NFL to punish teams of players flagrant hits

INDIANAPOLIS - The NFL will punish teams next season if their players commit multiple blatant hits that result in fine.

The punishment will be financial, although league vice president Adolpho Birch said Tuesday he didn't rule out commissioner Roger Goodell applying further sanctions such as stripping clubs of draft choices.

Citing the "notion of club accountability", Birch said details such as the amount of the fine against clubs, or how many player fine would trigger punishment, have not been determined.

"As a club's total increases to a certain threshold, we will enforce some... payback to encourages clubs to stay below that threshold," Birch said. "We're looking at a system similar to one we instituted a couple years ago with off-field conduct."

The NFL began a crackdown on illegal hits, particularly those to defenseless players, last October. It threatened suspensions, but no players had to sit out games. However, Ray Anderson, the league's chief disciplinarian, has said suspensions will be considered for egregious hits this season.

Now, clubs as well as the players are being put on record that illegal hits will result in substantial discipline.

Birch would not identify which teams from 2010 would have been subject to fine had the policy been in place, but did say at least three teams might have been punished. One player, Pittsburgh All - Pro linebacker James Harrison, was fined $100,000 for flagrant hits last season.

"We'll check the number of fines and the level of fine going out for offences that relate to various player safety violations," Birch said. "particularly head and helmet issues."

Harrison expressed his displeasure with the rule changes on his twitter account Tuesday.

"I'm absolutely sure now after this last rule change that the people making the rules at the NFL are idiots," Harrison said.

The 32 owners voted unanimously Tuesday to approve rules amendments for player safety, including a measure aimed at keeping a player from launching himself into a defenseless opponent. A 15-yard penalty will result for anyone who leaves both feet before contact to spring forward and upward into an opponent and delivers a blow to the helmet with any part of his helmet.

Such tackles will also be subject to fine.

“

I'm absolutely sure now after this last rule changes that the people making the rules at the NFL are idiots.

"- Steelers LB James Harrison on his twitter account"

The definition of a defenseless receiver already has been extended. Now, a receiver who has not had time to protect himself or has clearly become a runner even if both feet are not on the ground is considered defenseless.

Defenseless players cannot be hit in the head or neck area with the helmet, facemask, forearm or shoulder. The definition of such players now includes those throwing a pass; attempting or completing a catch without having time to ward off or avoid contact; a runner whose forward progress has been stopped by a tackler; kickoff or punt returners while the ball is in the air; kickers or punters during a kick or a return; a quarterback during a change of possession; a player who receives a blindside block from a blocker moving toward his own end zone.

Penalized players are subject to being ejected for flagrant fouls.

"this should permanently change the mentality of a defensive player trying to loosen the ball to change your target point," said competition committee co-chairman Rich McKay, president of the Atlanta Falcons.

Also, hits to the head of a pass that are not considered "forcible" blows will not be penalized.

"We are not saying to take the physicality out of the game in any way, shape or form," McKay said. "there are still lots of hits that are legal."

Separately, the owners were "comprehensively" briefed on the labor situation, NFL lead negotiator Jeff Pash said. Those briefings took up the entire afternoon.

Purpose Pash reiterated that no contingency plans for a shortened season were discussed.

"our contingency plan, first, last and ongoing," he said, "is to negotiate an agreement with the players association." "so any opening of training camps is based on a collectively bargained agreement."

Colts owner Jim Irsai said something needs to be in place by July 4 to avoid jeopardizing the regular season. Irsai estimated was $1 billion loss in revenues if that doesn't happen.

"If you miss those preseason games, or a game or two (of the regular schedule), or start late," Irsai said, "you have lost significant money, in excess of $1 trillion."

On Tuesday, a 44-member group of businessmen and politicians filed an amicus brief supporting the players' side. The brief said a prolonged lockout will result in jobs being lost and government budgets being short. The group includes state lawmakers, city council members and pub owners from Washington to Texas.

The filing argues that players and owners aren't ain't the only parties with something to lose in the labor dispute. They say local governments rely on NFL games for tax revenue and economic stimulus. Stadium workers and pub owners depend on the games for jobs.

Next month's rookie symposium became the first league event called off because of the lockout on Tuesday when the league axed the annual event.

"We Quel as long as we possibly could," Birch said. "The rookie symposium is an extremely large, complex event that requires a lot of people from an attendance standpoint." "Based on the uncertainty in the labor situation, it's to the point we needed to be fair to those who would come to help us put it on."

The symposium, which was to begin June 26 in Canton, Ohio, instructs rookies in money management and life skills and allows them to meet current and former players.

Teams and their draftees have not been allowed to communicate since the NFL gained a stay in court upholding the lockout. The league's appeal of an injunction lifting it will be heard in U.S. District Court on June 3.

Birch also confirmed that using the World Anti-Doping Agency to administer the league's drug policy is a possibility.

From a procedural standpoint, we need to look at those options." "that would be one option," he said. "We are certainly looking into that to see what that means for us and to see what that does to advance the idea that the NFL remains the leader in this area." "what that means, we'll find out, but we are going to take a look at it."

NFL: Players can work with teams Friday

The NFL has told its teams and players to get back to football, at least for now.

Told twice in three days by a federal judge that its 45-day lockout was illegal, the league assured teams and players they could resume some of the normal day to day football operations beginning Friday, including voluntary workouts at team facilities, meetings with coaches and going over playbooks.

"That's great news," said linebacker Joe Mays, one of 10 Denver Broncos players who showed up at the team's headquarters Thursday. "It's something we've been trying to do, get back to work."

NFL memo: How teams should proceed
The league also promised to distribute detailed procedures for signing free agents, making trades and other roster moves. That memo, the league said, will likely come Friday and spell out the timing for the start of the league year.

The guidelines were released a few hours before the NFL draft, where teams were still allowed only to swap picks, not players.

"Judge [Susan Richard] Nelson said it was up to us to determine how to proceed, and we think in light of the fact that the first round of the draft is tonight, clubs are fully focused on that," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said in an appearance Thursday on ProFootballTalk.com's daily webcast. "The best way to proceed is for the veterans to start working out at facilities [Friday], and then we'll set up the process of starting the league year, which would include player trades and player signings."

New players in particular will benefit from the new guidelines.

"These rookies, there's a lot going on for them," New York Giants center Shaun O'Hara said. "So any info they can get, any things they can study, is good. If the lockout happens again, they'll have plenty to study from their teams."

Things are far from normal, however. On a day members of the Tennessee Titans showed up to find two armed guards at their locked-up facility, the NFL pressed forward with the legal fight in the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis.

The league wants a temporary stay of Nelson's decision to lift the lockout so it can argue that it should be overturned altogether. The players were told to respond to the league's motion for a stay by 1 p.m. ET on Friday, and the NFL's reply to that is due Monday morning.

Michael Gans, the appeals court clerk, said the three-judge panel for the appeal had not yet been finalized. The venue is considered more friendly to businesses like the NFL's $9 billion operation than the federal courts in Minnesota.

"They could rule on the temporary stay at any time between now and Monday," Gans told ESPN's Sal Paolantonio.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said he feared the fight could last for a while.

"I think the litigation, unfortunately, could go on for some period of time," he told the NFL Network. He said he was looking forward to the next round of court-ordered talks on May 16.

Agent Angelo Wright said he has told clients under contract not to worry about visiting headquarters this weekend out of fairness to the teams so they can focus on the draft. He said they should plan to show up on Monday, and said he'd start calling team executives about unsigned players as soon as Sunday night.

Agent Drew Rosenhaus, though, said he'd like for signings and trades to take place during the draft.

"I've been calling teams, and I've been told they've been advised by the NFL to hold off on signings or trades until further notice," Rosenhaus said.

Attorneys for the players said the decision lifting the lockout "is in full, immediate force."

"It is our view that the NFL and the clubs will be in contempt of court if they do not comply with the order," lawyers James Quinn and Jeffrey Kessler wrote.

Quinn, in a tersely worded letter to NFL attorney Gregg Levy, said the players were tired of waiting and even accused the league of "granting itself a temporary stay" of Nelson's order by not immediately opening the doors for football operations.

Now, four days after Nelson lifted the lockout, there are guidelines to follow.

Mandatory minicamps and voluntary offseason practices can begin, under the rules in the old collective bargaining agreement. Team-supervised workouts will count toward such bonuses in player contracts, and players can also work out on their own at team facilities if they have health insurance in place.

The league will "promptly make arrangements" for the substance abuse and steroid programs to resume, and players can participate in team-sponsored community and charity functions.

And in the meantime, they'll continue their fight in court.

The league told the appeals court that the players "cannot have it both ways" by threatening contempt-of-court sanctions while also asking for a delay to address the NFL's request for a temporary stay.

And the NFL criticized Nelson, who late Wednesday rejected its request to put her order lifting the lockout on hold pending appeals. The league said her decision "blinks reality" and is "deeply flawed."

The NFL complained that the order has forced teams to "produce their collective product" and expose themselves to antitrust claims by the players -- claims that if held true can result in treble, or triple, damages. An antitrust lawsuit filed by Tom Brady, Drew Brees and other players is still pending before Nelson.

Without a stay, the NFL said, it would be impossible to "unscramble the egg in terms of player transactions (trades, signings, cuts) that would occur in the interim" before a ruling from the appeals court.

The league has proposed a specific timeline for the 8th Circuit appeal: a written opening argument due May 10, the same due for the players May 24, the NFL's reply due May 31 and a hearing after that "as soon as possible."

Such a timeline would mean the legal fight would stretch well into June, a month before training camps and only weeks before the first scheduled preseason game on Aug. 8.

In its 23-page motion, the league reiterated three arguments it unsuccessfully made to Nelson: that she had no jurisdiction while a bad-faith negotiation charge against the players is pending with the National Labor Relations Board; that federal law prevents the court from overseeing cases stemming from labor disputes; and that it shouldn't be subject to antitrust claims with the collective bargaining deal barely expired.

The union was dissolved March 11, clearing the way for the legal fight. League rules have effectively been shelved since then.

Green Bay Packers cornerback Charles Woodson, at a charity event in Ann Arbor, Mich., said the league year should have begun Monday when Nelson denied the stay request.

"I guess if you're a billionaire, you can tell a judge no," Woodson said.

Now the fight will be taken up by the 8th Circuit. The league even proposed a timeline: a written opening argument due May 10, the same due for the players May 24, the NFL's reply due May 31 and a hearing after that "as soon as possible."

That would stretch the legal fight well into June, a month before training camps and only weeks before the first scheduled preseason game on Aug. 8.

Tony Richardson, a 17-year veteran and a free agent, said there was still uncertainty.

"It's still a situation where guys cannot be sure what's next, but I think we're headed in the right direction," he said.

Added Mays: "Everybody's tired of sitting around, laying around. We've had enough of that. Now, we're trying to get back to business."