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Friday, March 23 Few decisions expected at NFL meetings By John Clayton ESPN.com |
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It's fitting that the NFL will hold its annual owners meeting in the desert -- Palm Desert, Calif. This meeting will be dry as far as major decisions.
Realignment will be discussed but not voted upon. The Competition Committee isn't recommending any changes in assistant coaches tampering rules, which hurt chances of Super Bowl coordinators John Fox and Marvin Lewis from getting head coaching interviews. The biggest decision involves instant replay officiating. The Competition Committee is recommending a three-year commitment to instant replay under the same guidelines of the past year. Though many coaches would like to keep replay but eliminate decisions made by officials in the replay box, the consensus is that those changes might be discussed in future years. The key, in their eyes, is keeping replay officiating around. Last year, there were 247 replay stoppages in 248 games that resulted in 83 reversals. It is also possible that not all owners will be in attendance. On Friday, there seemed to be some fear that owners would be served subpoenas for the Raiders lawsuit currently going on in Los Angeles. Some owners might consider just sending their votes in by proxy. The Management Council will update everyone on the ongoing negotiations with the NFL Players Association for a two-year extension of the collective bargaining agreement. The league also plans to come down hard on unsportsmanlike conduct and will legislate even heavier against taunting. Bandanas and headdresses will also be outlawed. There will be discussions on a Chiefs proposal eliminate the inactives each week and allow teams to dress all 53 of their rostered players. John Clayton is the senior NFL writer for ESPN.com. |
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