But I thought Coughlin coached the GIANTS...

Jake · Post by **Jake** » Mon Jul 12, 2004 10:37 pm

Monday, July 12, 2004

Cards forfeit workout days for violating CBA

By Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com

The Arizona Cardinals on Monday became the second team in three months forced to forfeit allotted spring or summer practices for violating the league's collective bargaining agreement rules governing offseason workouts.

In a joint statement, NFL executive vice president Harold Henderson and NFL Players Association executive director Gene Upshaw announced that an investigation found the Cardinals had overstepped both the "intensity level and tempo" permitted by the rules during so-called "organized team activity" days.

Under an agreement by the NFLPA and the NFL Management Council, the Cardinals forfeited the final four days of the club's voluntary workout program, which were to have begun Monday. The team will have no workouts now until it assembles for training camp at Northern Arizona University on Aug. 1.

"We have been informed of the decision by the Management Council," said Cardinals vice president of football operations Rod Graves. "We're very respectful of the CBA and are taking the appropriate measures to make sure this does not reoccur."

Team and league sources said a group of Arizona players had complained to their union representative about some of the drills included in coach Dennis Green's practices. Two veteran Cardinals contacted on Monday declined to discuss the matter. It was not immediately clear when the violations occurred.

In May, the league penalized the New York Giants, taking away two of the team's 14 allotted "organized team activity" days, charging that coach Tom Coughlin kept them at the stadium beyond the prescribed limit for offseason programs and that he mandated players report for breakfast.

The violation by the Cardinals is believed to be the first for the franchise. Teams can be penalized by forfeiture of draft choices for repeat violations.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/s ... id=1838634

redskincity · Post by **redskincity** » Mon Jul 12, 2004 10:40 pm

What is this world coming to? Players can dictate who, How and now when they workout. This is BS. The coach has no say so.

hailskins666 · Post by **hailskins666** » Mon Jul 12, 2004 11:01 pm

redskincity wrote:What is this world coming to? Players can dictate who, How and now when they workout. This is BS. The coach has no say so.

i agree. is there any meaning to the words "earn your money"? oh, thats right, that went out the window with the NFLPA and CBA. :roll:

i can't work this time of year, i may miss baywatch.... panzies.

tsaler · Post by **tsaler** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 12:10 am

The NFLPA and CBA are designed to protect the players. After all, what fun would football be to watch if it were the coaches and the front office on television every Sunday?

There are certain rules that teams have to abide by or else they'll lose practice time. It's just the way things work. It's not that players are not working hard because they are not working in ways which violate the CBA. It just means that there are certain boundaries which are not to be crossed, and, in the event a team crosses it, that team is punished.

These players are not wimps or pansies because they report abuses of the CBA. The CBA is there for a reason, and the reason why it is valuable is because it is taken seriously. Once it is ignored and players begin to sacrifice their rights granted under it, then there's no point in having a CBA in the first place. The owners and the coaches can do whatever they want whenever they want to the players, and they become athlete slaves rather than athlete professionals.

redskincity · Post by **redskincity** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 6:30 am

tsaler wrote:The NFLPA and CBA are designed to protect the players. After all, what fun would football be to watch if it were the coaches and the front office on television every Sunday?

There are certain rules that teams have to abide by or else they'll lose practice time. It's just the way things work. It's not that players are not working hard because they are not working in ways which violate the CBA. It just means that there are certain boundaries which are not to be crossed, and, in the event a team crosses it, that team is punished.

These players are not wimps or pansies because they report abuses of the CBA. The CBA is there for a reason, and the reason why it is valuable is because it is taken seriously. Once it is ignored and players begin to sacrifice their rights granted under it, then there's no point in having a CBA in the first place. The owners and the coaches can do whatever they want whenever they want to the players, and they become athlete slaves rather than athlete professionals.

..........As long as they make millions and demand millions, they need not cry about a coach keeping them at practice 15 extra minutes or whatever.

They make to much money to defend [-X

hailskins666 · Post by **hailskins666** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 7:39 am

redskincity wrote:
..........As long as they make millions and demand millions, they need not cry about a coach keeping them at practice 15 extra minutes or whatever.

They make to much money to defend

agreed. rich babies.

General Failure · Post by **General Failure** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 10:09 am

I think this is directly related to the Corey Stringer incident. The Union wants to protect their guys and the league wants to keep it's bread and butter happy.

Steve Spurrier III · Post by **Steve Spurrier III** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 10:55 am

The point is, everyone has to play by the rules. If Dennis Green believes holding his players for an extra 15 minutes makes his team better, is that fair to a coach who is following the rules and lets his players out on time? You think Gibbs would want the Cardinals and Giants getting this slight edge?

redskincity · Post by **redskincity** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 4:46 pm

Steve Spurrier III wrote:The point is, everyone has to play by the rules. If Dennis Green believes holding his players for an extra 15 minutes makes his team better, is that fair to a coach who is following the rules and lets his players out on time? You think Gibbs would want the Cardinals and Giants getting this slight edge?

Great point! Cool

hailskins666 · Post by **hailskins666** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 7:23 pm

blah. its still BS.

Steve Spurrier III · Post by **Steve Spurrier III** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 7:28 pm

The players complaining might be BS, but the rule being enforced is not...

hailskins666 · Post by **hailskins666** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 7:45 pm

the complaining, AND the rule are both BS. :lol:

you're right, enforcing it is what should be done because it is in effect. but it should be changed IMO. there shouldn't be guidelines to how a particular coach runs his team. afterall, the unemployment line is only a half a step away for any coach in the league at any given moment. i'm all for hard work and perseverance. and if you can gain an edge by pushing yourself and those around you harder than anyone else, thats the way it should be.

Steve Spurrier III · Post by **Steve Spurrier III** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 8:08 pm

I don't think that's how the NFL Player's Union thinks it should be...

1niksder · Post by **1niksder** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 8:33 pm

Gene Upshaw announced that an investigation found the Cardinals had overstepped both the "intensity level and tempo" permitted by the rules

Now I get it the Cards have been playing low intensity football for years and they don't want to change

hailskins666 · Post by **hailskins666** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 8:41 pm

1niksder wrote:
Gene Upshaw announced that an investigation found the Cardinals had overstepped both the "intensity level and tempo" permitted by the rules

Now I get it the Cards have been playing low intensity football for years and they don't want to change

ROTFALMAO thats my point exactly. sometimes change is good. and 99% of the time hard work does pay off in the end.

SSIII wrote:I don't think that's how the NFL Player's Union thinks it should be...

of course not. the same players that vote on the rules, are the same panzies whining about being mistreated on the job. let these guys come to work for my landscaping company for a few days in the real world. they'll be begging to get back to practice. :lol: