NFL Canceling Next Month's Rookie Symposium Because Of Lockout

The NFL is “canceling next month’s rookie symposium in Canton” due to the ongoing lockout, according to a source. That would be the “first event wiped off the league’s calendar by the impasse.” The symposium is “designed to teach rookies life lessons on dealing with football, finances and their new lifestyle.” The event was scheduled to begin June 26 (ESPN.com, 5/24).

Meanwhile, NFL Exec VP/Labor & General Counsel Jeff Pash last night warned that litigation was preventing the players and owners from reaching an agreement to play football and suggested mediation in federal court had done little. Pash noted that the sides were frozen waiting for court dates and hearings. And he seemed to dismiss the two rounds of mediation that have occurred in federal court, calling it artificial. Pash: “It is artificial in that it is affected by the litigation, it is all part of the litigation process” (Daniel Kaplan, SportsBusiness Journal).