Thursday, June 2, 2011
Posted: 2:06 p.m.
By Reuben FrankCSNPhilly.com
When the NFL Coaches Association filed a brief with the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals last Wednesday, the non-unionized trade association claimed that its members supported the NFL players in their ongoing labor dispute with the NFL owners.
Not so fast, the Eagles say.
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The Eagles on Thursday became the latest in a growing number of NFL teams to take issue with the NFLCAs brief, making it clear that their coaching staff does not endorse the NFLCAs position.
The Philadelphia Eagles coaching staff was not aware that a brief was being filed by the NFL Coaches Association in the Eighth Circuit Court against the NFL Owners last week, head coach Andy Reid said in a statement released by the team Thursday. We were surprised by the filing and do not support it in any way.
In the brief, which did not specifically mention any NFL teams or coaches, the NFLCA alleged that the lockout will cost NFL coaches jobs and damage their ability to get new jobs.
To meet managements expectations, coaches need adequate time in the offseason to prepare their players for the season ahead, the brief read. The lockout has already interfered with the coaches offseason plans for their players, and each day lost in preparing for the season further diminishes coaches opportunities to prove themselves and advance their career.
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It continued: A lockout will significantly impinge on coaches opportunities to prove themselves and will increase the likelihood that they will suffer failure they can neither avoid nor overcome.
The Eagles are one of seven NFL teams that has not cut the salaries of its assistant coaches, so their public statement distancing themselves from the NFLCA is not surprising.
The Redskins, Saints, Jaguars, Chiefs, Texans, Cowboys and Rams previously made public statements saying the NFLCAs brief does not represent the opinions of their coaching staffs.
The NFL locked out its players on March 11, and the lockout is already the longest work stoppage in the NFLs 92-year history.
Commissioner Roger Goodell, NFLPA DeMaurice Smith and other league and player representatives were meeting under a cloak of secrecy Wednesday and Thursday in St. Louis hoping to narrow their differences, and barring a quick resolution through negotiation, both sides are scheduled to be in Chicago on Friday for the latest hearing in front of the Eighth Circuit.
The NFLPA and NFL will both state their cases to a three-judge panel Friday, the NFLPA attorneys saying the lockout should be lifted with the league year starting immediately, and NFL officials asserting that theyre within their rights to continue the lockout.
E-mail Reuben Frank at rfrank@comcastsportsnet.com
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