After NFL, Players Meet, Both Sides Back in Court

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By DAVE CAMPBELL

The summer has begun, and the NFL and its locked-out players still lack an agreement to guarantee games will be played in 2011.

Urgency is apparent, but just how close the situation can or will get to the delay, alteration or cancellation of the preseason - or more - remains to be seen.

Both sides finished three straight days of not-so-secret negotiations Thursday near Chicago, before the contingents made their way to St. Louis. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is holding a pivotal hearing Friday in the nearly three-month work stoppage, determining whether the lockout itself is legal after U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson in Minnesota ruled April 25 it wasn't.

Lawyer Paul Clement will argue the case in court for the NFL. Several players are expected to attend the hearing in support of the other side.


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