FanHouse Nflpa

DeMaurice Smith didn't get what he was hoping for Tuesday, but the head of the NFL players' union did walk away from his latest meeting with NFL owners with some good reasons to feel encouraged about the state of the negotiations.

Smith has said publicly that he's waiting for the owners to submit to the union a proposal for a new collective bargaining agreement, since it was the owners who opted out of the last one. That didn't happen Tuesday, as the only issues discussed in a five-hour meeting were "non-core" issues such as the drug policy and potential changes to the commissioner-controlled player discipline system.

But NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was actually at this meeting (he wasn't at the last one, in July), and the fact that anything at all was discussed made it the most encouraging session of the three the sides have held so far. In addition, they did resolve to meet again soon -- most likely in mid-October -- and continue Tuesday's discussions.

Over the past several months, NFLPA chief DeMaurice Smith has accused NFL owners of planning to lock out players in 2011 and has publicly criticized commissioner Roger Goodell for failing to attend the last round of collective bargaining negotiations. But on the day before the next negotiating session between players and owners -- the third such session overall and the first since mid-July -- Smith struck a less combative tone and expressed hope that Tuesday's meeting would help move the sides toward an agreement.

"I'm looking forward to hopefully hearing the first proposal from the league tomorrow," Smith said Monday afternoon in a conference call. "I would like nothing more than to have a deal before we move into an uncapped year."

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- NFL players' union head DeMaurice Smith was here today to talk to brief Giants players on the state of collective bargaining negotiations with the owners. On his way out, he stopped to talk to two reporters -- one from FanHouse and one from the New York Times. And it's pretty safe to say he isn't happy about the picture that commissioner Roger Goodell painted when Goodell spoke with reporters last week.

"When they're ready to give us a proposal, and they're ready to sit down and negotiate, we'll do it," Smith said. "I've been ready to do that since the day I was elected. I was at the last negotiating meeting and he wasn't. That's not to say I didn't enjoy watching a man read a memo. But why don't we get to the point where we're actually negotiating instead of just talking in the press?"

NFL owners and players met Tuesday in Washington for three hours for their second round of collective bargaining negotiations. Nothing was accomplished (the union was upset, actually, that commissioner Roger Goodell was not in attendance), and no date is set for the next round of negotiations. But just as he did the day after the first negotiating session, union chief DeMaurice Smith is heading Wednesday to Capitol Hill.

Smith will bring 17 active players from 15 different NFL teams, including Kansas City's Mike Vrabel, Tennessee's Kevin Mawae and Baltimore's Domonique Foxworth, plus three retired players with him for meetings with congressional leaders. The point of the meetings is to stay on the attack. As he first told FanHouse last month, Smith believes the owners are planning to lock out the players in 2011, and both sides are working against a March deadline after which the 2010 season would be played without a salary cap and a 2011 lockout would be more difficult to prevent. So Smith is remaining in contact with Congress because it can help him with two specific threats against the league.

The day after his first (and, so far, only) collective bargaining negotiating session with the NFL, new players union head DeMaurice Smith was on Capitol Hill, beginning to build congressional support for the prevention a lockout by NFL owners in 2011. This was back on June 4, and it didn't get a lot of attention at the time. But it's yet another indication that the CBA negotiations between players and owners could get very ugly.

Smith and Baltimore Ravens defensive back Domonique Foxworth attended the meetings with the House Judiciary Committee, the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Commerce Committee. Both described the sessions as "meet-and-greets" and declined to go into detail about what was discussed. But there are a couple of ways in which the union hopes Congress can factor into its strategy going forward.

His message is the same at every stop -- Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. So far, new players union chief DeMaurice Smith is thrilled with the way the NFL players to whom he's spoken have embraced both ends of that credo.

"The guys want to know what it's like to be a man and a businessman in the business of football," Smith told FanHouse in a phone interview Thursday, after his meeting in Nashville with the Tennessee Titans. "Especially given what looks like an intent on the part of the NFL to lock the players out."

Those are strong words, but Smith believes he has the evidence to back them up. He isn't necessarily looking for a fight, but he's ready if there's to be one. And as he travels the country speaking to players, he's pleased to find out they're very much with him.

Representatives from the NFLPA and various retired players groups met today in Washington, D.C. as part of an effort by new NFLPA head DeMaurice Smith to welcome retired NFL players under the union's umbrella.

Smith himself did not attend the meeting. He was in Seattle, meeting with Seahawks players as part of his summer tour of minicamps. But he has been vocal since his election this spring about wanting to make sure the NFLPA represents retired players as well as active ones. The late Gene Upshaw, who preceded Smith as union chief, alienated retired players groups by openly stating that he believed the union represented active players only.

So far, the retired players seem to be welcoming Smith's efforts, even if they're not yet fully convinced.

DeMaurice Smith might be a long way from settling the NFLPA's differences with the league, but he appears to have made good on his pledge to unite the union with its retired players.

According to a report by Chris Mortensen on ESPN.com, the NFLPA will announce at a news conference Friday morning that it has agreed to settle the Herb Adderley lawsuit for nearly the full amount. Mortensen says the union has agreed to drop its planned appeal and pay roughly $26 million of the $28.1 million that a federal jury awarded to 2,056 players in a class action decision in November:

The NFL and its players' union officially opened negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement Wednesday, but it looks like it was just the simple beginning of what should be a very long, drawn-out process.

Union representatives weren't making any comment, and the league said it would only confirm that the meeting took place and was "the first of many." But according to a person familiar with the meeting, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and new NFLPA head DeMaurice Smith were both present. The meeting was described as "procedural." Nothing was resolved, of course, and there is currently no date set for the resumption of talks.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- We didn't get a lot of time with new NFLPA boss DeMaurice Smith as he raced from his meeting with NFL owners to catch a plane. But while he took questions in the elevator, the lobby and the Ritz-Carlton driveway, Smith reiterated his belief that the key to a successful CBA negotiation will be the NFL owners' willingness to disclose more financial information to the players.

"Can we start talking? Yes. But the first thing I would like to talk about is the process of negotiation," Smith said. "It seems to me that the right place to start is a place where the players understand why the owners opted out of the current agreement."