NFL owners gather for their annual meeting in New Orleans beginning this morning, the first meeting since the league locked out the players nine days ago. The owners' labor committee met yesterday, and obviously the labor cloud threatening the '11 season will be the primary topic of the meeting. The league’s new outside counsel, David Boies and Paul Clement, are expected to brief the owners on the defense against the antitrust lawsuit filed against the league by nine players. The famed counsel are also expected to speak to the media. Boies and Clement are supplementing the long-running outside counsel for the league, Covington & Burling.
Standard annual meeting updates are also expected, including from NFL Network, finance, competition, and marketing. And showing further that life goes on, the owners will consider proposals to change the game’s kickoff procedures. Rules changes are commonly debated at annual meetings. Head coaches are also expected, as usual, to attend and speak to reporters. However, they cannot speak about players.
The owners have their annual meeting party at the WW2 museum in New Orleans tonight, and last night James Carville and Mary Matalin were scheduled to speak to them about the recovery efforts in New Orleans.
