Off-Topic » ”Yes. To me, it was a tremendous experience to be involve

The NFL Players Association filed a grievance with the league on Tuesday challenging its national anthem policy.

The union says that the new policy Bob Lilly Jersey , which the league imposed without consultation with the NFLPA, is inconsistent with the collective bargaining agreement and infringes on players’ rights. The filing met a statute of limitations deadline and will be heard by an independent arbitrator, an NFLPA spokesman said.

In May, the NFL approved its national anthem policy at its owners meetings in Atlanta. The policy allows players to protest during the national anthem by staying in the locker room, but forbids them from sitting or taking a knee if they’re on the field or the sidelines.

Teams will be subject to fines if players don’t comply and will have the option of punishing players.

When the league announced the policy, Commissioner Roger Goodell called it a compromise aimed at putting the focus back on football after a tumultuous year in which television ratings dipped nearly 10 percent; some blamed the protests for such a drop. The union said at that time that it would file a grievance against any change in the collective bargaining agreement.

The union said Tuesday it has proposed having its executive committee talking to the NFL instead of proceeding with litigation. The union said the NFL has agreed to those discussions.

The NFL declined to comment about the union’s action.

In 2016, then-49ers quarterback, Colin Kaepernick began protesting police brutality and social injustice by kneeling during the national anthem, and the demonstration spread to other players and teams. It became one of the most controversial and sensitive issues in the NFL, with players saying their messages last year were being misconstrued, while others – including President Donald Trump – called them unpatriotic. Trump even said NFL owners should fire any player who refused to stand during the anthem.

Following those comments Brett Favre Jersey , more than 200 players protested during the anthem that weekend before the number of protesters dwindled as the season progressed.

”We’re here for a bigger platform,” Raiders tight end Jared Cook said during the spring. ”We’re not just athletes. We’re people that live this. It’s people in our neighborhood, it’s people that we grew up with, it’s people that we know who are actually living through these circumstances. So when we speak on it, it’s not like we’re just speaking out of the side of our neck. It’s things that actually touch home and things that we can actually relate to.

”All I have to say is, I just think it’s sad that it’s veered from something that stood for good and the whole narrative has changed into something that’s negative when that was not what it was initially about in the first place.”

The NFL started requiring players to be on the field for the anthem in 2009 – the year it signed a marketing deal with the military.

”We want people to be respectful of the national anthem. We want people to stand,” Goodell said at the May meetings, when he dismissed concerns about the lack of union involvement by contending the league met with countless players over the past year.

”We’ve been very sensitive on making sure that we give players choices,” the commissioner added, ”but we do believe that moment is an important moment and one that we are going to focus on.”

The league and the Players Coalition have been working in tandem on efforts to support player initiatives in the community and for a variety of social issues. The NFL is committing $90 million over the next seven years to social justice causes in a three-segment plan that involves league players.

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Hours before his Swedish countrymen were to play for their second straight world championship, Daniel Alfredsson reflected on how his life has changed since he has become a hockey dad. Alfredsson headlined the group of eight 2018 inductees to the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame on the final day of competition in Copenhagen.

”You’re never going to get the highs of playing in a world championship or especially the world championship final again Womens Joe Mixon Jersey ,” he said. ”But I’m happy where I’m at.”

For the last year, Alfredsson has been away from the NHL, but not far from the rink.

”Three of my sons play for the same organization,” he said. ”I coached two of the teams.

”I had a really enjoyable time. Learned a lot as well: where to set the bar for the kids at different ages and maturity levels. It was a great experience.”

Originally drafted in the sixth round by the Ottawa Senators in 1994, Alfredsson won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 1995-96 and went on to become the franchise leader in goals (426) and points (1,108) in an NHL career that spanned 18 seasons, 17 of them in Ottawa. He served as captain from 1999 to 2013 and helped the Senators reach the Stanley Cup Final in 2007.

Internationally, Alfredsson won Olympic gold with Sweden in 2006 and silver in 2014, along with four world championship medals – silver in 1995 and 2004 and bronze in 1999 and 2001.

After finishing his playing career with the Detroit Red Wings, Alfredsson signed a one-day contract to officially retire as a member of the Senators in 2014 and had his jersey number retired by Ottawa in 2016. He served two seasons as a senior adviser of hockey operations with the Senators before stepping away from the team in July.

”As long as my kids are involved, I’ll be involved in youth hockey one way or another Authentic Pekka Rinne Jersey Kids , as a coach or volunteer or anything,” he said about his plans. ”Professionally, I don’t know. I’ve taken a year off. It’s been nice, but part of me missed the competitiveness. We’ll see what happens.”

Asked if he’d heard anything about the future of his fellow Erik Karlsson, a fellow Swede and current captain of the Senators who is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent in July 2019, Alfredsson said: ”To me, he says that he wants to stay. But it’s not all in his hands.”

Canadian defenseman and current Los Angeles Kings general manager Rob Blake also was inducted into the Hall of Fame on Sunday.

One of just 28 members of the hockey’s Triple Gold Club, Blake won a gold medal at the world championship in 1994, a Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2001 and was part of the team that snapped Canada’s 50-year Olympic gold drought in Salt Lake City in 2002. All told, he skated for Canada in three Olympics, four world championships and at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey Jack Mewhort Jersey , as well as playing a management role in two world championships and at the 2016 World Cup.

Blake named mentors like Bob Nicholson and the late Pat Quinn as members of the Team Canada brain trust that supported him during his playing days. He supports the return of NHL players to the Olympic stage.

”Yes. To me, it was a tremendous experience to be involved in the Village, just like any other athlete,” said Blake. ”That’s probably what I still get asked most about – the Olympics.”

Six others also were inducted on Sunday, including former NHL stars Chris Chelios and Jere Lehtinen in the player category, plus longtime Canadian referee Bob Nadin and France’s second-generation hockey hero Philippe Lacarriere as builders.

Denmark’s Jesper Damgaard, who played in 17 consecutive world championships, received the Richard ”Bibi” Torriani award for his outstanding career as a player from a smaller hockey nation and Latvia’s Kirovs Lipmans was named the winner of the Paul Loicq Award for his contributions to international ice hockey.
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