[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]From the CBA (Article XXXV and Appendix L) with relevant info in red and my take at the end.[/FONT]
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ARTICLE XXXV
Section 2. Time Periods:
(a) Subject to the limitations in Subsection (b) below, from the end of the previous NFL season until the
opening of training camp, Clubs may schedule or conduct off-season workout programs for no more than
fourteen total weeks, and no more than four workouts per week, for any individual player. [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Such workout[/FONT]
programs shall not be permitted on weekends. During such workout programs, there may be no more than
fourteen (14) days of organized team practice activity, to be defined by the Player/Club Operations Committee.
Nothing herein shall prevent a Club from permitting
Section 8. Enforcement:
(a) The head coach, who is responsible for any conduct in violation of Sections 5 or 6 of this Article
(including but not limited to the rules in Appendix L), shall be subject to a fine to be determined by the
Commissioner, which fine(s) shall not be reimbursable by the Club or any other person.
APPENDIX L
OFF-SEASON WORKOUT RULES
The Collective Bargaining Agreement with the NFLPA provides that, except for certain specified minicamps,
any off-season workout programs or classroom instruction shall be strictly voluntary. No Club official
shall indicate to a player that the Club’s off-season workout program or classroom instruction is not voluntary
(or that a player’s failure to participate in a workout program or classroom instruction will result in the player’s
failure to make the Club). Off-season programs may take place for fourteen weeks between the end of the
previous season and ten days prior to the start of veteran training camp. The CBA limits such workouts to four
days per week; such workout programs are not permitted on weekends. Included in the fourteen weeks may be
no more than fourteen days of organized team practice activity. This does not preclude any player from
working out on his own on other days, including weekends. Contact work (e.g., “live” blocking, tackling, pass
rushing, bump-and-run), is expressly prohibited i n all off-season workouts.
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Voluntary off-season workout programs are intended to provide training, teaching and physical conditioning[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]for players[/FONT]. The intensity and tempo of drills should be at a level conducive to learning, with player safety as
the highest priority, and not at a level where one player is in a physical contest with another player.
Teams are to provide their players and the Management Council the schedule for the program, including
designation of any days on which organized team practice activity will take place, pursuant to the rules set
forth in Article XXXV of the CBA, and any changes to the schedule for the program.
The following rules shall also apply to the fourteen days of organized team practice activity:
• No pads except protective knee or elbow pads. Helmets are permitted.
• No live contact; no live contact drills between offensive and defensive linemen.
• 7-on-7, 9-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills will be permitted, providing no live contact takes place.
• The NFL will monitor all Clubs during the off-season to ensure player safety and adherence to live contact
guidelines.
• Maximum six hours per day, with a maximum two hours on field, for any player
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Possible violations
1) 1) It’s more than four days per week (OTA started Tue-Sat is five days)Probably into Sunday on return trip.
2) 2) OTAs are prohibited on weekends
3) 3) They will be on the field for more than two hours at the football camp in violation
4) 4) If they inferred that it wasn’t voluntary, it violated the CBA
5) 5) The OTAs are intended to provided training for players, not use them as paid help at a football camp, especially one where participants pay a fee.
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] IIt could be construed to be a misuse of the OTA for personal benefit (his camp)..and he's not even a politician.Yes it's a charity and I'm glad he's doing it but that doesn't give him free rein to abuse players with 20 hours in a bus....
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If you consider the bus trip, part of the OTA it violates the CBA on many levels.
1) You cant have more than four days in a row of OTAs and since they started on Tues, this is either 5 or six if they return on Sunday
2) You can't conditio
