NFLPA will conduct a conference call for all players

Posted by Mike Florio on February 17, 2011, 1:40 PM EST

As the league and the union continue to not meet but possibly make progress via non-meeting communications, the NFLPA will be communicating with all players.

Or at least with as many players who choose to call in and listen.

Albert Breer of NFL Network reports that that union will conduct a conference call today.  The discussion will be led by NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith, and all players are invited.

The purpose will be to discuss labor negotiations, and it’s safe to say that someone eventually will share with the media the information that is shared with the players.

We’re not quite sure how the union will accommodate all players, if they choose to join the call.  That said, we doubt that as many as a third of them will try.

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18 responses to “NFLPA will conduct a conference call for all players”

  1. “We seem to be having some connection difficulties with Mr. Cromartie, unfortunately, next up is……….”.

  3. Must be nice to hide behind a blog and take side swipes at anyone involved in this mess. Your “journalistic” piece should have ended:

    “We’re not quite sure how the union will accommodate all players, if all players choose to join the call.”

  4. “We’re not quite sure how the union will accommodate all players, if they choose to join the call.”

    Dude, where have you been for the last decade? There is all sorts of teleconferencing/webinar technology available now. In 5 minutes I can set up a conference call with a toll free # and a password, email it out and have thousands of people on the call.

    Really MF?

  7. Give Mike a break, he isn’t saying it is impossible to accommodate, just that he isn’t sure how they will do it.

    As far as how many players will join the call, he is probably right on the money, like it or not.

  8. I hope their system is better than the one we have at work – ours craps out if more than 50 people get on.

  9. The NFLPA will be communicating with all players that during the lock out,
    all players will be saying the following:

    May I take your order, Please…

  10. “We’re not quite sure how the union will accommodate all players, if they choose to join the call. That said, we doubt that as many as a third of them will try.”

    They will probably host it just like publicly traded companies do for their earnings calls ro analysts and investors. It’s hosted and everyone calls in to a main number (usually with a passcode). Most people are on mute while they listen to the explanation then you press a button to notify the operator you have a question. Then they call on callers one at a time for a question. All get to hear the answer and then you go to the next questioner. Pretty simple.

  11. The essence of the conference call is this: “Gentlemen, be prepared to go out and get a day job because there won’t be a 2011 NFL season”.

  13. Other than the player reps, my guess is that most of the call in players will be from among the 400 – 700 who will not be getting any signing bonuses this March and April.

    My guess is that DeMaurice will be more focused on herding wild cats, which is what it will be like to keep that group in line, than he will be on negotiating with the owners.

    Good Luck DeMaurice. You’re gonna need it.

  15. I doubt that Jerry Jones or Al Davis will come up with the number and find a way to listen in.

  16. Isn’t that why each team has a player rep? To communicate the union’s stance to each individual. At the minimum the reps need to be on line then send out the important aspects to each member of their team.

  17. best of luck, demaurice. you have at least 50 guys in there who are not gonna let anyone else get a word in edgewise (see; C. Ochocinco, J. Cribbs, D. Jackson)

  18. The purpose of the call is to inform the players that the two sides have brought in mediators.

    Stop trying to create news. Stick to reporting the facts.

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