In case you wonder why the NFL and NFLPA have a hard time making progress on several issues, the answer might be as simple as a failure to communicate.
During his state of the league press conference Friday, Commissioner Roger Goodell made multiple references to the fact the NFLPA did not mention to him their request for a Chief Safety Officer to be appointed by the league, something executive director DeMaurice Smith mentioned Thursday during his press conference.
Goodell pointed out that a group from the league met with union officials for four hours last Friday, a group which he said included some owners and players, and that the request “did not come up.”
“I can’t appoint someone to make the game safer,” Goodell said.
He also mentioned that he expects HGH testing to be in place prior to the 2013 season.
Reaching an agreement on that process will me more difficult if the two sides choose to negotiate via press conferences, rather than substantive meetings which begin with the assumption of good faith. That burden falls on both sides, and clearly isn’t being met to either’s satisfaction.