Owners, NFLPA members reconvene after long day of talks

NEW YORK -- NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and NFLPA chief DeMaurice Smith have arrived to start a second straight day of negotiations at a law firm in Manhattan.

Members of the NFL Players Association executive board and owners are meeting Friday in hopes of resolving a lockout that began in March.

Entering the building were several executive board members, including president Kevin Mawae, and NFL owners. The owners included John Mara of the New York Giants and Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys.

On Thursday, negotiations stretched on for more than 12 hours, deep into the evening.

Some training camps are set to open in less than three weeks and the first exhibition game, at the Pro Football Hall of Fame inductions, is Aug. 7 in Canton, Ohio.

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New NFL Fatheads Released For the 2009 NFL Season

Lambeau officials ponder new gun law in Wisconsin

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Lambeau Field officials are trying to determine how the state's new concealed carry legislation will affect them.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is expected to sign the gun bill into law after July 4. (Getty Images) The Wisconsin legislation allows the carrying of concealed weapons but not in buildings owned or leased by the state.

Gov. Scott Walker is expected to sign the bill after July 4th and the law is expected to go into effect in October or November.

Pat Webb is the executive director of the Green Bay/Brown County Professional Football Stadium District. Webb tells WLUK-TV he doesn't know if the law officially considers Lambeau a government building.

However, according to LambeauField.com, the official website of the stadium, while the Packers operate and maintain Lambeau, the facility is owned by the City of Green Bay and Brown County.

Lambeau, originally called City Stadium, was initially financed equally by the Packers and the city by referendum in April 1956 and was dedicated in a Sept. 27, 1957 ceremony that included Vice President Richard Nixon and then-NFL commissioner Bert Bell.

The stadium was renamed in 1965, following the death of E.L. "Curly" Lambeau, the Packers' founder and first coach.

Green Bay Police Captain Paul Ebel says they are dissecting the legislation and planning to consult with the city's attorneys and the Packers organization.

The NFL says guns are not allowed in any NFL stadium.

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Courts could inject chaos into fragile NFL labor talks

There have been several moments when Judge Arthur Boylan -- mediator, babysitter, peace negotiator, the antidote to saber rattling -- has stepped in to break up verbal sparring between NFL players and owners.

One such moment happened during a recent negotiating session.

While a source wouldn't discuss what the particular argument was about, there was a moment when voices were raised. Boylan made a gesture with his hand signaling for everyone to calm down. The tempers cooled and talks continued in a more reasonable manner, I'm told.

It was also Boylan who urged the players and owners to negotiate late into the night this past Thursday and into Friday morning, and as the NFL Network first reported, Boylan's efforts led to the two sides making major progress on the revenue split issue. The players and owners are scheduled to meet with Boylan again on Tuesday in New York.

Boylan has earned the respect and trust of both sides, according to player and management sources. His sense of calm and professionalism has caused the talks to stay mostly focused minus several near blowups.

Boylan has been patient but that patience will last only so long. The disgrace of the players and owners failing to agree on a new collective bargaining agreement despite being so close goes beyond the inability of figuring out how to divide billions -- it should be as simple as, to paraphrase Bum Phillips, you get yours'n and I get mines'n. The other problem is the 8th Circuit elephant in the room.

That is one of the great tragedies of the two sides acting so petulantly. Two court systems are holding off making their decisions on various aspects of the lockout case and are watching how negotiations go. If Boylan's mediated sessions show promise, it's likely the courts would continue to wait.

But if the two sides continue to fight like 8-year-olds those courts might coldly unfurl their decisions plunging the entire mediation process into chaos.

The players and owners have a chance to settle their differences without court interference, yet they are ruining that opportunity, squabble by squabble, and petty act by petty act.

The courts in waiting are the 8th circuit and Judge David Doty. The 8th is waiting to rule on the permanency of the lockout. If a ruling does occur in favor of the owners they could continue the lockout for an extensive period of time -- a major tactical advantage. If the 8th Circuit rules in favor of the players, the lockout would end immediately and the players would receive paychecks from the owners giving them the advantage.

Both sides say privately that Boylan has been updating the 8th Circuit about the progress of mediation and settlement talks. Indeed one of the 8th Circuit judges stated in open court he wouldn't mind if the case was settled.

The other court case is Doty's. He's waiting to announce damages against the owners for their ugly behavior in the TV lockout case. Doty ruled the owners violated the CBA by making deals with the TV networks, asking the networks to continue making payments to the owners in the event of a work stoppage. Doty is expected to levy heavy financial damages.

It's been advantageous for the players and owners to engage in mediation because both court cases could have a major impact on both sides. This negotiating window was supposed to keep the courts at bay.

That window might be shutting. If a deal isn't struck soon that window will be sealed shut and all court-ruling hell will break loose.

Boylan has been a miracle worker. He's been the most effective mediator through this frustrating process but his Jedi mind tricks can only work for so long.

Before the other courts tire of waiting and jump in.

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NFL's forgotten men take, and earned, center stage

If you want to understand the raw emotions an army of debilitated former NFL players feel, emotions that are also figuring into -- and possibly stalling -- the current labor talks, please read what former San Francisco 49er George Visger has to say.

Visger read this story about retiree benefits being a sticking point in the labor talks, and then sent me an email commenting on it. Speaking of both the NFLPA and NFL owners, Visger wrote: "Do you think they'll actually toss a few benefit crumbs to us crippled up ex-players? Maybe they can pay for my next 10th brain surgery [sic]."

Players like Visger have long contended they've been the forgotten men in football history. Some are bankrupt because of medical expenses. They have broken bodies. Their minds are failing in their 50s. They suffer from depression, sudden fits of rage and suicidal tendencies. They have been pushed out of the way, they feel, by both union and management. And they are angry.

As I first reported Friday night, how to pay for player benefits and retiree expenses has become a stumbling block in the current negotiations. Owners believe that lawyers for the NFLPA are refusing to pay for these expenses. And the NFLPA should be faulted here. Retired players need to be under its protective umbrella. The NFLPA shouldn't wait for ownership to take control of this issue. The union should be throwing itself at the feet of these players, who were the backbone of the sport. If it weren't for players like Visger and thousands like him, current players wouldn't be making the large amounts of cash they're arguing about now.

This has long been the rallying cry of former players who feel the current union and membership don't respect them.

A defensive tackle, Visger played two years for the 49ers in the 1980s and says his memory began fading in 1982 after a bruising tackle left him unconscious. Visger says he fell into a coma and at one point was given his last rites. Subsequently, Visger says among other medical issues, he's had a number of football-related brain surgeries.

Visger's email to me is stinging, honest and symbolic of the anger many former players feel. It's presented here unedited and without comment:

"In today's economy (I just lost my home, need to find a place for my wife and 3 kids by July 10, and have NO idea where we will go), no one has any empathy for Billionaires fighting Millionaires over scraps. As with any company (I own my own business), the players should be putting into a retirement fund, with owners also paying for benefits. We are talking a $9.5 Billion industry for less than 2,000 active players. Hard to believe they can't toss 1/2 of 1% percent ($47.5M) of that $9.5 B into a fund each year. They could split 50/50 or 60/40 dependent on the outcome of the CBA. All I need is a $1,000/mo for my 12 NFL caused surgeries and I could stay in my home. "Keep in mind revenues for the NFL are expected to reach to exceed $15 B in the next 10 years.

"Neither the NFL nor the NFLPA gives a damn about the players once you are done. You have dirt bags like De Smith and Rodger Goodell both knocking down 8 figure salaries, when neither had the balls to ever wear a jock strap. I turned to the NFLPA during the 81 season WHILE I was still playing. After my first brain surgery during the 81 season, the front office was treating me strange, so I approached the PA (players association) requesting help as I felt I was headed for a fall (Was that ever an understatement). The PA set me up with a firm that let my statues of limitations run out and it just got worse from there. "It's all about greed on both sides. The problem is, the players have no idea the impacts playing will have on their families lives. The owners know how damaging their industry is to their employees, just as big tobacco knew for years. "It's not worth any amount of money or rings. You can have my Orange Bowl and Super Bowl rings if I could get my life back."

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Canadian doctor charged with smuggling drugs set for hearing

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- A high-profile Canadian sports doctor charged last year with smuggling unapproved drugs into the United States to treat professional athletes is due in federal court in Buffalo next week for a hearing on a possible plea agreement.

Dr. Anthony Galea is scheduled before U.S. District Judge Richard Arcara on Wednesday. The court docket lists the proceeding as an arraignment and plea agreement hearing.

Calls to Galea's attorneys and prosecutors weren't immediately returned Friday.

The Toronto doctor was indicted by a federal grand jury in October, but has not yet entered a plea. The five-count indictment alleges he smuggled in human growth hormone and other substances and conspired and lied to border agents to avoid getting caught. He faces similar charges in Canada.

Galea, who is not authorized to work in the United States, is accused of treating 20 professional athletes at their homes, hotels and friends' houses from October 2007 to September 2009, including giving them free Viagra if they asked.

The indictment did not identify any clients, which prosecutors said included professional baseball and football players and others. A plea deal would eliminate the need for a trial, along with the likelihood that evidence and witness statements could publicly reveal information about who he visited or billed.

Tiger Woods has said he's been treated by Galea, but did not receive performance-enhancing drugs. The New York Mets' Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran also have acknowledged talking to federal authorities during the investigation. The New York Yankees' Alex Rodriguez told Major League Baseball officials that he didn't receive performance-enhancing drugs from Galea after the doctor told the Associated Press he had prescribed anti-inflammatories for him.

The government alleged some athletes received injections of HGH, banned by major sports, and Actovegin, a derivative of calf's blood not approved for use in the United States, as well as intravenous Actovegin drips and platelet-rich plasma therapy, a treatment used to speed healing that involves extracting blood from patients and re-injecting just the plasma.

Authorities began investigating Galea after the arrest of his assistant, Mary Anne Catalano, as she entered the United States at the Peace Bridge in Buffalo in September 2009. She is scheduled to be sentenced later this month after pleading guilty to a single count of lying to border agents. As part of her plea, she's been cooperating in the investigation.

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NFL Oakland Raiders 3 Greatest Games: Super Bowl Victories

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