Filed under: NFL Labor Negotiations
WASHINGTON (AP) - Mediated negotiations toward a new NFL labor deal have broken up for the day after about eight hours of talks.
NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith didn't stop for questions as he left the Washington office of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, a U.S. government agency, shortly after 6 p.m. He and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell both arrived at about 10 a.m.
Sunday is the third consecutive day of face-to-face communication after months of slow and sometimes contentious bargaining.
Because mediator George Cohen asked both sides not to comment publicly on these negotiations, it's not clear what, if any, progress is being made.
The NFL's labor deal expires at the end of the day March 3.
Various lawyers and other members of both negotiating teams showed up earlier at the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service office building. George Cohen, the director of that U.S. government agency, has been mediating the talks.
"We are working hard, and we're following the director's playbook, and we'll see what we come up with," said Jeff Pash, the NFL's lead labor negotiator.
He walked in with Bob Batterman, an outside lawyer for the NFL who was working for the NHL when it lost its entire 2004-05 season to a lockout.
Lawyers Jeffrey Kessler and Richard Berthelsen, current players Tony Richardson of the New York Jets and Charlie Batch of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and former player Pete Kendall were among those representing the union Sunday. They began arriving before 9 a.m.
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Source: http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2011/02/20/nfl-players-wrap-third-day-of-talks-stay-mum-on-any-progress/
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