NFL, Players Meet in Secret

(Newsroom America) -- The NFL, along with a select group of team owners and players, met in secret in a New York City hotel, the NFL Network reported.

The Tuesday meeting was the second in a week, the report said, adding that the first took place outside Chicago.

The Tuesday meeting included NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, NFL Players Association chief DeMaurice Smith, and Chief Magistrate Judge Arthur Bolan. Names of players and owners were not included in the report.

The meetings come as the owners' lockout of players enters its third month. Preseason games are scheduled to begin just two months from now.

On Friday, both sides appeared before the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis, arguing whether the owners' lockout is legal.

If the court rules the lockout is illegal, owners would need to implement a system of free agency which could include a salary cap, but it won't be the business model owners are seeking, ESPN.com reported.

The appeals court said it would rule "in due course." But Judge Kermit Bye advised that both sides work the issue out because the court's decision likely will be "something both sides aren't going to like."

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Contact Jon E. Dougherty