Finks controlled Hebert's future. Hebert felt he had to take a stand.

"[Finks] thought just because I was from Lafourche Parish that, 'Oh, I could control him,'" Hebert said. "I said, 'Mr. Finks, it ain't like I've never left the bayou or something.' ... What I did was I stuck by my guns, when my contract was up in '89, I asked, 'Well how can someone own you if you don't have a contract?' So I challenged them and that's when Jim Finks was so old school. He was like Ralph Wilson, Art Modell. Finks was kind of senile old school. He would say, 'Oh, when I played, I only made $12,000.' And I said, 'Well yeah, you could build a brick house for $16,000.' That's just his way of thinking."

By no means was Hebert alone. Plan B stapled players, like then-Jets running back Freeman McNeil, to teams 'til death do you part rather than through the life of a contract. Hence, McNeil v. NFL was brought about. And Hebert became the poster child for the illegality of Plan B, whether he realized it or not.

"I didn't know any better," Hebert said. "I thought it was just common sense. I was just standing up for what was right. I told Mr. Finks I could live in a trailer. I'm not no silver spoon kind of guy and all of that. It's a matter of the principle. I'm just not gonna be, 'Oh just trust me, [Finks]. I'm going to do what's right for you.' No. I'm going to do what's right because I know what's right, and not think he's going to take care of me. This is the right thing and somebody has to stand their ground. I'm in a situation, so why not me?"

So Hebert testified in court in front of Judge David Doty (ring a bell?) what he endured.

"They could have been blowing smoke up my butt," Hebert said. "But I remember talking to some of the top [labor lawyers], and what Finks did to me and that you'll testify to, that some of those top guys say there's an 80 percent chance that you'd win the case. I'm thinking that sounded like pretty good odds. When I went to testify, I just basically said what happened. ... That's why, to me, it all worked out."

It was the players' trump card. It won the case for the players back then. And it has served as a watershed moment for the NFL players in labor negotiations.

"In the early 90s, when Bobby Hebert testified in front of Judge Doty, the word coming out of management side and ownership side was that free agency was going to ruin football," "NFLPA" assistant executive director of external affairs George Atallah said. "And if players got [the owners'] way, football would be ruined forever. Turns out that Bobby Hebert was right. Free agency was one of the foundations that helped this game grow and that has helped this game become successful. The [current] players are only out to seek a fair and long-term resolution to this issue [lockout, CBA]."

Only four of the eight plaintiffs actually received damages as a result of McNeil v. NFL, totaling $1.6 million. The real money came in a later settlement, when the NFL owed $200 million to more than 1,000 players affected by the Plan B system.

Hebert said he received the most of any of the 1,000-plus players. And deservedly so, considering he took the risk of risks by sitting out an entire season.

"They wanted to [split it even] as a union," Hebert said. "I said, 'Hell no. I'm the only one who freaking sat out.' I wasn't going to sign off on the settlement until I had seen where I got compensated most out of all the players, because I took the most."

Hebert eventually received a two-year deal in 1991 worth $1.8 million per season from Finks. When Hebert came back in 1991, he said Finks didn't attend his press conference.

"He was so bitter. ... Even Rickey Jackson, you know how crazy Rickey is, he told me, 'You know, you made that cancer grown in Mr. Finks [who died of lung cancer in 1994]. You had him so stressed out,'" Hebert said. "And I go, 'Rickey, what are you talking about?' Rickey will say anything."

But Hebert and the Saints were ready to cut ties once his contract expired. Hebert moved on to earn a Pro Bowl bid with the Falcons. Finks had bigger plans, too. He became the odds-on favorite to succeed Pete Rozelle as NFL commissioner. Finks had the vote in place and ready to go. But at the last minute, an unknown antitrust lawyer named Paul Tagliabue won the job.

Hebert is convinced Finks' $400,000 mistake cost the former Saints general manager the most powerful job in football. I reiterated to Hebert that a measly $400,000 that Finks wouldn't cough up cost the NFL $200 million, and all Hebert did was chuckle.

"All of the owners and general managers got pissed off at Finks because they made them feel like he made my case," Hebert said. "And if Finks would have paid and not been so stubborn over $400,000, then I probably would have signed and played."

The stubbornness on the parts of both Hebert and Finks helped open the door for free agency. It also inspired the players in the current labor fight to continue to battle for their beliefs.

"I've talked to Drew [Brees] about all of this, and that's why they looked at the avenue of going through the courts," Hebert said. "Can they truly outlast the owners? No. ... That's why they decertified. They saw the track record. When I look back from my experience to what is going on now, you do not want one side [with leverage]. It's obvious the owners are hammering the players right now because of the way the courts are going right now. Because then this is going to come up in like four or five years. If there's labor peace, I can see the NFL continuing to grow."

And every NFL player who followed Hebert owes the intransigent Cajun a debt of eternal gratitude for sticking to his guns.

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Tiki Barber battled depression, says he needs football

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Tiki Barber says failures off the field after his retirement from football in 2006 led to a yearlong bout with depression.

The 36-year-old Barber, the New York Giants' career leading rusher, acknowledged in an HBO report to be aired Tuesday that he now needs football more than it needs him.

Barber has spent the past four months working out in an attempt to make a comeback, although his chances rest on the league and its players reaching a new collective bargaining agreement.

Tiki Barber wants to put a scandalous divorce and collapse of his TV career behind him. (Getty Images) Barber said football represents a necessary anchor in a life turned upside down by the depressive aftermath of scandalous divorce and disintegration of his television career.

"The game never needs you because there's always someone else to come and take your place," he said. "But right now, I need the game."

The Associated Press attempted to telephone Barber, but his old cell phone number now leaves a message saying the person who has the number is not available.

"I need to prove to myself that I can be successful at something," told HBO. "I know I'm going to be successful as a football player. I don't know why. The odds say 'No.' I'm 36 and I haven't played in four years. But I just know."

The report recounts the downward spiral Barber's life took shortly after his retirement. What started as a promising career as an NBC football analyst ended in his firing. His marriage to his college sweetheart collapsed. And his relationship with a 23-year-old NBC intern which continues today soiled a well-honed, family man image.

Barber said he was unable to deal with losing his $2 million per year job, which started as a football analyst for Football Night in America and progressed to a featured role on the Today Show. But his demotion to on-field duties and, eventually, to unemployment, led to depression.

"I crafted this career, right?" he said. "And I had gotten to the point where I was right where I wanted to be and then I failed. It's hard to deal with."

Barber said after his job at NBC ended, he didn't do anything for a solid year.

"I remember there were days where I would literally wake up, have coffee, get something to eat and sit on the couch and do nothing for 10 hours," he said. "I started to shrivel. I didn't have that confidence. I didn't have the, that aura anymore."

Barber said his marriage actually started to crack six months after he ended his 10-year playing career.

His well-honed image as all-around good guy would take a huge hit when moved in with Tracy Lynn Johnson while his wife was pregnant with twins.

The story that hit the tabloids painted him as an adulterer, though Barber said he and his wife had separated before he accelerated his relationship with Tracy.

"I was in a bad marriage," Barber said in the interview "It was in trouble for a long time. And we decided to get separated. But Ginny got pregnant in the middle of it. And a lot of people think children save marriages; sometimes it makes it worse. And we split soon after she was pregnant.

"And I was on my own for a few days, and then I moved in with Tracy. And then, five months later, here comes the New York Post stalking me."

Barber said he never second-guesses his relationship with his girlfriend.

"NBC, marriage. I mean, the only thing that felt right was Tracy," Barber said. "It was the only thing that made me not really feel depressed."

The cycle broke around the time of the Super Bowl in Dallas in February, when friends and former coaches encouraged him to try a comeback.

Now, as he tries to rebuild his image through football, he endures daily workouts at New Jersey strongman Joe Carini's gym.

"There's a lot of coaches who I both have played against and played for who I think know what I'm about," Barber said. "And that gives me the belief that this opportunity is for real. And not only am I going to be on a team, I'm going to be a big part of a team."

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Newton say he wants Smith to stay in Carolina

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Carolina Panthers receiver Steve Smith says he briefly contemplated retiring this offseason as his wife dealt with health issues.

Now that tests have shown she doesn't have lupus, Smith is looking forward to proving he still can be an elite receiver at age 32. But whether the four-time Pro Bowl pick will be paired with No. 1 overall pick Cam Newton remains uncertain.

After Smith sidestepped questions Friday on whether he wants to return to Carolina, Newton made a sales pitch at Smith's youth football camp, Newton told a child he wanted to play for Carolina because it had the top pick "and I wanted to have someone great to throw to."

Asked later if he said that in hopes of swaying Smith, Newton smiled and replied, "Hopefully, he got the message."

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Cards' concerns on offense go deeper than quarterback

With the NFL lockout affording ample time, the Cardinals' quarterback search has become a disturbingly detailed Arizona obsession. As fans and journalists dissect each of Kevin Kolb's 319 career attempts, the significance of Kyle Orton's fourth-quarter passer rating, Carson Palmer's remaining resolve, Matt Hasselbeck's remaining cartilage, and Marc Bulger's inner fire, it's easy to overlook Arizona's other offensive woes.

"Any time you go 5-11 and have the 31st-rated offense, it's obvious you didn't perform well enough as a group," Cards offensive coordinator Mike Miller said. "The quarterbacks certainly had a hand in that performance last season, but that doesn't take the blame off the other positions."

Arizona's quarterbacks were sacked 50 times in 2010 -- tied for the NFL's second-highest total -- while the running game gained a league-low 86.8 yards per game.

With Derek Anderson's inaccuracy, Max Hall's inadequacies and John Skelton's inexperience, opposing defenses knew there was little threat of an Arizona passing attack. That made game-planning the impotent Cards easy.

But the offensive line also struggled to incorporate new starters Alan Faneca (left guard) and Brandon Keith (right tackle) while moving Deuce Lutui from left guard to right guard and Levi Brown from right tackle to left tackle.

The rushing game was hampered by Beanie Wells' early season knee surgery and Tim Hightower's fumbling and unexpected blocking issues.

The prevailing belief is that, with a competent quarterback, many of these problems will dissipate. Kurt Warner masked a lot of the Cards' deficiencies in a two-year run from 2008-2009.

But Arizona has a new offensive coordinator, potential holes to fill on the offensive line and an overcrowded backfield. With the valuable reps normally gained from OTAs now lost, and the free-agent period likely to be short and frenzied, there is warranted concern.

"Angst? Every club has that this year," Miller said. "You always want to have free agency before the draft and then get your work in, but unfortunately that's not the way it went this year."

Arizona stunned everyone on draft day when it selected Virginia Tech running back Ryan Williams with its second-round selection (38th overall), giving the Cards four backs who should demand significant reps in Williams, Wells, Hightower and LaRod Stephens-Howling.

Coach Ken Whisenhunt insisted the move was not intended as a wake-up call for Wells or Hightower. The Cards wanted to add playmakers to a team woefully short in that area, and Williams was too highly rated on Arizona's draft board to pass.

"Can you ever be overstocked at a position in this league?" Whisenhunt asked. "We used all four backs last year. There were times when we only had one available to us. We had three guys that were nicked up."

The Cards did use four backs last season, but Jason Wright came in mostly for pass protection and blocking, carrying the ball only six times while catching eight passes. In Wells, Hightower and Williams, the Cards have three backs who can carry a heavy load while Stephens-Howling gives them a third-down or change-of-pace back.

It's possible the Cards will keep all four players in the short term while they sort out their strengths. Whisenhunt loves competition at every position. But it's hard to envision all four remaining for the long run.

Hightower led the team in rushing last season with 736 yards (4.8 per carry), but his 10 fumbles over the past two seasons are tied for the second most in the NFL over that span. He's a prime candidate for release because he has never been viewed as a starting NFL back and his rookie contract has expired (the Cards made him a tender offer before the lockout began).

Perhaps more telling is the fact that Williams' arrival comes only two years after the Cards spent a first-round pick on Wells. If Wells had lived up to his potential, that would not have happened.

"I just look at it as more competition," Wells said. "We didn't have success in the run game last season. I'm not sure it was all due to the running back position, but I understand why they did this."

Despite an ankle injury on the first day of 2009 training camp, Wells had a productive rookie season, gaining 793 yards with seven touchdowns and a 4.5-yard average. But he had arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn meniscus and remove loose cartilage from his right knee after the team's final 2010 preseason game. The surgery was compounded by an allergic reaction to a medical injection in that knee in November.

Wells numbers dropped to 397 yards, 3.4 per carry and two touchdowns as he tried to overcome the knee issues.

"It got better late in the season, but it never felt 100 percent," he said.

Of the Cards' four backs, Wells is the most expensive, having signed a five-year contract worth $11.8 million in 2009, including $6.3 million guaranteed (the fifth year is a team option). Wells says he's not concerned by the drafting of Williams. But he also acknowledged that 2011 is important for his value -- in Arizona or elsewhere.

"I want to prove that I'm one of the elite running backs in this league," he said. "First and foremost, I want to play in Arizona because they drafted me and believed in me. But you have to keep your options open. If this does mean the end of my time in Arizona, then so be it. I'm going to continue to play football, and I know I'll have a chance to do that somewhere."

Wells isn't the only Cardinal who could be moving on. Depending on the new free-agency rules, Lutui, a five-year veteran, could become an unrestricted free agent this summer. Since Faneca retired last month, the possibility exists that the Cards will have two new starting guards to protect whichever quarterback they land this offseason.

"It's definitely not ideal," said center Lyle Sendlein, who also has an expired contract as he enters his fifth NFL season, but is likely to re-sign. "Continuity is important to any offensive line. It's up to us to come together no matter who's on the field, but it would be nice not to have so much change for a second straight year."

Lutui is still miffed about a contract holdout in 2010 training camp that netted him nothing.

"I got the same $1.73 million tender offer in the mail after the season," he said. "I was like, 'Man, you've got to be kidding. What does this mean?' It got me mad all over again."

Lutui believes he is a core member of the team that went to the Super Bowl, so he doesn't understand why the team hasn't extended his contract. If he does become a free agent, he will almost certainly go to the highest bidder. And he is well aware that Faneca's retirement puts the Cards in a tenuous spot.

"I'm loving my options right now," he said. "I'm looking to cash in on my experience in this business. If it happens here, the Cardinals know they'll get my best effort and I'll be a great teammate. But if it happens that I'm a free agent, it doesn't matter where I go. It's my turn."

The Cards did not draft any offensive linemen, leaving veteran Rex Hadnot as the current replacement for Faneca with guard/tackle Jeremy Bridges as insurance if Lutui leaves.

Whisenhunt and general manager Rod Graves have promised to be aggressive once the free-agency period opens, but remaking the offensive line for a second successive season would seem to be an ill-conceived plan with a new quarterback under center.

"We're going to have an opportunity to address the other areas," Whisenhunt said. "We've put a lot of time in to prepare for that, and we're ready to go."

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NFL source: Labor negotiations 80-85 percent complete

Inside the super duper not-so-secret meetings, jokes are exchanged, when threats were before. Handshakes are commonplace. So are smiles and chit chat: How's the wife? How's the kids? Good to hear. Tell them I said, Hi.

These are the new owners and player meetings that are now apparently moving faster than light speed with a great sense of politeness toward a collective bargaining agreement. The usual cautious caveats apply, but it's crystal clear now: the bullet train is headed toward a deal and the only thing that can stop it is last-minute, rampant stupidity. That likely won't happen.

One source with intimate knowledge of the discussions tells me negotiations are 80-85 percent complete. They've made such fast progress, I'm told, it's catching many of the principals by surprise. Some are now canceling vacations, believing an agreement will be reached within a matter of days.

Basically, it seems, we continue to move solidly into that threshold where a season will be played, not if one will be played. Again, barring the knucklehead factor.

"It's going to be very difficult for this to get screwed up," the source said.

That doesn't mean the negotiations can't revert back to the primordial days of disgust and hatred, or that the talks can't implode. It does mean, however, that the discussions are in such a good place it would be difficult for even the most selfish, destructive personality to affect them.

No one will go into specifics about what concessions are being made. What is being said is that both owners and players are making major ones and that has greased the CBA skids.

"I think all the players want to do is get back on the field," Minnesota Vikings tight end Visanthe Shiancoe told me. "I think owners have a vested interest in getting this done as well."

The tone of the meetings has taken such a dramatic turn it has indeed been like a different set of gatherings. The players, I'm told, had no trust in anything ownership said during the initial mediation sessions but that has completely changed. Different proposals are exchanged almost daily. The two sides are, well, finally and heartily negotiating.

In addition to the previously reported dinner involving trade association head DeMaurice Smith and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, several owners and players have had private lunches together. These smaller, informal meetings also have helped.

I've confirmed that lawyers for both sides have returned to the negotiating table after being kicked out of the room for weeks. Their return is another sign of good news since the talks are now getting more specific. Hopefully, the lawyers won't torpedo progress.

One person tells the story of how he saw more smiles in one recent negotiation than he had in almost all of the mediation sessions in Washington combined.

If a deal is soon struck, more smiles will follow.

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Not ready to buy what agent is selling on Pryor

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. -- Terrelle Pryor signed for free.

The historic moment occurred Tuesday, a few minutes after a fraud of a sham of a joke of a news conference that his manipulating, oily, loud-mouthed superagent called to waste everyone's time. The real news occurred out of sight of cameras and (most) notebooks when Luke Lemoncelli offered his mini-Buckeye helmet to Ohio State's disgraced quarterback as Pryor was whisked away down a Fontainebleau Hotel hallway.

The signed helmet was handed back, signed without -- brace yourselves -- the nation's most famous in-limbo QB asking for a tattoo in return. Let's be kind for a moment: With Pryor's college days over and his professional future less than certain, the market for his autograph has kind of bottomed out. But here's a novel concept: Lemoncelli, a just-graduated high school student, doesn't care.

"I'm going to keep it," said Lemoncelli, who just moved from New Jersey to Florida. "I collect all this stuff."

So does a certain Columbus tattoo parlor owner, kid. That's why that scene may be how we remember Pryor. His mouthpiece Drew Rosenhaus tried his best to hijack the moment in announcing that Pryor essentially had declared for the NFL supplemental draft Tuesday afternoon. That was hardly the news. There's no guarantee Pryor will be a) taken; b) taken high or c) taken as a quarterback.

Or ever take a snap as a professional.

That's why Rosenhaus did his best Rosenhaus, trying to drum up hype for what he termed, "a great, not a good quarterback, a great quarterback in the National Football League." Whatever. The real mystery remains why Pryor is in the situation in the first place. It's easy to draw our own conclusions.

Pryor left Ohio State abruptly last week. On the same day, ESPN reported he had taken more than tattoos and a few bucks for his signature. Pryor reportedly received $20,000-$40,000 during his three years at Ohio State just for being Terrelle. Oh, and there's the appearance that he has driven a used-car lot since coming to Columbus.

Three months away from stepping on the field for his senior year, less than two months from Ohio State's NCAA infractions committee hearing, T.P. bounced. On Tuesday, Rosenhaus tried to draw our attention away from the moral arguments left behind. The ones about paying players, the debate about the level of diligence in the scandal by Ohio State's president, AD and compliance department.

After nine minutes of the badly staged presser, the main message was reinforced: Pryor took care of Pryor. It's a philosophy that Reggie Bush can relate to and one that isn't uncommon. Entitlement R Them.

"For a college student, I understand," Lemoncelli said. "College students don't have a lot of money, know what I mean? I think the NCAA needs to make some new rules for college students with money."

Maybe, but would $3,000 a year have kept Pryor from allegedly making five figures? For that matter, would three large have kept A.J. Green from selling his Georgia jersey for $1,000?

Perhaps those two were sloppier than everyone else. Perhaps the system is broken. Green at least got part of a final season to show off for the NFL. It's clear Pryor is being pushed into this abyss because the NCAA is closing in, but for what? For about 1? minutes of that news conference, Pryor apologized (again, considering he was already suspended for five games) and hinted.

"I never meant to hurt anybody directly with my conduct off the field and I am truly sorry," Pryor said.

We know about some of it. Is there more? There was more from Rosenhaus who quoted his newest client as that client sat right next to him: "Drew, I didn't make this decision. I did not want to leave Ohio State. I wanted to finish at Ohio State, even knowing I would lose five games. I lost that opportunity through my own conduct."

One mystery will be solved. We'll eventually find out the depth of Pryor's wrongdoing when the infractions committee releases its reports months from now. By then, Pryor may be a bigger question on the field than he is off of it.

That's why Rosenhaus manipulated as only he can do. In the space of those nine minutes, he compared Pryor to Cam Newton, claimed his client would run a 4.4 40 for the pros and could "jump through the gym."

"You can't tell me people aren't going to jump on this young man," Rosenhaus said.

Oh, yes we can, if only because the agent seemed so needy trying to rehab Pryor's image. Don't forget that Rosenhaus may have been an inspiration for Jerry Maguire. The difference being that in the movie, Jerry eventually finds his soul. It seems that the real-life Drew would sell his just to get Pryor into the NFL.

Check out this glowing report of Pryor's Tuesday morning workout with Chad Ochocinco at a local high school.

"In the middle of his workout [Ochocinco] came over to me and he says, 'Are you serious, Drew. They're talking about him not being a quarterback? He is as good as any quarterback I've played with.' For anyone who questions his arm strength, give me a break. "

Maybe, but here's what a decidedly more somber Ochocinco was credited with tweeting to Pryor earlier Tuesday.

u ready young grasshopper? Don't blink ...

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Pryor apologizes to Buckeyes, Tressel, doesn't say why

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. -- Terrelle Pryor ended his silence Tuesday -- for exactly 97 seconds.

Speaking out, albeit briefly, for the first time since his college career at Ohio State ended embroiled in scandal, Pryor appeared with agent Drew Rosenhaus and gave a brief statement. He apologized to the Buckeyes, to his former teammates and to now-departed coach Jim Tressel for his role in the mess that may take down one of America's proudest programs.

"I say sorry to all the Buckeye nation and all the Buckeye fans across the country," Pryor said. "I never meant to hurt anybody directly or indirectly with my conduct off the field and I am truly sorry."

Pryor had already been suspended by Ohio State and the NCAA for the first five games of what would have been his senior season this fall for accepting improper benefits, such as cash and discounted tattoos. The scandal led to Tressel's forced resignation. Tressel acknowledged knowing his players were taking improper benefits but covered it up for more than nine months before Ohio State officials discovered his knowledge.

Pryor is Ohio State's all-time leading rusher among quarterbacks, with 2,164 yards. He also threw 57 touchdown passes, tying a school record, and is now aiming to be selected in the NFL's supplemental draft this summer.

"In terms of coach Jim Tressel, a special shoutout," Pryor said. "I'm sorry for what all went down and I apologize with all my heart. I love you just like a father. You taught me a lot and I apologize for putting you in a situation and taking you out of a job and place that you loved to be. I regret the fact that you're not there any more and I regret the fact that I'm not there any more."

The NCAA continues investigating all aspects of Ohio State's athletic program, particularly the football team, including whether athletes received cars, money or other extra benefits that would be against collegiate rules. Last week, when Pryor revealed that he was leaving school, ESPN reported that a former friend of his, speaking to the network under the condition of anonymity, claimed the quarterback made up to $40,000 annually signing autographs.

Pryor might still be asked to cooperate with that NCAA investigation. However, his attorney Larry James said last week the quarterback feels no obligation to speak with NCAA investigators now that he is no longer enrolled at Ohio State.

"He is very sad about what has happened to his college career and Ohio State," Rosenhaus said. "I can tell you that he is extremely, he is responsible for the mistakes that he has made. He has owned up to that. There are no excuses here, guys. No excuses at all. But the past is now the past for him and we have to move ahead. There is no point in him looking back."

Terrelle Pryor makes his brief statement before agent Drew Rosenhaus takes over. (AP) Rosenhaus, who famously once kept repeating "Next question" at a news conference he hosted about client Terrell Owens -- the agent even got the pronunciations of their first names mixed up at one point -- took the tact of "No questions" on Tuesday.

"I think I've said it all," Rosenhaus said after he spoke for about six minutes in which, among other things, he insisted he believes Pryor will be a first-round pick in this summer's supplemental draft. "So I'd like to thank everybody for coming. Guys, we're going to shut it down right now and I appreciate your time. Thank you."

Reporters shouted questions and followed Rosenhaus, Pryor, other members of the entourage and some security up a hotel corridor, to no avail.

"Terrelle Pryor will be a great -- not a good quarterback -- a great quarterback in the National Football League," Rosenhaus said. "He is going to be a star. This experience that he has gone through will galvanize him and make him a better person, a stronger person."

Rosenhaus said he spoke with Tressel before signing Pryor as a client, and that the former Buckeyes coach will remain involved with Pryor's future. "He's going to champion this young man," Rosenhaus said.

The agent, who represents many NFL stars, also compared Pryor to Cam Newton, the No. 1 pick in this year's draft. Some prognosticators have suggested Pryor might not be worth more than a fourth- or fifth-round pick in the supplemental draft, in which teams would have to forfeit a parallel-round choice in the 2012 draft by making a selection. Others have speculated that Pryor may be better served changing positions.

"This league needs quarterbacks. Are you kidding me? Middle round for this guy?" Rosenhaus said.

As Rosenhaus was speaking during the event, Pryor mainly stared straight ahead, arms folded and resting on the table. He worked out Tuesday morning with a group including receiver Chad Ochocinco, who offered praise on Twitter.

"With the right coaching after what I saw today with my own eyes he can be a great QB," Ochocinco wrote.

Pryor also said he wants to graduate from Ohio State, noting he's nine credits short of his degree.

"I'm working hard every single day on the field and off the field to be a better quarterback," Pryor said. "Also, one of my goals is to be the best person I can possibly be off the field."

When Pryor finished, Rosenhaus looked at him and said, "Terrific. Thank you, Terrelle."

Pryor didn't speak again.

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Hall of Famer Johnson, starred in '50s, '60s, dies

TRACY, Calif. -- Hall of Fame running back John Henry Johnson died Friday. He was 81.

The San Francisco 49ers said in a release Saturday that Johnson, who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987 after a 14-season NFL career, died in Tracy.

A member of the "Million Dollar Backfield," Johnson played three seasons for the 49ers (1954-56). A four-time Pro Bowler (1954, 1962-64), Johnson's 6,803 career yards rushing trailed only Jim Brown, Jim Taylor and former 49er Joe Perry upon his retirement in 1966. Johnson was also a productive receiver, catching 186 passes for 1,478 yards. He scored 55 touchdowns during his career.

Johnson also played one season in the CFL before joining San Francisco.

"I was deeply saddened to hear of John Henry Johnson's passing," said 49ers owner John York. "He was a good friend, not only to my family and me, but the entire 49ers organization. As a member of the "Million Dollar Backfield" he holds a cherished place in both 49ers and NFL history. His contributions to the game of football will be forever celebrated.

"Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to the entire Johnson family."

That acclaimed backfield included three other future Hall of Famers: Perry, Hugh McElhenny and Y.A. Tittle. The group remains the only full-house backfield to have all four of its members enshrined in the Hall of Fame.

Drafted in the second round (18th overall) by the Steelers in 1953, Johnson went to play in the Canadian Football League for one season instead. He then joined San Francisco.

In his rookie year with the 49ers, Johnson ranked second in the league with 681 yards rushing and a 5.3-yard average, scoring nine touchdowns. He finished his three-year stint in San Francisco with 1,051 yards rushing and 12 touchdowns, 279 yards receiving on 38 receptions.

Johnson went on to play for the Detroit Lions (1957-59), Steelers (1960-65) and Houston Oilers (1966) of the American Football League. The Lions won their last NFL title with Johnson on the team in 1957.

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Judge makes court's case clear -- talk among yourselves

ST. LOUIS -- The most significant comment at Friday's hearing before the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals wasn't made by lawyers for the NFL or its players. It was made by presiding Judge Kermit Bye after each attorney finished with his argument and he brought the one-hour session to a conclusion.

Congratulating lawyers for their "exceptional" briefs and "well-represented" presentations, Judge Bye signed off by saying the court would render its decision "in due course" but "wouldn't be all that hurt if you go out and settle this case."

Players union leader DeMaurice Smith will have to read between the line as the judge says he'd give a decision 'in due course.' (AP) That was not an instruction. But it was a hint, and the suggestion was clear: Find a way to settle this yourselves, guys, and try to make it quick. Because if you don't, the court will make its decision, and one of you won't like it.

Of course, the court could delay that verdict to see how out-of-courts talks that began this week proceed. If they're productive, with both sides seeming to make progress toward a resolution, maybe, just maybe, the court delays its decision. If not, I would say we look for a verdict from the Eighth Circuit in two to three weeks.

"I think the court would love to see a settlement," said Geoffrey Rapp, professor at the College of Law at the University of Toledo. "Given the huge stakes here, any Eighth Circuit decision would be appealed to the United States Supreme Court [though there's no guarantee the court would grant certiorari.] So the best hope for a resolution of the dispute quickly is settlement, rather than the continued working of the judicial process.

"That said, I don't think the court will intentionally delay releasing an opinion. Even if it acts on an accelerated schedule it will still take awhile to get an agreement on a published decision. The timeframe the court has in mind will allow for discussions toward settlement to go wherever they are likely to go."

Barring an upset, the expectation is that the Eighth Circuit Court rules in favor of the NFL, allowing the lockout to stand and lifting an injunction issued in April by U.S. District Court Judge Susan Nelson. That is not based on anything that was said or done Friday; it is based on a permanent stay imposed last month by the same three judges who heard Friday's arguments.

With that ruling, they seemed to tip their hand toward a future decision in favor of the NFL, and the message wasn't lost on either side. In fact, I would argue that it was that decision -- with the expectation that the Eighth Circuit remains in the NFL's corner on its motion for appeal -- that brought players and owners together this week in Chicago for what were termed "confidential talks."

There is a sense that progress was made there that hadn't been made at prior mediations, and the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals must have agreed. Bye not only reminded both sides to pursue their options there, but he did it in front of an overflow audience that included notable agents, including Tom Condon, and approximately 25 past and current players.

"The sad part for the players," said former tight end Ernie Conwell, "is that they firmly believe there really wasn't a negotiating partner on the other side of the table [when negotiations broke off March 11]. The players feel like the plan all along was to lock the players out.

"I know the [NFL's] argument today is the only way [to a settlement is] to bargain, but we've been there and we didn't have a willing participant. Clearly, the plan has been for years to lock the doors on guys."

But Conwell also conceded that "time is on the league's side," and that's a key component here. Players were here to show their support for their side and to voice unanimity for the players' stand. But they know what Conwell knows, which is that the longer the stalemate lasts the worse their chances for holding out -- basically because management has more resources.

Of course, that doesn't mean owners aren't hurt, too. They are. The Cowboys' Jerry Jones has been public about the pressures he is under to own and operate a $1.2-billion stadium that sits empty. Attorney Paul Clement, who eloquently and forcefully argued the league's case Friday, insisted the lockout wasn't one-sided but amounted to a "self-inflicted wound" by owners who employed it as a negotiating tactic to push employees back to the bargaining table.

More important, Clement argued that the NFL's non-statutory labor exemption should be "one business cycle," or at least a year, and not six months as Judge Duane Benton suggested. That's important because it suggests the league is prepared to dig in for at least a year if it must, though most owners would tell you -- as the New York Giants' John Mara did at last week's meetings -- they believe there will be football this season.

"What we tried to make clear in there is that we think the lockout is the best way to get players back on the field," Clement said afterward. "And you say, 'Why do you think that?' We think that because that's what all labor laws say.

"The way you get labor peace is that you allow both sides to use the tools that labor law gives them. That means employees get the right to strike in certain situations, and employers get to lock people out. The idea is using those labor-law tools will accomplish labor peace."

The question, though, is how to get there. Either the league and its players accomplish something in out-of-court talks, or we hear from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals later this month, and the two sides take it from there.

"We are here today to try and lift the lockout so players can play football," said George Atallah, spokesman for the NFL Players Association. "At the same time, that doesn't mean that negotiations or settlement negotiations couldn't continue. You saw that over the past couple of days. It's a false choice to think that one could happen over the other."

But at least it's a choice, and the court on Friday made it clear which it would prefer the two sides make.

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A Guide to Finding the Perfect NFL Jersey For Yourself

There is something about the NFL that just can't compare to any other sport. The excitement, the camaraderie and the special way that fans support their teams are just some of the reasons that NFL fans like to invest in vast collections of NFL gear to show their support properly.

Your love for the NFL can be expressed in many ways. You want to support your team as much as possible, and this can mean screaming and cheering at games, or kitting yourself out in your teams gear. The fact that you want to express your love for the NFL through NFL jerseys and other accessories is understandable.

If you are looking for a new NFL jersey, you need to read this article to ensure that you buy only the best jersey and other NFL accessories for yourself.

NFL jerseys: An overview

Every team on the NFL has its own unique apparel, from jerseys to caps and beyond. No matter which NFL team you support, there is a wide range of apparel you can buy to show your complete support.

The jerseys come in two main varieties, the authentic, and the fake. In addition, the differences between the two can often only be seen in the price, with real NFL jerseys and apparel costing far more than the fakes.

Thanks to online shopping, it's possible to find a great deal on NFL apparel, if you know where to look that is. Luckily, all you need is an internet connection and a bit of time to spare in order to find the best NFL clothing for less. Start by searching for your specific team and browse the available selection.

Whether you support the Minnesota Vikings or the Eagles, there is a perfect NFL jersey for you. For an NFL fan, there is no greater gift than a quality NFL jersey. If you are looking to spoil an NFL fan in your life, consider buying an NFL jersey as a gift.

The Author is an expert in article writing and has done a lot of research online and offline. Come visit the author latest websites on NFL Youth Jerseys and NFL Kids Jerseys [http://www.nflkidsjerseys.org/]

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Joe Montana's son pleads not guilty to drunk driving

MISSOULA, Mont. -- The son of NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana has pleaded not guilty to charges of driving under the influence of alcohol and speeding.

Nate Montana appeared in Missoula County Justice Court on Friday.

Jail records show the 21-year-old Montana was booked into jail on a first-offense DUI charge at 3:46 a.m. Friday and released after posting a $685 bond.

The Missoulian reports that Montana and his attorney declined to comment at the hearing.

Montana transferred from Notre Dame to the University of Montana in Missoula in February and is vying for the starting quarterback spot.

Montana was one of 11 Notre Dame athletes arrested on misdemeanor charges of underage drinking at a party in South Bend, Ind., last July.

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Former 'Tampa Tribune' sports editor McEwen dies

TAMPA, Fla. -- Tom McEwen, a longtime sports columnist and editor at the Tampa Tribune, has died in Florida. He was 88.

McEwen died early Sunday at his Davis Island home. McEwen's wife, Linda, says he had been battling an aggressive form of cancer.

McEwen served as the paper's sports editor from 1962 until 1992. He also wrote six columns a week, totaling more than 10,000 columns during his tenure. His final column ran in 2001.

The Wauchula native was named Florida Sportswriter of the Year a record 19 times. He is credited with helping bring a professional football franchise to Tampa.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

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NFL and Social Networking

The NFL is driven by their media coverage. For millions of fans around the world the media is the only way they are able to connect with their favorite NFL teams or to watch all of the games that are played within the NFL season. The actual number of people who physically buy a ticket and go watch an NFL game in person, pales in comparison to the number of people that watch the games every Sunday on television. If it were not for the media the sport of professional football simply would not exist in its current capacity.

Many people complain about the coverage that a lot of NFL games get and they complain that they are no longer able to watch these games because they have been moved to Cable, or because they do not like the announcer that is calling the game, but the bottom line is that if it were not for these media outlets that broadcast the game these same fans would be left in the dark and not be able to watch their favorite teams play at all.

The NFL and the media have had a close relationship since the sport began. With networks such as ESPN giving around the clock coverage to the NFL it is no surprise that the media has taken a leading role in the NFL. The media that surrounds the NFL also come in many forms other than television. There are entire magazines dedicated strictly to the NFL. There are websites, newspapers, subscription services, and merchandise shops that all have begun as a result of the NFL and its popularity among fans. The media is tasked with getting the word out about the NFL and fans are gobbling up every available bit of information as fast as the media outlets can put it out.

Without the media the NFL would be a black hole. We might hear about a game from a friend of a friend who attended the game but we would not know what was happening unless we lived close to an NFL stadium. Media has made the world a lot smaller and we are now able to connect with people from across the country and be on the same platform about what is happening in the NFL. The media attention that comes with the Super Bowl each year is the largest media event every year. The network that broadcasts the big game brings in incredible amounts of revenue for the commercial spots and it should come as no surprise that the teams and the networks make a lot of money as well. The NFL and the media could not live without each other and they will do everything to protect each other.

Find out about NFL and the NFL draft from my site www.nfldrafthistory.com

Think this lockout is strange? Wait until you hear about '87

PITTSBURGH -- Mention the previous period of labor strife to a Steelers player of that day, and from deep inside veterans and replacements alike arises a chortle.

Then it grows into a guffaw.

1987? Ha-ha-how could they forget?

It all started with Steelers replacement camp in Johnstown, the central Pennsylvania city that floods, the inspiration for the Charlestown Chiefs a decade earlier in the film Slap Shot. This time, it was closer to slapstick.

A member of the L.A. Raiders sits in a picket line during the strike of 1987. (Getty Images) "We went to the bar across the street, had a few beers after practice, and walked back to the hotel," recalled quarterback Steve Bono, a late cut in the club's training camp two months earlier. "To think, we went to camp for six weeks in Latrobe, then went to camp for two more weeks in Johnstown. What were we, nuts?"

Center Mike Webster mooned his striking veteran teammates when they came to picket practice at Johnstown's Point Stadium. "He bent over and started patting his butt. We were howling," tackle and player rep Tunch Ilkin remembered of the future Hall of Famer.

Receiver John Stallworth caught his 500th career pass amid giddy replacement mates whose names he barely remembered by their third and final game together. The pass came on a trap audible, advised by Webster at the line and thrown by Bono, confounded by the post-reception fuss. Bono, by the way, roomed with former UCLA teammate Lupe Sanchez, a Steelers veteran safety walking a line outside Three Rivers Stadium at the time.

Oh, and both replacements and strikers shared the same grass field outside the Pittsburgh stadium, practicing one group after the other because team president Dan Rooney made sure that the vets had a key and a football mission.

Those were a convoluted 24 strike days, to be sure.

"It was interesting," said Rodney Carter, a rookie third-down back enabled by the strike to earn two more seasons to follow. "It was a different time."

"It was," Ilkin added, "a crazy time."

True, parallels exist with today's NFL lockout and nearly 3-month-old labor unrest: decertification of the players association; a Rooney (Art II, not Dan) and a Mara (John, not Wellington) in key positions for the owners; and a lawsuit in front of U.S. District Court Judge David S. Doty in Minnesota (the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear oral arguments Friday in St. Louis).

Yet, at least for these Steelers, nobody expects to relive those '87 days.

Except in the case where history bears repeating for purely educational and entertainment reasons.

"We got our butts kicked so bad in the strike," Ilkin, now a Steelers radio broadcaster, was saying this week.

Added Craig Wolfley, his assistant rep at the time and a fellow Steelers radio broadcaster today: "We were like the Iraqi Army looking to give itself up to the CNN camera crew."

Under the leadership of Gene Upshaw, the players association membership agreed to strike after the '87 season's second week.

Their stance, in hindsight, was a mite shaky.

They didn't believe owners would stage replacement games. "We were 0 for 1," Ilkin scored it.

They didn't believe the NFL's television partners would air such games. "0 for 2."

They didn't believe fans would pay to watch. "0 for 3."

The Steelers' franchise as a whole was starting to whiff at the plate. As the decade after the Super Bowl 1970s unfolded, with only Webster, Stallworth and safety Donnie Shell remaining among their four-ring crowd, the franchise started to lapse into a sub.-500 state for the first time since coach Chuck Noll's third season, 1971. The two years before 1987, they went 7-9 and 6-10.

So their front office tried to plan ahead for the eventuality of labor trouble, especially five years after a 57-day strike in 1982 that began -- yet again -- after Week 2. Released players such as Bono hung around Pittsburgh, living with Sanchez. Carter, a two-time cut after being a 1986 seventh-rounder, fretted through the dilemma of a financial incentive.

"It might have been, like, [a walk-away offer of] $1,000," said Carter, who works in pharmaceutical sales near Bethlehem, Pa. "If there was a strike, you would come back and play. If there wasn't, you could keep the money. I was one of the last cuts on the final cut day, and I was coming off a knee injury. I didn't take [the money]."

Carter drove directly from his native New Jersey to Johnstown for replacement camp. There he joined a running-back pal who was signed by his hometown Steelers the season before, Chuck Sanders of Slippery Rock. They sat in their hotel Jacuzzi soaking up a new sensation: Free of making-the-roster stress.

"We felt like the stars, me and Rodney Carter," recalled Sanders, the founder and CEO of a settlement-services firm in Pittsburgh.

Carter remembered that night they repaired to their chain hotel room and ordered room service -- most likely burgers, he said -- "and Chuck looked at me: 'This is how the kings live.'"

Paupers abounded among the replacements. One unidentified player wore headphones to the inaugural Johnstown practice until kicker Dave Trout, six years earlier a Steeler, warned him about facing Noll's music. Wannabes came and went in a single day.

"I remember one guy, we were supposed to be in shorts, and he was trying to return punts," Sanders began. "And the ball kept hitting him in the face. Coaches said, 'We got to get you a helmet.'"

"It was a cast of characters," said Bono, who works in financial investments in Menlo Park, Calif. "Even though the movie The Replacements was Hollywood, I always felt the casting of the characters was really good. We had all those types."

Most of any tension was focused on the veterans, starting with a 14-year veteran earning $18,000-plus per game -- the first of four Steelers captains to cross.

"Webby called me up," Ilkin explained. "He was in tears. He said, '... I don't know if I'm going to do this again.' I said, 'Go ahead, man.' But some guys were upset because he was the captain."

"Actually, I was not going to play," said Bono, whose replacement stint sent him on a 15-year career arc that included a Pro Bowl and 13-3 season with the 1995 Chiefs. "I grew up in a union family. My dad was a tool-and-die maker, in the International Machinists Union. But my dad, who was on strike at that time, said: 'You need to play, and these are the reasons why.' He's the one who talked me into it. And thank goodness he did.

"We had a pretty good team., too. Thank goodness for the Mike Websters and Earnest Jacksons and John Stallworths ... and guys who crossed. Plus, guys like me who were not on rosters and came to play. We had for sure a few guys who ended up sticking around for several more years" such as Bono, Carter, guard Brian Blankenship, cornerbacks Larry Griffin and Cornell Gowdy plus linebacker Tyronne Stowe.

The city that floods actually provided a safe haven, far from what Sanders described as "ugly" behavior befalling friends in such places as Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.: "We were better off going to Johnstown, which was smart by the Rooneys."

When the Steelers veterans showed Oct. 2 to picket, the atmosphere was jovial. The vets stood on a bridge overlooking Point Stadium, home mostly to high school sports and a famed Babe Ruth baseball tournament. Each side teased the other, the butt of jokes, a la Webster.

Two days later, the Steelers replacements opened play that resulted in a 2-1 strike record, winning in Atlanta, losing in Los Angeles to a Rams defense with most of its veteran starters and beating the Colts in that Stallworth moment at home. The vets worked out at the downtown YMCA courtesy of then-director Bill Parise, who so happens to represent Steelers linebacker James Harrison nowadays. They practiced at their usual Three Rivers field thanks to Rooney -- "Dan calls up and says, 'There's a key on [this secretary's] desk. You didn't get it from me,'" Ilkin recollected.

After that third replacement game, with an end imminent, Ilkin and Wolfley gathered the veterans at Three Rivers to await word whether to strike or report. Ilkin spoke to Upshaw over a mobile telephone -- before cell phones, remember -- installed in the foreign-made luxury sedan of second-round draftee Delton Hall, the starting cornerback opposite Rod Woodson.

"I thought, if anybody got a picture of that, it wouldn't look good: 'Players on strike, and he's in a Mercedes?!'" Ilkin said.

"That whole strike really, wow, was a mess," Carter continued.

Later on, due mostly to a decertified union and the lawsuit before Doty, the veterans received free agency and the NFL entered a salary-cap era that helped to transform it into a $9 billion business.

"Wow.. ., wow... ," Bono said, struggling to describe it. "People in general have been asking me about the current strike, what's going on. That one [in '87] was a little different."

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Judge makes court's case clear -- talk among yourselves

ST. LOUIS -- The most significant comment at Friday's hearing before the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals wasn't made by lawyers for the NFL or its players. It was made by presiding Judge Kermit Bye after each attorney finished with his argument and he brought the one-hour session to a conclusion.

Congratulating lawyers for their "exceptional" briefs and "well-represented" presentations, Judge Bye signed off by saying the court would render its decision "in due course" but "wouldn't be all that hurt if you go out and settle this case."

Players union leader DeMaurice Smith will have to read between the line as the judge says he'd give a decision 'in due course.' (AP) That was not an instruction. But it was a hint, and the suggestion was clear: Find a way to settle this yourselves, guys, and try to make it quick. Because if you don't, the court will make its decision, and one of you won't like it.

Of course, the court could delay that verdict to see how out-of-courts talks that began this week proceed. If they're productive, with both sides seeming to make progress toward a resolution, maybe, just maybe, the court delays its decision. If not, I would say we look for a verdict from the Eighth Circuit in two to three weeks.

"I think the court would love to see a settlement," said Geoffrey Rapp, professor at the College of Law at the University of Toledo. "Given the huge stakes here, any Eighth Circuit decision would be appealed to the United States Supreme Court [though there's no guarantee the court would grant certiorari.] So the best hope for a resolution of the dispute quickly is settlement, rather than the continued working of the judicial process.

"That said, I don't think the court will intentionally delay releasing an opinion. Even if it acts on an accelerated schedule it will still take awhile to get an agreement on a published decision. The timeframe the court has in mind will allow for discussions toward settlement to go wherever they are likely to go."

Barring an upset, the expectation is that the Eighth Circuit Court rules in favor of the NFL, allowing the lockout to stand and lifting an injunction issued in April by U.S. District Court Judge Susan Nelson. That is not based on anything that was said or done Friday; it is based on a permanent stay imposed last month by the same three judges who heard Friday's arguments.

With that ruling, they seemed to tip their hand toward a future decision in favor of the NFL, and the message wasn't lost on either side. In fact, I would argue that it was that decision -- with the expectation that the Eighth Circuit remains in the NFL's corner on its motion for appeal -- that brought players and owners together this week in Chicago for what were termed "confidential talks."

There is a sense that progress was made there that hadn't been made at prior mediations, and the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals must have agreed. Bye not only reminded both sides to pursue their options there, but he did it in front of an overflow audience that included notable agents, including Tom Condon, and approximately 25 past and current players.

"The sad part for the players," said former tight end Ernie Conwell, "is that they firmly believe there really wasn't a negotiating partner on the other side of the table [when negotiations broke off March 11]. The players feel like the plan all along was to lock the players out.

"I know the [NFL's] argument today is the only way [to a settlement is] to bargain, but we've been there and we didn't have a willing participant. Clearly, the plan has been for years to lock the doors on guys."

But Conwell also conceded that "time is on the league's side," and that's a key component here. Players were here to show their support for their side and to voice unanimity for the players' stand. But they know what Conwell knows, which is that the longer the stalemate lasts the worse their chances for holding out -- basically because management has more resources.

Of course, that doesn't mean owners aren't hurt, too. They are. The Cowboys' Jerry Jones has been public about the pressures he is under to own and operate a $1.2-billion stadium that sits empty. Attorney Paul Clement, who eloquently and forcefully argued the league's case Friday, insisted the lockout wasn't one-sided but amounted to a "self-inflicted wound" by owners who employed it as a negotiating tactic to push employees back to the bargaining table.

More important, Clement argued that the NFL's non-statutory labor exemption should be "one business cycle," or at least a year, and not six months as Judge Duane Benton suggested. That's important because it suggests the league is prepared to dig in for at least a year if it must, though most owners would tell you -- as the New York Giants' John Mara did at last week's meetings -- they believe there will be football this season.

"What we tried to make clear in there is that we think the lockout is the best way to get players back on the field," Clement said afterward. "And you say, 'Why do you think that?' We think that because that's what all labor laws say.

"The way you get labor peace is that you allow both sides to use the tools that labor law gives them. That means employees get the right to strike in certain situations, and employers get to lock people out. The idea is using those labor-law tools will accomplish labor peace."

The question, though, is how to get there. Either the league and its players accomplish something in out-of-court talks, or we hear from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals later this month, and the two sides take it from there.

"We are here today to try and lift the lockout so players can play football," said George Atallah, spokesman for the NFL Players Association. "At the same time, that doesn't mean that negotiations or settlement negotiations couldn't continue. You saw that over the past couple of days. It's a false choice to think that one could happen over the other."

But at least it's a choice, and the court on Friday made it clear which it would prefer the two sides make.

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NFL Gifts Still Popular After Holiday Season

The 2009 holiday season has come and went, and if you're a fan and you were lucky hopefully you received a few NFL gifts from family and friends. Of course, the joy is really in the giving, so maybe you purchased a lot of cheap NFL gear as well to hand out as gifts. Regardless, the holiday season is over, and it's onto the New Year, resolutions, looking forward to spring and all of the rest.

Despite all of that though, it doesn't mean that you have to give up on the NFL. The great thing about the sport is that it manages to be year round, and therefore NFL gifts can be year round as well. In fact, right now is when you can find some of the best deals at NFL stores, because they are unloading the rest of their merchandise so they can stock up again before the draft and the start of the next season.

The playoffs and the Super Bowl will carry fans until February. Then in April it's the draft, and that's always fun to watch and to see which players go where. It's when a lot of people buy new cheap NFL gear, supporting the newly drafted players and fresh faces. Then the wave of free agent signings occupies the headlines and before you know it it's the summer, training camp, preseason and the regular season.

That means that there is never a bad time to buy a few NFL gifts. In fact, some cheap NFL gear may be just what the fans in your life need to help them get through these slow months without any action. So don't hesitate to check out a few online NFL stores to find a few bargains and deals.

You will have plenty of options to choose between as well when it comes to NFL gifts. Many fans prefer jerseys and other clothing items. In that case you can take a look at hats, t-shirts and sweatshirts, jerseys and more. However, if you're looking for other kinds of cheap NFL gear then don't be afraid to branch out. You can purchase NFL Fatheads, watches, furniture, bedding and nearly anything else.

Remember, it's always a good time to think about the people in your life that you care about, and it's always a good time enjoy getting and receiving NFL gifts. So who cares that the holidays are over? Visit the NFL stores, buy some cheap NFL gear and spread the love!

The holidays are over, but it's always a good time to buy some cheap NFL gear for yourself, your friends and your family! You can visit Discount Football Merchandise for all of the NFL gifts that you need to get you through the long off season.

NFLCA chief 'discouraged' by reactions to court filing

On Thursday, as the number of coaching staffs distancing themselves from the amicus brief filed by the NFL Coaches Association last week with the 8th Circuit Court on their behalf continued to mount, Larry Kennan felt like a man under siege.

Even, he conceded, "a little bit discouraged."

But by Friday morning, Kennan, executive director of the NFLCA, had regained his equilibrium and motivation.

"We're doing the right thing," Kennan insisted in a phone interview. "It was the right thing when we filed the brief and it's the right thing now. ... No matter what some people might feel."

The NFLCA chief since 1999, Kennan was adamant the association does not have a dog in the lockout fight, despite having its offices located in those of the now decertified NFLPA, but only wants its members to be able to return to work.

The amicus brief, filed May 25, contends that league coaches may be dealt irreparable harm by the lockout. It notes that a prolonged lockout will "inflict significant economic harm and career risks" on league coaches and "increase the likelihood that they will suffer failure they can neither avoid nor overcome." Prominent in the brief is that more than 60 coaches with two or fewer years of experience have lost their jobs in the past three years and that 40-45 percent of coaches change jobs every two-year period.

What it does not do, Kennan reiterated, is take a side in the labor fight.

"There is nothing in the brief," Kennan said, "that favors one side or the other. It's like the brief we filed in 1987, when there was a players strike. We weren't for the players or the owners then, either. And we're not in this lockout."

In the past several days, representatives from the staffs of 10 franchises -- Chicago, Dallas, Jacksonville, Houston, Kansas City, New Orleans, the New York Jets, Philadelphia, St. Louis and Washington -- have disavowed the brief or the prior knowledge of its filing. Kennan said, however, that every coach was notified by email that the brief, which does not mention a coach by name, would be filed.

Kennan declined to address the notion that some staffs had perhaps been pressured by owners or other members of high-level management to publicly take issue with the brief. He did acknowledge it was "strange" that none of the coaches who distanced themselves from the brief contacted him directly about it, at least before publicly airing their perceived grievances to the media.

Said Kennan: "What I will say is this: When I took this job, a lot of guys said to me, 'You have to speak for us because we can't speak up for ourselves.' Make of that what you will. I take the charge very, very, seriously."

Beyond conceding he may have communicated poorly with some of the coaches and staffs, Kennan has been largely silent on the sudden turbulence surrounding the brief. But he likely will make a statement next week regarding it and some of the public criticisms that have been indicated. Until then, Kennan will speak with coaches and legal advisors and continue to monitor events of the lockout, including the hearing in the 8th Circuit Court that took place Friday. "Obviously, we have a vested interest," Kennan said. "We're not pro-this or pro-that -- we're pro-football, that's all. And we want to get back on the field and see our guys get back to doing what they do best."

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HOFer Sayers challenges NFL players to help retirees

NOVI, Mich. -- Gale Sayers sent a stern message to NFL players, challenging them to help those who paved the way.

"Some players of today's game think that they made the game what it is today. I beg to differ," Sayers said Friday night at an event hosted by the Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund. "The players who are playing today are standing on the shoulders of those who made the game what it is that played the game for peanuts.

"If today's players cannot help these players, shame on you."

The former Chicago Bears running back was honored along with retired stars such as Hall of Famer Dick LeBeau and 1997 Super Bowl MVP Desmond Howard.

NFL players asked a federal appeals court earlier Friday in St. Louis to declare the lockout illegal almost three months after it started. A lawsuit filed by current players against the league has been amended to included complaints from retirees led by Hall of Famer Carl Eller.

Hall of Fame player and former Chicago coach Mike Ditka said before the dispute can be settled to save the season, both sides have to be willing to negotiate at the bargaining table instead of trying to make legal arguments in court.

"You can't let egos get in the way of negotiation," Ditka said. "You have to give to take.

"You can't figure out a way to $9 million? It's kind of goofy. The American public can't feel sorry for either side because they can't relate."

Retired players are pushing for better pension and health benefits from the league and players in the next collective bargaining agreement.

"If they want to fix the pension for former players, all they have to do is match what baseball does for their former players, they have the best pension in all of sports," Ditka said. "I'm fighting for the disability and the medical help that we need. One thing the current players should be fighting is for medical care for after their careers. Not for five years, but for 20, 30, 40 years. We're finding guys who are 50, 60, 70, they're suffering from head injuries and everything else."

The Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund has contributed more than $2.5 million over the past four years in financial and medical help for retired players.

LeBeau, defensive coordinator of the Pittsburgh Steelers, was in the same room at the gala dinner with one of his players, linebacker Larry Foote.

During the lingering lockout, NFL employees are not allowed to communicate with players.

"I can talk to Larry -- just not about football," LeBeau said. "It's not uncomfortable for me because I learned a long time ago not to worry about things that are not in my control."

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Goodell: Both sides now committed to reaching deal

FORT BRAGG, N.C. -- NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will spend the weekend preparing for the next set of negotiations, energized by this week's secret talks that he believes show both sides are committed to ending the labor dispute.

While the owners and players spent Friday in a St. Louis courtroom arguing over the legality of the lockout, Goodell visited with troops at a U.S. Army base in North Carolina with Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera.

At the end of a long day at Fort Bragg that included trying on - but not using -- a parachute, Goodell took questions from soldiers before telling reporters there's some reason for optimism following the talks in Chicago.

"The importance is to have the principles talk," Goodell said. "That's what we were interested in doing, have the owners and players talk to one another. That was accomplished this week. ... That's a positive sign for us."

Goodell was far from specific -- he wouldn't say when the next round of talks would be held or if the owners will be preparing another offer -- but acknowledged both sides showed a willingness to work toward a deal.

He wouldn't say how the two sides would compromise on the stumbling blocks in the negotiations, mostly notably how to divvy up $9 billion in annual revenue.

"I would just tell you that both sides are committed to continuing the dialogue," Goodell said. "In negotiations, you're making different suggestions, recommendations and proposals from time to time. I think both sides will do that in a responsible fashion."

Goodell agreed that having the lawyers absent and the players and owners meeting directly -- Rivera acknowledged Panthers owner Jerry Richardson was there -- helped get the talks rolling.

"I still believe principle to principle is the best way to really get the kind of dialogue you need so people understand the different perspectives," Goodell said.

But time is running out. Already free agency has been delayed, minicamps canceled and optional workouts put on hold. Training camps are scheduled to open next month.

Goodell wasn't spared from the fans' frustrations at Fort Bragg. One soldier accused the owners of being the players' "No. 1 distraction" and asked Goodell, "Where's the passion, the love of game?"

"I understand the frustration and criticism because people want football," Goodell said. "You hear that everywhere you go. I heard that all day today. That's what we're in the business of doing. You have to make sure you're taking the right steps, though, to protect the game for a long-term basis."

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Players urge federal appeals court to declare lockout illegal

ST. LOUIS -- NFL players urged a federal appeals court Friday to declare the lockout illegal, saying the league had no right to impose a work stoppage that is now approaching three months with no sign of a deal that will save the 2011 season.

In a courtroom packed with some 200 people, including out-of-work players and retirees on folding chairs brought in to handle the crowd, attorneys on both sides of the bitter labor fight got roughly 30 minutes each to make their cases.

Ted Olson, the lawyer for the players, says 'we're asking for a preliminary injunction for a short period of time.' (Getty Images) The appeal centers on the lockout that began hours after months of labor talks fell apart March 11, the players' union dissolved and the fight ended up in federal court. The NFL contends the union decertification was a sham meant to gain leverage in the talks and the conflict remains subject to labor law.

The players argue that antitrust laws apply and the lockout put in place under labor law needs to be put on hold, as it was in April by U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson in Minnesota.

"We're asking for a preliminary injunction for a short period of time," the players' counsel, Theodore Olson, said in the hushed courtroom. "We're simply asking that the laws of the U.S. be respected."

The arguments came before a three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals whose two earlier 2-1 decisions have sided with the league and upheld the lockout. The panel took the arguments under advisement with one judge, Kermit Bye, saying only that a ruling would come in "due course" and he suggested the two sides figure things out.

"We wouldn't be all that hurt if you go out and settle that case," Bye said with a smile as he closed the 68-minute hearing. "We will keep with our business, and if that ends up with a decision, it's probably something both sides aren't going to like."

The league is starting to see the effects of the lockout, with furloughs and other recent moneysaving steps. Training camps traditionally start in late July and the first preseason game is little more than two months away.

The hearing has been seen as pivotal in the dispute over how to share the NFL's $9 billion in annual revenue, and the turnout included NFL Players Association leader DeMaurice Smith and two dozen players, including Green Bay's Cullen Jenkins, the Jets' Tony Richardson and Giants standout Osi Umenyiora.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell spent Friday in Fort Bragg, N.C., a league spokesman tweeting that Goodell isn't a lawyer and "wouldn't have added much to the legal proceedings." Jets owner Woody Johnson was at the hearing.

Paul Clement, an attorney representing the NFL, waved off a reporter's question about whether the NFL had the upper hand.

"As we tried to make clear in there, we think the lockout is actually the best way to get players back on the field," said Clement, who like Olson is a former U.S. solicitor general. "I think people understand that this will be resolved; the resolution will include a collective bargaining agreement. And the fastest way to get there is to get the antitrust laws, which were just a misfit in this context, out of the picture."

The hearing was sometimes dense as Olson and Clement laid out arguments over Nelson's April 25 decision to lift the lockout on the grounds that it was illegal and the players suffering irreparable harm. The 8th Circuit - seen as a more conservative, business-friendly venue for the NFL than the federal courts in Minnesota - put her ruling on hold April 29 and reaffirmed its decision May 16.

Judges Steven Colloton and Duane Benton wrote for the majority then that "the league has made a strong showing that it is likely to succeed on the merits." Bye dissented both times, favoring the players.

Colloton and Benton - appointed by Republican President George W. Bush - were outspoken Friday, peppering Olson and Clement with requests to elaborate on legal points and precedents. Bye, an appointee of President Clinton, a Democrat, offered the opening welcome to the crowded gallery, but remained mostly quiet.

Clement insisted the Norris-LaGuardia Act bars court injunctions in cases arising from a labor dispute, which he maintained is in play, and said Nelson's decision runs afoul of it.

"Ultimately, collective bargaining is a much better way to resolve these disputes than antitrust litigation," Clement said.

Olson countered that the act, which dates to the Depression, didn't apply without organized labor activity -- and the players union legally dissolved before the court fight, which includes a still pending federal antitrust lawsuit filed by 10 players, including Tom Brady and Peyton Manning.

"The players are perfectly happy to be protected by antitrust laws," Olson said. He denied the decertification was a negotiating tactic, adding the players are barred from engaging in collective bargaining after their decision.

"They did every step necessary" to dissolve the union, Olson said. "They made a significant choice, which has significant effects under labor law."

Olson also argued his clients continue to be harmed financially by the lockout. Clement, asked by Bye about that issue, refused to concede Olson's claim and said "any evidentiary hearing before the court would bear that out" - though he didn't think it necessary.

The two sides met for 16 days before talks fell apart. A federal magistrate has also held six days of mediation with the two sides, and he was on hand with them again during three days of discussions near Chicago.

Ernie Conwell, a former Rams and Saints tight end, said the players were at the negotiating table all those times but "didn't have a willing participant" in the NFL. And he scoffed at Clement's suggestion that players are enjoying more recreational time with the lockout.

"Come on," said Conwell, now a players' representative. "There is a lot of stress on these guys not knowing what the future holds for them. And the league understands that - that's why the lockout is in place."

Brady said during halftime of a charity touch football game at Harvard that he's still hopeful that there will be a resolution soon, though he acknowledged that "nobody knows."

"Everyone is working hard toward a great outcome," the Patriots quarterback said. "And I'm confident that a lot of reasonable people will come to a very reasonable agreement."

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NFL Greatest Rivalries: Packers Defeat Bears

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Joe Montana's son pleads not guilty to drunk-driving

MISSOULA, Mont. -- The son of NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana has pleaded not guilty to charges of driving under the influence of alcohol and speeding.

Nate Montana appeared in Missoula County Justice Court on Friday.

Jail records show the 21-year-old Montana was booked into jail on a first-offense DUI charge at 3:46 a.m. Friday and released after posting a $685 bond.

The Missoulian reports that Montana and his attorney declined to comment at the hearing.

Montana transferred from Notre Dame to the University of Montana in Missoula in February and is vying for the starting quarterback spot.

Montana was one of 11 Notre Dame athletes arrested on misdemeanor charges of underage drinking at a party in South Bend, Ind., last July.

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Packers o-line working out in Nashville this week

MILWAUKEE -- With no end in sight for the NFL lockout, a group of Green Bay Packers offensive linemen are in Tennessee this week for group workouts.

In an email to The Associated Press, Packers center Scott Wells said the majority of the offensive line came into Nashville on Sunday night for a few days of workouts this week.

"We all felt it would be a great opportunity to get together to work and talk football," Wells said. "It helps break up the offseason. Plus, its always good to spend time together as a group."

Wells said the sessions are being run by his trainer, Judd Granzow of M.A.D. Sports Training. The group chose Nashville because both Wells and left tackle Chad Clifton live the area during the offseason.

"A couple of the guys expressed a want to get together and see one another as well as work out together," Wells said. "I took the opportunity, since Chad Clifton and I live near Nashville, to have the guys come here."

NFL players are prohibited from working out at team facilities during the lockout.

A handful of teams have held large-scale, player-organized workouts away from team facilities during the lockout, but the reigning Super Bowl champions have not - in large part because so many Packers players live elsewhere during the offseason.

Several players are coming back to Wisconsin for wide receiver Donald Driver's charity softball game on Sunday, and Packers players are scheduled to receive their Super Bowl rings in a June 16 ceremony at Lambeau Field.

Although contact between players and team officials generally is prohibited during the work stoppage, the Packers received clearance from the NFL to hold the ring ceremony even if the lockout remains in effect.

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NFL Films: Legends of Autumn, Vols. 1-3

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