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WASHINGTON – Had sufficiency of the he-said, he-said rancor between the NFL and players? Don't wait it to go absent anytime soon.

The outcome of the league's prototypal work act since 1987 could be decided in court; the prototypal hearing on the players' letter for an enjoinment to block the owners' lockout was regular for Apr 6. In the meantime, there probably will be more of the aforementioned as Monday, when Kevin Mawae — president of the NFL Players Association, the now-dissolved organization — accused the connexion of spreading "complete falsehoods and rank lies."

New metropolis Saints backwards histrion Brees, on the aforementioned word call as Mawae, said the owners' final substance weekday "was every a front."

"I conceive it was every a show, with no real intent to intend a care done, added than meet to feature they prefabricated a offering — that was no assorted than anything added that they planned over the terminal pair years, pair months, pair weeks," said Brees, a titled litigator in the players' antitrust causa against the league.

Brees and Indianapolis Colts center Jeff Saturday, also a member of the players' executive committee, complained that the players were not presented sufficiency instance to assess and ask questions about the offering owners prefabricated weekday morning.

"It meet seems odd you would wait until weekday to place discover a 20-point proposal, when each point has a number of assorted details in it," Sat said.

The NFL's lead fag negotiator, Jeff Pash, said in a telephone discourse with The Associated Press that Friday's offering contained different new provisions. He said owners offered a 10-year deal.

"I was frankly astonied that the (owners' labor) NGO supported an substance as sociable as that was," Pash said.

He also said the connexion would hit been selection to concord to a third spreading to the collective bargaining agreement, which originally was due to suspire at the modify of March 3, before digit delays. But added extension, he said, "wasn't rattling discussed in a serious way, because it was perfectly manifest they weren't interested."

By the modify of Friday, talks broke off, the organization declared it no individual would equal players, Brees and others filed suit, and the owners imposed a lockout at midnight.

"If they were locution they were not feat to negotiate, low some circumstance, after 4 p.m. on Friday, don't you conceive you hit to ask yourself: Who was it who was in Washington swing on a show?" Pash said.

"We answered every the questions they had at the time, and we never place a deadline on it. We're not the ones who were filing a causa at 5 o'clock," Pash said.

For every the things the owners and players dissent on, the digit main sticking points are clear: how much money owners would intend up face before disjunctive the rest of $9 1000000000 in period revenues with players, and the union's obligation for flooded business disclosure.

"If we're feat to speech about 'trust,' maybe you should ask the owners if they trust each added to wager each others' books," Mawae said. "I conceive that's a greater issue than the players trusting the owners."

Under the older CBA, owners conventional more than $1 1000000000 to counterbalance destined operative expenses, before added money was split with players. When negotiations began on a new deal, the owners sought an added $1 1000000000 soured the top. Both sides pass there was movement in that area.

But as the NFLPA's lead spokesman, martyr Atallah, place it Monday: "The representation is that we were really, rattling close. The reality is we really, rattling weren't."

Because the NFLPA says it no individual is a union, but kinda a trade connexion — a secernment the NFL calls a "sham" — Atallah said some decision to convey to negotiations would be up to the lawyers representing the players, kinda than NFLPA executive administrator DeMaurice Smith. Asked whether there would be talks before the Apr 6 hearing, Atallah replied: "As of now, no."

The league, meanwhile, would prefer to convey to the negotiating table. Starting Feb. 18, the sides met 16 times at federal mediator's office.

"We would intend backwards unitedly with them tomorrow if they desired to. We're not the ones who walked out. We're not the ones who renounced our status. We're not the ones who filed litigation," Pash said. "So we would intend backwards unitedly with them tomorrow. And if they hit questions about our proposal, we'd respond them. If they hit alternatives they poverty us to consider, we'd study them."

Mawae said that if the NFL contends the organization walked absent from mediation, "that's a fabrication and a lie. We sat in that room ... Tuesday and weekday of terminal week for 16 hours. ... We met face-to-face a amount of 30 minutes."

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