Northwestern Univ. football players on Friday voted on whether they "want to be represented by the College Athletes Players Association, but it could be some time before the results are known." The ballots "were sealed inside a box that will be kept by" the NLRB until it "makes a final decision on whether the players are employees of the university." The voting "was supervised by three officers of the NLRB." A Northwestern player who voted said he is "80 percent sure" that the team will vote "no" to unionizing (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 4/26). To unionize, 39 of the team's 76 players "would have had to say yes" (ESPN.com, 4/26). Former NU LB Michael Odom said, "It seems like things are kind of leaning toward no" (N.Y. TIMES, 4/26).
Elsewhere:
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The CHICAGO TRIBUNE's Phil Rosenthal writes the NCAA reform movement and its "momentum continue to grow no matter what the ballots cast in Evanston tell us" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 4/27).
- The N.Y. TIMES' Steven Greenhouse looks at what the NLRB's original ruling means for public universities and "their scholarship athletes" (N.Y. TIMES, 4/27).
