Broncos owner Pat Bowlen will be a key player in negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement with the NFL Players Association.
Bowlen has been named to the eight-member NFL management council executive committee, a league source said Tuesday. Bowlen, along with NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue, NFL executive vice president of labor relations Harold Henderson and Carolina owner Jerry Richardson, will make up the group that is most actively involved with the players association in contract discussions. The two sides will meet Thursday.
The current CBA expires in 2007, and both sides would like to strike a deal this fall.
Bowlen’s inclusion further heightens his high profile. He is the chairman of the NFL’s broadcasting committee and on the league’s compensation, finance, diversity and ventures committees. Bowlen, who has owned the Broncos since March 1984, was not available for comment Tuesday.
Weather matters
There is the possibility of inclement weather for the Broncos’ season opener Sunday in Miami against the Dolphins.
According to forecasts, there is a 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms in the area Sunday. The field could be muddy, because baseball’s Florida Marlins share the stadium.
The Broncos prepared for the humidity of Miami and Jacksonville (where Denver plays Oct. 2) by practicing outside in similar conditions last month in Houston.
Miami traditionally fares well in the sweltering summer months. From 1984 to 2003, the Dolphins were 18-1 at home in the regular season in August and September. They were 0-2 at home in September last year.
49ers put Rice on hold
According to reports out of San Francisco, 49ers coach Mike Nolan said it’s unlikely this season former 49ers star Jerry Rice would get a one-day contract to formally retire with the team.
Rice waited until Monday to make his decision to retire, and the NFL’s 53-man rosters had been set. The 49ers would have to release a player to sign Rice to a ceremonial one-day contract.
“It’s not like the NFL to make an exception for anyone, so I don’t know that they would,” Nolan told The Associated Press on Tuesday. “We haven’t talked about petitioning anything at this point. We want to respect Jerry Rice and anything that might be his wishes, but at the same time, we’re in the process of putting a football team together. We don’t want to compromise anything on the team.”
Footnotes
As expected, the Broncos finalized the practice-squad contract for quarterback Kliff Kingsbury, a former Texas Tech star recently released by New Orleans. He replaces Matt Mauck, who signed with Tennessee’s practice squad. … Dolphins rookie running back Ronnie Brown, the second player taken in the April draft, is expected to get 10 to 12 carries Sunday. … Former Broncos draft pick Maurice Clarett was not added to any NFL practice squads this week. His agent, Steve Feldman, said he recently received some calls about his client, and the former Ohio State star could get a chance to work out as a practice-squad audition in the next couple of weeks.
