NFL Network & NFL.com set single-day records on Thursday

Wall-to-wall coverage continues this weekend &
from training camps next week

Fans got “Back to Football” this week tuning in and logging on to NFL Network and NFL.com in record numbers since the list of 2011 free agents was released on Monday night.

NFL Network’s coverage of free agency, trades and cuts from Tuesday to Thursday posted a 288 percent increase in average total day viewership over the same time period last year with an average of 186,000 fans tuning in. NFL Network had live coverage from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM ET each day.

In primetime, NFL Network averaged 290,000 viewers over the three days – a 202 percent jump over 2010.

The NFL’s digital media platforms -- including NFL.com, NFL Mobile Only From Verizon and other NFL mobile products -- posted a 143 percent increase in unique users over last year as 5.7 million fans logged on from Monday through Thursday.

Both properties also set single-day records for Thursday’s coverage. NFL Network averaged 427,000 primetime viewers on Thursday – its best-ever primetime viewership outside of NFL Draft and game coverage. NFL digital media drew 2.6 million unique viewers – its highest single-day traffic ever in July.

Coverage continues on NFL Network tonight at 6:00 PM ET with NFL Total Access: Free Agent Frenzy, providing continuous news reports through midnight and possibly later. Live coverage continues Saturday & Sunday beginning at 9:00 AM ET with Back to Football: Free Agent Frenzy, followed by NFL Total Access at 7:00 PM ET. NFL.com provides round-the-clock free agency coverage all weekend.

NFL Network’s live daily training camp coverage continues next week (Aug. 1-5) with live look-ins beginning at 9:00 AM ET. Then at 1:00 PM ET each day, NFL Network presents 7 hours of live blanket coverage with reports and interviews from all 32 team sites.

10TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL AIRS AUG. 31

HBO Sports® and NFL FILMS announced today that the five-episode Hard Knocks reality series will not be presented this summer. The uncertainty of the NFL’s summer schedule and the incredibly expedited timetable this month made it impractical for a team to commit. The series is scheduled to return for 2012 training camp.

However, a special 90-minute edition of Hard Knocks, celebrating the past ten years of the seven-time Emmy®-Award-winning series will premiere Wednesday, Aug. 31 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT, exclusively on HBO.

"We know football fans are hungry for compelling NFL programming and we think they'll love the 10th anniversary special," said Rick Bernstein, executive producer, HBO Sports.

Said Steve Sabol, President of NFL FILMS, “The first 10 years of Hard Knocks has been the ultimate fly-on-the-wall NFL training camp experience. We look forward to taking a look back at those shows and reintroducing the fans to those characters who made the decade of Hard Knocks so memorable.”

The special will combine flashbacks to memorable moments from the Hard Knocks seasons that featured the Baltimore Ravens (2001), Dallas Cowboys (2002 & 2008), Kansas City Chiefs (2007), Cincinnati Bengals (2009) and the New York Jets (2010); a "Where Are They Now?" element; and never-before-seen out-takes and new interviews.

Additional details and the show’s title will be announced in August.

NFL FLAG, the country’s most recognizable youth flag football program, is now powered by USA Football, the official youth football development partner of the NFL and its 32 teams.

Now called NFL FLAG powered by USA Football, the program serves communities of all sizes, offering organized flag football to boys and girls age 5-17. NFL FLAG powered by USA Football has grown to more than 150,000 players nationwide.

Players learn every position on the field and strengthen their football fundamentals through USA Football’s advanced instructional resources. The program also incorporates football values of teamwork and sportsmanship.

NFL FLAG powered by USA Footballpromotes physical fitness as part of NFL PLAY 60, the league’s youth health and fitness campaign, aimed at getting kids active for 60 minutes a day.

NFL FLAG leagues receive NFL team-branded jerseys and official NFL FLAG belts for each player as well as two NFL youth footballs for every 10 children registered. Full-season registration includes USA Football player membership, which delivers youth flag football resources to educate players and parents on the game’s fundamentals as well as player health and safety material.

All coaches in the program have free access to USA Football’s certified flag football coaching course, spanning topics from the sport’s fundamentals to concussion education. Coaches and players can also take advantage of USA Football’s drills library featuring video of more than 150 drills to view on a computer and conduct on the practice field.

In upcoming months, NFL FLAG powered by USA Football coaches will receive the following USA Football member benefits: downloadable playbooks with more than 300 plays; access to online instructional video to coach every position; and an online practice planner to run fun and efficient practices.

Leagues and teams also are eligible for NFL FLAG regional tournaments for 9-14 year-olds, events hosted in NFL cities every fall. Regional tournament winners advance to the annual NFL FLAG National Tournament of Champions.

“NFL FLAG powered by USA Football is a great way to teach young fans the fundamentals of football, while helping them get active as part of NFL PLAY 60,” said NFL Vice President, Fan Strategy and Marketing PETER O’REILLY. “We’re pleased to be working even more closely with USA Football to bring football and fitness to kids across the country.”

“NFL FLAG powered by USA Football delivers the fun and excitement of football while effectively teaching the game’s fundamentals,” USA Football Executive Director SCOTT HALLENBECK said. “We’re pleased to contribute to NFL FLAG and make the program even stronger for the millions of kids who love the sport and benefit from it.”

Visit www.nflflag.comand click on the NFL FLAG icon for more information. For more information on NFL PLAY 60, visit www.nflrush.com.

About USA Football: USA Football, the sport’s national governing body in the United States, leads the game’s development, inspires participation, and ensures a positive experience for all youth, high school, and other amateur players.The independent non-profit hosts more than 80 football training events annually for coaches, players and youth football league commissioners. USA Football is the Official Youth Football Development Partner of the NFL and its 32 teams and manages U.S. national teams for international competition. Endowed by the NFL and NFL Players Association in 2002 through the NFL Youth Football Fund, USA Football distributes $1 million annually in equipment grants and offers youth league volunteer background check subsidies. Former NFL team executive Carl Peterson is USA Football’s chairman.

David Canter was sitting in a hibachi restaurant in South Florida late Wednesday afternoon, having his first food of the day and trying to jam in some family time before the phone rang again. For an agent juggling multiple clients, this has been the most unusual and exhausting week in N.F.L. history — a crash course in multitasking melded with a case study on the effects of sleep deprivation.

Canter says he doesn’t need much sleep anyway, a good thing considering that between Tuesday — when the N.F.L. allowed rookies to be signed, free-agent negotiations to begin and trades to be made — and Wednesday, he slept about 45 minutes. He woke up at 4:30 a.m. Wednesday to check his phone, then dozed off for another two hours before getting up for the day.

The upshot: Canter negotiated a whopping $19 million in guaranteed money for his client, safety Eric Weddle, who agreed to a five-year deal with the San Diego Chargers. There is no end in sight. Because some undrafted free agents who were signed will be quickly dumped by teams, there will probably be another few waves of player signings for several weeks, Canter said.

And one of Canter’s clients is defensive lineman Paul Soliai, who received the franchise tag from the Miami Dolphins and who might be pursued for a contract extension that would have to be quickly completed. No wonder Canter is considering skipping his annual training camp tour. He’s afraid he’ll miss a critical phone call while on a plane.

“The best way to sum up this business this week is, I finalized the Eric Weddle deal, had two minutes of emotional reaction, gathered myself to call Eric, then we had a conference call with the owner,” Canter said. “Within five seconds of hanging up the phone, the Seattle Seahawks called me and we worked out an agreement for an undrafted free agent, a kicker. It’s that kind of rock ’n’ roll roller coaster.”

He added: “If you love the business, you have so missed it, you think, ‘Let’s keep it going.’ From a numbers standpoint, keeping everything sorted, giving everyone undivided attention, you’d like to have more time.”

There wasn’t much of that Thursday. The Patriots acquired defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth, whose motivation is frequently questioned, and Chad Ochocinco, the talented deep threat whose mouth is frequently running, in stunning trades that reshaped not just the roster but also the public image of a team that strives to starve reporters of material. Haynesworth was obtained from the Washington Redskins for a fifth-round draft pick in 2013, and Ochocinco from Cincinnati for two future draft picks.

Running back Reggie Bush went from the New Orleans Saints to the Miami Dolphins, and by midday, the long-awaited trade of Philadelphia’s backup quarterback Kevin Kolb to Arizona was complete, but the details were still stunning: the Cardinals, desperate for a quarterback after Kurt Warner’s retirement following the 2009 season, would send cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and a second-round draft pick to Philadelphia. They would also give Kolb a contract that is believed to include more than $20 million guaranteed, an enormous sum for a quarterback who has started just seven games in his four-year career.

Later on came a flood of cuts, as the N.F.L. allowed players to be waived. The most prominent was quarterback Vince Young, who was released by Tennessee, and receiver Brandon Manumaleuna, who was a first-day free-agent signing by the Bears one year ago. Free-agent contracts become official Friday evening.

That’s a lot of action. But some of the best theatrics are taking place in offices behind the scenes, with agents trying to get their players signed before training camps are in full swing. Newly signed players cannot be on the field until Aug. 4, when the league year will begin after players approve the new collective bargaining agreement. Lost is the protracted massaging of negotiations, the multiple team visits, the text messages and phone calls to go over the options during the quiet weeks of the spring.

Consider Tom Condon and Ben Dogra, two of the most powerful agents in football, who work for Creative Artists Agency. Together, they represent five rookies taken in the first round of the draft. They also represent cornerbacks Antonio Cromartie and Nnamdi Asomugha, the most coveted free agent this year.

C.A.A. has a team of lawyers and researchers to help Condon and Dogra, freeing them to negotiate contracts, but the demands are mind-numbing, particularly because so many of their clients are high profile and in high demand. A Condon client, the undrafted rookie linebacker Mark Herzlich from Boston College, signed with the Giants. Now Asomugha is considering his options. And looming over all of this are the negotiations Condon will conduct for a new contract for Peyton Manning, which will make him the highest-paid player in the game.

Patriots Coach Bill Belichick said the new rules for contracts, practices and personnel were still in flux the last few days. That has complicated some transactions. But it hasn’t slowed much.

On Thursday morning, just after the trade of Bush to Miami was complete, his agent Joel Segal — who had completed a new contract for Jets receiver Santonio Holmes early Wednesday morning — summed up the N.F.L. experience this week.

“Literally, no sleep!” Segal said. (source New York Times)

NFL Players Association president Kevin Mawae said players clearly would not endorse retroactive enforcement of the league's personal conduct policy for violations during the lockout.

Appearing Thursday on "The Wake Up Zone" on radio in Nashville, Mawae said the policy will be discussed as one of the final pieces of a new collective bargaining agreement, but the union needs to be recertified first.

"Our view and our stance has been our players were unemployed, they didn't work for the NFL for the last five, six months," Mawae said. "So we would hope and argue that our guys start with a clean slate. We'll see how that goes.

" ... Obviously it would be unfortunate if our guys got suspended right off the bat because the commissioner decides unilaterally to make that decision. But at the end of the day, our guys weren't working for the NFL at that time. Our view is that we'll have to discuss it and see where we go from there."

Mawae said the players have similar feelings toward team discipline for player actions that occurred during the lockout. (source ESPN)

The empty feeling some players may have in their hearts this week is a sense of guilt that comes from betrayal. To achieve a deal, top N.F.L. rookies were sacrificed. They will receive less so veteran players and retired players can receive more.

The N.F.L. players union gave owners the pound of flesh they wanted by effectively selling out their little brothers. And veterans must now look rookies in the eye in training camp and explain how they could do such a thing.

Easy. There weren’t many options. There was one seat left on the bus and the veterans snatched it.

The owners were out for bear. They were determined to get a significant economic concession from the players, and the most convenient place to get it was from the money previously reserved for high-priced rookies.

As a result, there will, among other things, be a drastic change in the compensation for the top 10 selections in this year’s N.F.L. draft.

The package signed by the St. Louis Rams’ Sam Bradford last season and the deal Cam Newton is expected to sign with the Carolina Panthers this year underline the shift.

Bradford signed a six-year contract that could be worth $78 million, $50 million of it guaranteed. The speculation is that Newton, who led Auburn to a national championship, could sign a four-year deal worth slightly more than $22 million. The unknown factor is how much will be guaranteed. But the numbers alone — Bradford at $78 million over six years versus Newton at $22 million over four — speak for themselves.

“If you’re Cam Newton, you wish you would have been Sam Bradford,” said one player agent who requested anonymity because he did not want to appear to be critical of the union.

The rationale for the reduced pay for rookies is that they should prove themselves before being showered with money.

But the unproven rookie argument is essentially nonsense. In fact, rookies are a cornerstone of the N.F.L.’s economic structure.

In the United States’ system of intercollegiate athletics, where colleges serve as the de facto minor leagues for the N.F.L., rookies earn money for others before they put on an N.F.L. uniform.

College football has memorialized Saturday afternoon in America. We fawn over talented young players. Newton was one of the most talked about players in the recent history of college football. College stars like Bradford, Matthew Stafford, Reggie Bush and Tim Tebow — and yes, JaMarcus Russell — made their names in college while making enormous sums for their institutions.

In the process, college players create rabid fan interest. And if N.F.L. rookies aren’t important, why is the N.F.L. draft packed every year with crazed fans?

Rookies matter. They have proven themselves on one stage and the public is eager to see how they will perform on the next. As college stars, they are not compensated (or at least, they’re not supposed to be), but they could look forward to cashing in as N.F.L. rookies. Now, not so much, thanks to the agreement between the N.F.L. and the players union to slash rookie wages.

Which means that college stars who were exploited for two or three seasons as undergraduates are now taking it on the chin once more. (And heaven help parents who attempt to put a price tag on their son. The N.C.A.A. will come down on them like a ton of bricks because the N.C.A.A. and its partners are the only ones who will make money around these parts.)

Gene Upshaw , the former union chief, once famously said that he did not represent retired players. His successor, DeMaurice Smith, is all but saying he does not represent rookies. But hey, we have a deal and a season and no one misses any money — except the rookies. This means more for owners, more for current players and more, presumably, for retired players.

We’ll see.

But someone had to be sacrificed for this deal, and the veteran players sacrificed their younger brothers. That’s life in the big city, but shame on you. This article was written by William C. Rhoden and appeared in The New York Times.

The financial plan for a $1-billion football stadium and a new wing of the Los Angeles Convention Center received its first extensive public review Wednesday, with members of a City Council committee pressing city officials to show that the two projects would not harm the city’s bottom line.

Councilman Bill Rosendahl urged financial analysts to describe the worst-case scenario that could occur if the city endorsed the plan. He also voiced fears that stadium developer Anschutz Entertainment Group was pursuing a deal that is “very risky.”

Chief Legislative Analyst Gerry Miller, who examined the stadium plan, said he is satisfied with the guarantees in the proposal. Those include a $50-million letter of credit from AEG in the first four years of the deal, followed by a $28-million letter of credit between 2016 and 2019.

“I cannot envision a reasonable scenario [in which] there is a hit to the city treasury,” Miller said during the standing-room-only meeting at City Hall.

AEG has promised to privately build the stadium just west of Staples Center. To make room for the stadium, the city would need to demolish and relocate a section of the Convention Center. That would require issuing $275 million in bonds. Of those bonds, AEG would be responsible for roughly $80 million, according to the plan. Part of those bonds would be repaid from revenue generated by installing 41 billboards on the publicly owned Convention Center.

Councilwoman Jan Perry said the plan would not “cost the taxpayers a dime.” And she asked the city’s economic consultant, Bill Rhoda, what would happen if those Convention Center signs, particularly the ones facing the 10 and 110 freeways, offered digital images. Rhoda said the value of each sign would double.

While Perry focused on the signs, Councilman Bernard C. Parks said he wanted negotiators to push for an NFL team to play at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and not the Rose Bowl in the years leading up to the completion of the stadium.

“That’s essential as part of the discussion,” he said.

The committee will hold another hearing Thursday in Van Nuys. A full council discussion is slated for Friday, but a vote is not expected for at least a week.

If the council approves the proposal, negotiations will begin on a binding financial agreement between the city and AEG. This article appeared in The Los Angeles Times.

National Football League camps were back in full swing Wednesday and there has been a lot of talk about the 10-year collective bargaining agreement being a win-win for both sides.

Each side made some concessions in a settlement that could provide an example for the gridlocked U.S. government but there is one group which was not party to the talks which figures to lose in the long run – the fans.

The settlement guarantees that there will be football every Sunday afternoon – and Sunday and Monday nights and occasionally on Thursdays and Saturdays – for the next 10 years. But fans, who have become accustomed to seeing those games for free on over-the-air networks, may be in for a shock in the future.

The key economic component of the deal revolves around revenue sharing between the players and the owners. The players agreed to accept a smaller piece of the pie – 46 per cent of all revenues as opposed to 53 per cent in the previous agreement – but the players can look forward to sharing a larger pie because the owners have made a commitment to double the current revenues to nearly $20 billion over the life of the deal.

How do you do that? It’s not easy. Attendance is running near capacity for most teams and that means the only way to squeeze more money out of the gate is to raise prices for tickets, beer, hot dogs and parking.

And then there’s television. CBS, NBC, Fox and ESPN currently cough up more than $3 billion in revenue each year. The current contracts expire after the 2013 season and Peter King of Sports Illustrated said the rights fees are expected to rise by 50-70 per cent.

One scenario will see the over-the-air networks continue to carry the bulk of the games. They will make their money by raising ad rates and companies which buy advertising will pass those costs along to consumers.

The other scenario is for more games to move to cable outlets or the league’s own NFL Network. Fans in Canada are relatively insulated from the battles between cable networks and providers but there are countless stories of fans in the U.S. being held hostage by this warfare. More games on cable or satellite will result in higher direct cost to the viewer.

North American soccer on the wane: The next time someone points to the rising number of registered soccer players in North America and talks about the game’s bright future in these parts, you might ask why Canada and the United States continue to plummet in the FIFA world rankings.

In the latest rankings released this week, the United States, which ranked as high as No. 4 in 2006, dropped six places to No. 30. Canada fell 22 spots to No. 105. That’s Canada’s lowest ranking since the FIFA rankings began in 1993.

The message seems to be clear – it’s great to have numbers but without world-class coaching and a coherent development plan, Canada will continue to be a non-factor in the soccer world. This article was written by Pat Hickey and appeared in The Montreal Gazette.

With NFL transactions currently moving faster than the speed of blog, there’s a chance that agents and/or teams will make mistakes. The NFLPA, which soon will reacquire jurisdiction over the regulation of agents, has reminded them of a couple of things that should help when facing the “we don’t have the cap room” whining from personnel execs.

Liz Mullen of SportsBusiness Journal reports that the once-and-future-union has sent a memo pointing out some of the new realities of the restored salary cap.

First, although each team has a cap limit of $120.4 million, each team may exercise a $3 million exemption, pushing the true cap to $123.4 million.

Second, each team can ignore up to $1 million in salary for three separate veterans with five or more years of service.

Third, teams can spend money now that is spread over future salary caps. For example, the $30 million signing bonus paid to Panthers defensive end Charles Johnson on a six-year deal results in $5 million being allocated to each of the next six seasons.

Also, keep in mind that the Transition Rules don’t require teams to be under the salary cap until the next league year starts, on or about August 4. Thus, teams can go over the cap now and get under it later.

Of course, later is coming up pretty soon. (source Pro Football Talk)

Here’s the downside to the four-month NFL lockout ending this week: Tom Brady is no longer available to mow your lawn.
OK, it likely wouldn’t have been the Patriots star quarterback working on a landscaping crew. But the owners’ freeze on paychecks meant that some of the league’s top college draft picks were scrambling to pay their bills and “forced” to take odd jobs this summer.

Bills rookie defensive lineman Marcell Dareus, the third overall pick in the NFL draft, was dubbed the “only landscaper in Birmingham, Alabama with his own trading card” by CNN. He spent the past few weeks maintaining suburban lawns with his godfather’s ride-on John Deere tractor.

Colts offensive lineman Mike Tepper completed a 75-hour whitewater rafting training course in Colorado to become a river guide. His boss told a local news crew that he didn’t give preferential treatment to employees with NFL experience and that Tepper “was knee-deep in Pine-Sol and water, washing the life vests and booties” like everyone else.

Perhaps reflecting our own Schadenfreude — that secret happiness we derive when people more successful than us stumble — the media giddily reported these kind of stories throughout the lockout.

Dolphins tight end Charles Clay was mowing the grass around Oklahoma oil wells, Bills cornerback Aaron Williams was fixing barbed-wire fences, and Colts offensive tackle Anthony Castonzo (the 2010 Boston College team captain) was delivering food for his family’s gourmet Italian restaurant outside of Chicago.

Reached by phone at Oregano’s Corner Cafe & Catering yesterday, Shari Castonzo said she welcomed the lockout’s silver lining of seeing her youngest son return to a nostalgic role.

“Anthony’s been working here since he was 16. Whenever he comes home, he does whatever we ask. For me, it was great having him here. But he’s been very anxious to get back in the swing of things,” she said.

The Colts rookie’s wallet must have been getting anxious, too. Drivers at Oregano’s make most of their income from tips.

The new NFL deal means that top draft picks will be making less today than they did last year — Panthers quarterback Cam Newton is expected to earn “only” $36 million over five years, while his predecessor Sam Bradford got $78 million over six years with the Rams.

But even the rookie minimum wage serfs will be clearing $375,000 this season. That’s 10-20 years of landscaping, depending on how generous your boss is.

So now it’s time to resolve the NBA’s work stoppage, but how cool would it be to order pizza and see one of the future Celtics ringing your doorbell? (source Boston Herald)

Now that the NFL lockout is over, fans can go ahead and rush the box office for tickets. But those who can wait may score the best deals.

Since the owners and the players ended their stalemate on Monday, NFL ticket prices have soared on resale sites -- up 23% compared with the same period last year, according to comparison site SeatGeek.com. And while NFL tickets often sell for more than face value, the premiums are particularly high right now, experts say: A ticket to see the Dallas Cowboys play the New England Patriots on Oct. 16 currently costs $332 on the resale market, roughly double the face value. Box office ticket prices are flat year-over-year, according to the NFL, but popular teams like the Chicago Bears sell out fast. "It's a uniquely bad time to buy tickets right now," says Jack Groetzinger, the co-founder of comparison site SeatGeek.com. "We've seen an explosion of fan interest over the last two days."

The end of the lockout makes an already challenging time -- the beginning of the season -- even tougher for ticket-seekers. The box office is the safest and best bet, but it's not uncommon for over 90% of a team's tickets to go to season ticket holders, says NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy. And those tickets go fast. Last year, 90% of games sold out; this season, a few teams, including the 2009 Super Bowl champions the New Orleans Saints, have already sold out for the entire season. Given that almost half of the NFL's 32 teams typically sell out their home games, many fans are forced to scour the secondary ticket market to get the best value for money.

But the discounts get better as the season wears on, especially if your team underperforms -- the curse of being a frugal football fan. And there are signs attendance is gradually, if slowly, declining, offering more opportunities to scoop up tickets. Attendance is down 4% from a record high in 2007, and the NFL "blacked out" TV broadcasts of more games last year than it did the year before, in an effort to lure fans to the stadium. In theory, that should lead to marginally more resale and box office ticket availability.

To get the best deals, avoid the first couple of games when every team is still a contender, advises Barry Kahn, chief executive of Qcue, a Texas-based ticketing technology company. Then, set yourself up with an alert to let you know when tickets you want hit the price level you're willing to pay. Aggregator sites FanSnap.com and SeatGeek.com send out deal alerts by email in the same way travel websites do. And, as of this season, SeatGeek.com will offer Deal Score, a website that ranks a ticket's value on a scale of 0-100 based on its price and location in the stadium. Prime Sport will also start sending out similar deal alerts this fall. If you're heart isn't set on the Cowboys, resale tickets to see the Baltimore Ravens at the Cleveland Browns on December 4 are just $49; face value tickets start at about $35. "But once talk about the lockout fades, prices will likely settle," says Joellen Ferrer, spokeswoman for ticket resale site StubHub.com. (source Smartmoney.com)

The NFL lockout might have lasted 41/2 months, but for Mark Murphy, the Green Bay Packers' president and CEO, the negotiations with the players lasted two years.

Two years and now labor peace for 10 more.

For Murphy, a former player and union member, it was worth the effort.

"It was a valuable use of my time," Murphy said Tuesday after a round of media interviews. "And for the Packers, it was helpful to have a voice at the table. The agreement was crucial to the future of the league and the Packers."

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell put Murphy on the negotiating committee, known formally as the Management Council Executive Committee. Goodell did so because he said Murphy's past as a player and member of the NFL Players Association would benefit the owners.

Murphy served on the committee with a number of key NFL owners, including Robert Kraft of the New England Patriots and Jerry Richardson of the Carolina Panthers. There are 10 members on the committee.

Murphy estimated that, in the past two years, he probably spent half of his time with negotiations, either on conference calls or traveling around the country to meet across the table with owners, players and lawyers.

"On our committee, we kept in constant contact with everybody," he said.

As a former player, Murphy understood the toll a football career can have on a player's body. While he was able to provide that perspective at the bargaining table, he said other owners understood health issues were important to the players moving forward.

"You take a toll for your career," he said. "But it wasn't just health and safety. We wanted to do better for our retirees."

The NFL has tried to improve the benefits for retirees, and the new agreement with players will do that, he said.

"The best thing is the pensions," he said of the new agreement. And players now will get lifetime medical coverage.

The often contentious negotiations were slowed by lawsuits filed by both sides. But Murphy said Kraft was a key player in moving toward an agreement.

"Bob is so respected by both the players and the owners," he said. "He is a smart businessman who is a dealmaker."

Murphy said the breakthrough in the talks might have occurred when both sides realized that preseason games might have to be canceled. If not for the litigation that divided both parties, the talks could have gone faster, he said.

But with the clock ticking and the Hall of Fame game being canceled, both sides found a way to reach agreement.

Some teams already have reached out to fans, thanking them for their patience and hoping to win them back.

In Green Bay, Murphy's job will be a little easier. The Super Bowl champion Packers have the Lombardi Trophy in Green Bay.

Murphy said he was looking forward to the shareholders meeting Thursday at Lambeau Field and, on Aug. 6, Family Night.

"There's nothing in the NFL quite like Family Night," he said. This article was written by Don Walker and appeared in The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Don't tell our friends at Dunder Mifflin that I didn't print out all 111 pages of a proposed deal, made public Monday, between Los Angeles city officials and developers from AEG to build a National Football League stadium in downtown L.A.

But I did print out a few pages as I mined the document Tuesday for interesting nuggets beyond the broad financial details reported here by The Los Angeles Times.

Read the entire 111-page document out of L.A. here, or read on for a gem or two.

For starters, Los Angeles city officials say the NFL could charge more than $500 million for a team relocation fee, forcing a team to operate at a loss for years.

The L.A. city officials' consultants, from Conventions Sports & Leisure International, wrote that, "It is almost certain that AEG will be responsible for at least a portion of those fees." But any team wishing to move would have to weigh the impact on its bottom line. For sure, "$500 million or even more," as the consultants pegged it, is a large number.

To help put that figure in perspective, I give you two more.

L.A.'s consultants estimate that the annual operating income for an NFL team at Farmers Field would be $53 million. Forbes' latest estimate for the Chargers' income is less than half that, $24.7 million.

That Forbes analysis ranked the Chargers 24th among the league's 32 teams.

More numbers? OK. The Los Angeles city officials' consultants prepared this chart that ranks NFL teams according to their potential premium seating revenue, which is how much money they stand to make if every one of their club and suite seats is filled. (You'll want to check out that chart; it's an eye opener.)

The chart puts the Chargers 21st among 32 NFL teams. It says the Bolts have the potential each year to raise $29.5 million in revenue via premium seats. By comparison, the NFL average is $40.5 million, and Farmers Field is estimated to generate $122.5 million.

In other words, the Chargers in San Diego earn 3/4 of the league average. And the Chargers in Los Angeles could earn three times it.

Also worth noting is this: the $1.2 billion Farmers Field financing proposal relies on $150 million in NFL loans. Locally, the Chargers hope to get $100 million, if not more, to help finance construction of a potential new San Diego stadium. But neither amount is guaranteed as I wrote here on Monday.

More on L.A.'s proposal? It says: Construction on the project would not proceed until an NFL team has signed a contract to use Farmers Field. It says: Construction would begin in the summer of 2012.

If that were to happen, a team could end up announcing a move after the end of this coming season, likely playing elsewhere in the Los Angeles area for a few years before moving downtown for the 2016 season.

Under the AEG/city of L.A. tentative timeline of sticking a shovel in the dirt by summer, if the Chargers were to leave San Diego, an announcement would have to come between February and April. That's the window the team has each year to quit playing at Qualcomm Stadium.

For those who forgot, the Chargers would have to pay the city of San Diego $24 million to break its lease next year, a termination fee that decreases by about $2 million dollars a year until the lease ends in 2020.

For context, the team continues to maintain San Diego is its desired home.

The L.A. city document also importantly spells out that AEG would operate the venue "but is not expected to own a majority interest in the team." Note: That doesn't rule out a minority stake. (Speaking of which: Remember this? It wasn't that long ago that two countries were speculating about Alex Spanos selling AEG namesake Philip Anschutz a minority stake in the Chargers....)

This kind of unusual operating arrangement for an NFL venue makes AEG want to share in revenues from premium seating, sponsorship sales and other sources, including events other than football. That revenue would be substantial. Los Angeles city consultants estimated an NFL team in L.A. "would generate approximately $336 million in revenues annually, with expenses of $283 million." That amounts to annual income of about $53 million for the team.

Worth noting, that $53 million figure doesn't include an estimated $54 million of additional annual income from stadium operations having to do with holding other on-site events, such as concerts, soccer matches and college football games.

Conventions Sports & Leisure International wrote:

The projected combined net income from operations between the Stadium and the Team would equal more than $107 million in 2016 dollars. This would be among the highest in the NFL. However, this does not take into account any debt service payments on the stadium, acquisition of the team or any relocation fee that would be required to move an existing franchise to Los Angeles. That fee could be as much as $500 million or more which would cause the team to operate at a loss for a number of years if the fee was amortized.

In closing, here's something I shared on Twitter Tuesday about California's NFL stadium plans:

A) L.A. $1.2b, all private

B) City of Industry $800m, all private

C) Santa Clara $873m, 88% private

D) San Diego ???

This article was written by Matthew Hall and appeared in The San Diego Union-Tribune.

For a town the NFL has twice abandoned, Los Angeles makes more noise than an infant on an airplane.

It is the bastion of big ideas and uneven execution, the epicenter of pitch meetings and make-believe. It is a torrent of press releases and a trickle of progress. Like so many of its movie monsters, it is frightening, but flawed.

Monday’s announcement that the Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) had reached a memorandum of understanding to expand its Godzilla-sized L.A. footprint with a football stadium came as a major buzzkill to Chargers fans ready to rejoice over the end of the NFL lockout.

But it was, on further review, only a minor development.

The threat that L.A. will eventually filch the Chargers franchise is logical, real and ever-present, but it is no more ominous today than it was last month. AEG has done a tremendous job of creating the appearance of momentum — selling naming rights, hiring architects, holding press conferences — but its financial hurdles are still formidable, significant regulatory obstacles remain, and no one has yet sunk a shovel in soil.

If I’m Chargers President Dean Spanos, I’m still watching this game unfold as a spectator. L.A. has its lure, but so does the hook at the end of a fishing line. Before you bite, know your bait.

Convention Sports and Leisure International, a consultant retained by L.A. negotiators, estimates the annual operating income of an NFL team playing at the still-theoretical Farmers Field at $53 million. Since that figure more than doubles Forbes’ August 2010 estimate of Chargers’ annual profits ($24.7 million), it qualifies as an A-list head-turner.

All other things being equal, the reflexive response of any committed capitalist would be, “Where do I sign?” But all other things are not equal, and some could prove significant during Spanos’ open-ended deliberations.

Besides the basic and unanswered question of viability — can AEG get the stadium built on terms remotely resembling its memorandum of understanding? — there are matters of mobility, associated costs and competition. The Chargers are not the only NFL team seeking a new stadium in a second-tier market, and some other franchises may be able to demonstrate greater need. Though the Chargers’ lease affords the team an escape clause that can be exercised annually, relocation requires league approval and could involve a hefty relocation fee.

Though NFL spokesman Greg Aiello says the league has not addressed relocation fees “in any way, so it would be pure speculation at this point,” L.A.’s consultants have estimated the cost could top $500 million. That projection seems high — relocation is not expansion; it does not create an additional slice in the league pie — but league owners are unlikely to approve a move to the nation’s No. 2 market unless they’re compensated for their consent.

Another complication could arise from the landlord. Because AEG is a private business rather than a governmental body, it would surely expect a substantial stake in any team taking occupancy of a built-from-scratch stadium (as does Majestic Realty’s Ed Roski, author of a competing stadium proposal in the City of Industry).

Question: Is 60 or 70 percent of the Chargers worth more in Los Angeles than almost 100 percent of the Chargers are worth in San Diego?

Answer: Depends on which variables you plug into the equation.

There’s probably a point where all of this pencils out; where a franchise owner could recoup a relocation fee and make up in new revenue what he might lose in reduced equity. But if I’m Dean Spanos, if my family controls 96 percent of an NFL franchise that was valued at $907 million BEFORE the players agreed to a new 10-year collective bargaining agreement, I’m not looking to liquidate. I’m looking for a deal with a local government and for loopholes in the estate tax.

If I’m Dean Spanos, I’m still looking for a deal in San Diego, at least until the L.A. option is more than an outline. (I’m reduced to reading Spanos’ mind here because he did not oblige an interview request. Mark Fabiani, the Chargers’ stadium point man, helped fill in some of my telepathic blanks.)

“I had dinner with Dean last night,” Fabiani said Tuesday afternoon. “He wants us to keep at it, (sees) no reason to be discouraged.”

If the Chargers’ stadium campaign has been incremental to the point of invisibility, Fabiani claims to see progress in the funding mechanism contained in the new collective bargaining agreement. In negotiating a 1.5 percent revenue credit for future stadium projects, the NFL and its players have recognized mutual benefit in swankier digs. These credits will not cover the cost of construction projects that have lately run into the billion-dollar range, but they should help with the down payments.

“If this credit had not been included in the CBA, there would absolutely be no way to move ahead,” Fabiani said. “It was a necessary thing to happen, (a) victory for us.”

Remaining battles are many. The Chargers will attempt to convince league owners that California stadium projects deserve special consideration and additional funding. They will try to sell a vision of a stadium that can be considered a component of convention center expansion, of an entertainment complex attractive to private investors, and of a football team worthy of public dollars.

This is a tough sell in any town. If I’m Dean Spanos, I wait to see who can get a stadium off the drawing board. This article was written by Tim Sullivan and appeared in The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Team President Jed York spoke optimistically Tuesday about the 49ers' Santa Clara stadium fundraising efforts in light of the NFL's new collective bargaining agreement.
In a conference call, York discussed the benefits of the new stadium fund included in the agreement - a 1.5 percent cut of league revenue. This year, the NFL could set aside about $60 million. That number is expected to grow in years to come.

"That's going to be enough for several new stadium projects," York said of the potential annual support.

How the league will divide the money remains to be seen. York reiterated that he is open to sharing a stadium with the Raiders and said he has talked to Santa Clara officials about that possibility. He also said the league has not pressured the 49ers and Raiders to combine their stadium efforts.

York, who interrupted his honeymoon to make the call to reporters, also said that because a 10-year labor agreement has been reached, the 49ers can aggressively seek stadium financing.

It's "very hard to receive financing for a new stadium when you are in the middle of a lockout," he said. "Now that it is resolved, now we can turn our attention to working with the NFL, working with the banks that have financed stadiums in the past."

York said the Santa Clara stadium plan is on schedule to be completed by 2015. This article was written by Kevin Lynch and appeared in The San Francisco Chronicle.

FIRST NINE TEAMS REPORT ON WEDNESDAY

All 32 NFL clubs will open their training camps this week, starting with nine teams on Wednesday, July 27.

By July 31, every NFL team will be in camp.

The 2011 NFL training camp sites and reporting dates:

Baltimore
Baltimore Ravens Training Facility
Owings Mills, MD
7/27

Buffalo
St. John Fisher College
Pittsford, NY
7/29

Cincinnati
Georgetown College
Georgetown, KY
7/28

Cleveland
Cleveland Browns Training Facility
Berea, OH
7/29

Denver
Paul D. Bowlen Memorial Broncos Centre
Englewood, CO
7/27

Houston
Methodist Training Center
Houston, TX
7/31

Indianapolis
Anderson University
Anderson, IN
7/31

Jacksonville
Everbank Field
Jacksonville, FL
7/27

Kansas City
Missouri Western State University
St. Joseph, MO
7/28

Miami
Miami Dolphins Training Facility
Davie, FL
7/28

New England
Gillette Stadium
Foxboro, MA
7/27

NY Jets
Atlantic Health Jets Training Facility
Florham Park, NJ
7/31

Oakland
Napa Valley Marriott
Napa Valley, CA
7/27

Pittsburgh
Saint Vincent College
Latrobe, PA
7/28

San Diego
Chargers Park
San Diego, CA
7/27

Tennessee
Baptist Sports Park
Nashville, TN
7/29


Arizona
Northern Arizona University
Flagstaff, AZ
7/28

Atlanta
Atlanta Falcons Training Facility
Flowery Branch, GA
7/28

Carolina
Wofford College
Spartanburg, SC
7/29

Chicago
Olivet Nazarene University
Bourbonnais, IL
7/29

Dallas
Grand Hyatt San Antonio/Alamodome
San Antonio, TX
7/27

Detroit
Detroit Lions Training Facility
Allen Park, MI
7/28

Green Bay
St. Norbert College
De Pere, WI
7/29

Minnesota
Minnesota State University, Mankato
Mankato, MN
7/31

New Orleans
New Orleans Saints Training Facility
Metairie, LA
7/28

NY Giants
TIMEX Performance Center
East Rutherford, NJ
7/29

Philadelphia
Lehigh University
Bethlehem, PA
7/27

St. Louis
Russell Training Center
Earth City, MO
7/29

San Francisco
Marie P. DeBartolo Sports Centre
Santa Clara, CA
7/28

Seattle
Virginia Mason Athletic Center
Renton, WA
7/27

Tampa Bay
One Buccaneer Place
Tampa, FL
7/28

Washington
Redskins Park
Ashburn, VA
7/28

The dates and kickoff times of the 64-game NFL preseason schedule were announced today, beginning with five games on Thursday, August 11, including a nationally televised game between the Seattle Seahawks and San Diego Chargers on ESPN (8 p.m. ET).

That game is the first of 11 nationally televised preseason games featuring the entire 2010 playoff field.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony will usher in the 2011 season on Saturday, August 6 (7 p.m. ET, ESPN, NFL Network) when the class of 2011 – RICHARD DENT, MARSHALL FAULK, CHRIS HANBURGER, LES RICHTER, ED SABOL, DEION SANDERS and SHANNON SHARPE – takes its place among the all-time greats.

The 2011 preseason schedule was announced on April 12, without dates and times, which have now been confirmed. Since that announcement, the August 7 Pro Football Hall of Fame game has been cancelled and the San Diego Chargers at Dallas Cowboys game has been moved from Saturday, August 20 to Sunday, August 21. It will now be televised nationally by NBC (8 p.m. ET).

The complete 2011 NFL preseason schedule:

WEEK 1 – AUGUST 11 – 15

Thursday, August 11

Seattle at San Diego ESPN 8:00p
Jacksonville at New England 7:30p
Baltimore at Philadelphia 7:30p
Denver at Dallas 8:30p
Arizona at Oakland 10:00p

Friday, August 12

Tampa Bay at Kansas City FOX 8:00p
Miami at Atlanta 7:30p
Cincinnati at Detroit 7:30p
Pittsburgh at Washington 7:30p
San Francisco at New Orleans 8:00p

Saturday, August 13

Green Bay at Cleveland 7:30p
NY Giants at Carolina 8:00p
Buffalo at Chicago 8:00p
Indianapolis at St. Louis 8:00p
Minnesota at Tennessee 8:00p

Monday, August 15

NY Jets at Houston ESPN 8:00p

WEEK 2 – AUGUST 18-22

Thursday, August 18

Philadelphia at Pittsburgh FOX 8:00p
New England at Tampa Bay 7:30p

Friday, August 19

Atlanta at Jacksonville FOX 8:00p
Washington at Indianapolis 7:00p
Kansas City at Baltimore 7:30p
Detroit at Cleveland 7:30p
Carolina at Miami 7:30p
Arizona at Green Bay 8:00p

Saturday, August 20

New Orleans at Houston 8:00p
Tennessee at St. Louis 8:00p
Oakland at San Francisco 8:00p
Buffalo at Denver 8:30p
Minnesota at Seattle 10:00p

Sunday, August 21

San Diego at Dallas NBC 8:00p
Cincinnati at NY Jets 7:00p

Monday, August 22

Chicago at NY Giants ESPN 8:00p


WEEK 3 – AUGUST 25-28

Thursday, August 25

Washington at Baltimore ESPN 8:00p
Carolina at Cincinnati 7:00p
Cleveland at Philadelphia 7:30p

Friday, August 26

Green Bay at Indianapolis CBS 8:00p
St. Louis at Kansas City 8:00p

Saturday, August 27

New England at Detroit CBS 8:00p
Jacksonville at Buffalo 7:00p
NY Jets at NY Giants 7:00p
Atlanta at Pittsburgh 7:30p
Miami at Tampa Bay 7:30p
Dallas at Minnesota 8:00p
Houston at San Francisco 8:00p
Chicago at Tennessee 8:00p
Seattle at Denver 9:00p
San Diego at Arizona 10:00p

Sunday, August 28

New Orleans at Oakland NBC 8:00p


WEEK 4 – SEPTEMBER 1-2

Thursday, September 1

Detroit at Buffalo 6:30p
Indianapolis at Cincinnati 7:00p
Baltimore at Atlanta 7:30p
St. Louis at Jacksonville 7:30p
Dallas at Miami 7:30p
NY Giants at New England 7:30p
Philadelphia at NY Jets 7:30p
Tampa Bay at Washington 7:30p
Pittsburgh at Carolina 8:00p
Cleveland at Chicago 8:00p
Kansas City at Green Bay 8:00p
Houston at Minnesota 8:00p
Tennessee at New Orleans 8:00p
Denver at Arizona 10:00p
San Francisco at San Diego 10:00p

Friday, September 2

Oakland at Seattle 10:30p