Dear PFWA members:

With this being my final newsletter as PFWA president, I wanted to say a few thank yous and offer some thoughts o­n my two-year tenure.

I like to think our group made significant strides. The NFL’s willingness to change its media policies under Commissioner Roger Goodell has resulted in improved access across the board. We are o­n solid ground financially and were able to reinstate monetary prizes..

VOL. XXXIX, No. 55      
January 22, 2009


Dear PFWA members:

With this being my final newsletter as PFWA president, I wanted to say a few thank yous and offer some thoughts o­n my two-year tenure.

I like to think our group made significant strides. The NFL’s willingness to change its media policies under Commissioner Roger Goodell has resulted in improved access across the board. We are o­n solid ground financially and were able to reinstate monetary prizes with our writing awards while continuing our scholarship program (we sponsor four children of PFWA members for their four years through college). We made our membership payment process easier under the tireless efforts of new treasurer Mike Sando. We have started an emergency relief fund to help those affected by unexpected financial hardships. And we are o­n the verge of finalizing membership guidelines that will add to the PFWA’s credibility as we move forward in an ever-changing media world (details are provided below).

I wanted to thank the officers who served with me: Charean Williams, Mark Curnutte, Mike Sando, Mark Gaughan and Howard Balzer. I wanted to thank past presidents David Elfin and John McClain for their guidance and o­ngoing contributions as well as Frank Cooney and his staff for their contributions to our website. Commissioner Goodell and NFL media relations chief Greg Aiello and his staff were instrumental in helping to set the media policies that have allowed our members to do their jobs better than in the past. My wife Sherry also showed incredible patience while I dealt with PFWA issues and I am greatly appreciative.

Finally, I’d like to thank every PFWA member for their continued support and belief in what our group is doing. The time and effort I’ve spent was well worth it.

MEMBERSHIP UPDATE
The PFWA is beginning its annual membership drive, but this year’s renewal process is different. Every PFWA member will be receiving an email that includes an application form.

The first word in our organization is “Professional.” We are changing our membership guidelines to ensure that o­nly legitimate NFL media is allowed in our group. This will help differentiate our members in the ever-changing media landscape and further raise the esteem of our group.

While most members will be allowed to renew, there are others who may not meet our new standards. We have established a five-member review board to review those applications.

The official membership guidelines will be emailed to all members as well as posted o­n the PFWA website. These guidelines are part of our official bylaws that we have adopted.

I want to thank Charean Williams, D. Orlando Ledbetter, Frank Cooney, Mike Sando, David Elfin, Hub Arkush and Warren McCarty for their help in compiling the guidelines/bylaws and serving o­n the membership board.

SUPER BOWL XLIII UPDATE
The PFWA would like to thank the Tampa Bay Super Bowl Host Committee for their hospitality as well as the Tampa Tribune’s Ira Kaufmann for serving as the PFWA’s Super Bowl liaison. The TBSBHC has provided airport transportation vouchers to/from Tampa International Airport and the media hotels. These vouchers were mailed to the contact person at your respective employer that filled out the Super Bowl credential form. If there are any questions or problems, please contact TBSBHC media liaison Amanda Holt at aholt@tampabaysuperbowl.com or 813-387-2677.

Here is the list of Super Bowl media hotels:

Courtyard By Marriott, 102 East Cass Street, Tampa
Embassy Suites Downtown, 513 South Florida Avenue, Tampa
Hyatt Regency Tampa, 211 North Tampa Street, Tampa
Quorum Hotel, 700 North Westshore Blvd, Tampa
Residence Inn Marriott Downtown, 101 East Tyler Street, Tampa
Sheraton Suites Tampa Airport, 4400 West Cypress Street, Tampa
Tampa Marriott Waterside, 700 South Florida Avenue, Tampa
Tampa Sheraton Riverwalk, 200 North Ashley Drive, Tampa

*Our annual PFWA Super Bowl meeting will be held at 10 am EST the Friday morning before the Super Bowl in Tampa. It’s important that you attend to vote in the PFWA officer's election as well as receive an update o­n PFWA happenings. Plus, we are optimistic that Commissioner Goodell will return for a third consecutive year to answer questions pertaining to the league’s media policy. The exact meeting locale at the Tampa Convention Center will be announced Super Bowl week.

*The PFWA is proud to announce that Peter King and John Czarnecki will be serving as our pool reporters at Super Bowl XLIII.

*The TBSBHC is also planning a party for PFWA members o­n the Saturday night before the Super Bowl. This has become an annual tradition in the Super Bowl host city and the PFWA is appreciative.

ON THE MARK
When he stepped down from his position as the PFWA’s second vice-president this fall, Cincinnati Enquirer Bengals beat writer Mark Curnutte asked that I not disclose his reasons until after the regular season ended (I know – the Bengals’ season ended in September, but you get the point). Mark can now share some exciting career news with PFWA members:

“I am leaving the Bengals beat at the Cincinnati Enquirer and returning to the Metro section as an enterprise/GA reporter with a focus o­n social issues. It is my decision and o­ne I put into motion in September. I am grateful for the opportunity to get to know and work with a number of talented print journalists over the past nine years. I am very proud of my affiliation with the PFWA and thank its membership for the chance to work within the organization. I am looking for the opportunity to grow professionally and move forward in my personal life with the career move. Again, thank you to the many other writers who made me feel welcomed o­n the beat in the PFWA and helped me along the way.”

Buffalo News Bills beat writer Mark Gaughan has taken Mark Curnutte’s spot as the second VP. He will be running for first VP at our January election at Super Bowl XLIII. Atlanta Journal-Constitution Falcons beat writer D. Orlando Ledbetter is running for second VP. Current first VP Charean Williams is running for president.

NFL MEDIA POLICIES
PFWA board members are always seeking feedback in regards to whether the NFL’s media rules are working or being enforced. The league has proven willing to enforce the rules o­n the books. In fact, the NFL levied a $10,000 fine against Arizona wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald this season for repeatedly shunning his post-game interview responsibilities.

One area where the PFWA will be asking for the NFL’s help is a rule requiring more detailed injury reports. While I believe the new format introduced last year was an improvement from the previous system, there are still teams and coaches hiding injuries – specifically those from the Bill Parcells/Bill Belichick coaching tree. Other teams shouldn’t be penalized competitively for providing accurate information.

JOB WELL DONE
The following PFWA members wanted to offer praise to these media relations staffs for their work during the regular season:

From Greg Bedard: “Packers public relations coordinator Rob Crane has consistently gone above and beyond the call of duty since training camp to help reporters secure interviews with players no matter how elusive they prefer to be. Just a word to Rob before the open locker-room session is all that is needed. He then works tirelessly throughout the period -- scouring the training room, lunch room and weight room -- to get those players into the locker room. And if that fails, Rob often coordinates a cell-phone call with the player.”

From David Elfin: “I wanted to compliment Kevin Byrne, Chad Steele and the rest of Baltimore’s staff for their consistent excellence in public relations. All teams should follow the Ravens’ example and print explicit directions to the press parking lot o­n the back of the parking passes.”

From Randy Covitz: “Kudos to the Buffalo Bills, Tennessee Titans and Arizona Cardinals for making their Wednesday conference calls with their opponents' media available to those of us around the country. The Bills have had coach Dick Jauron and quarterback Trent Edwards available just about every week (and they do a great job with transcripts all week, by the way). The Cardinals had coach Ken Whisenhunt and quarterback Kurt Warner available at least o­nce. Tennessee made Kerry Collins available and he was pretty good. (Editor’s note: The Miami Dolphins also recently made quarterback Chad Pennington available).

“I do wish more teams would let us listen in to the questions by the opponents' media and give us the last five minutes or so for a few follow ups.”

From Charean Williams: “Kudos to Seattle running back Julius Jones for doing the conference call with the Dallas media before the Cowboys-Seahawks game o­n Thanksgiving. Julius rarely talked when he was here, but he was fantastic o­n the conference call. Thanks to Dave Pearson and his staff for helping get him o­n the call.

GENERATION NEXT
Here’s an update o­n two PFWA scholarship winners from Rick Snider: “Megan Snider (2003) was recently promoted to special sections editor of Southern Maryland Newspapers, a subsidiary of The Washington Post. She graduated from the University of Maryland in 2007 as an English major. Her sister Katie Snider (2006 winner) is a junior in broadcast journalism at Maryland hoping to become the next Oprah. Their father wonders what he did wrong to produce a newspaperman's two mortal enemies in an editor and TV reporter, but remains eternally grateful for the PFWA scholarships.”

LOCAL PFWA AWARDS
Here is a listing of 2008 awards given by local PFWA chapters. If not included, PFWA chapters are welcome to email their award winners for the next newsletter:

New York Giants: Quarterback Eli Manning was voted the winner of the eighth annual George Young Good Guy Award. Named for the late general manager of the Giants, the award is given annually to honor a Giants player for his consistent and outstanding cooperation with the writers who cover the team o­n a daily basis. Manning, the fifth-year quarterback and reigning Super Bowl MVP, distinguished himself by his remarkable patience and willingness to make himself available to the media despite being more in demand than any other player in the locker room. Several other Giants, including linebacker Danny Clark and defensive tackle Barry Cofield, received consideration for the award.

Cincinnati: Wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh was named by the Bengals PFWA chapter as the team's MVP for the second year in a row. Guard Bobbie Williams captured the organization's "Good Guy" award. The voters are the beat writers assigned to cover the Bengals o­n a daily basis.

Pittsburgh: Safety Ryan Clark and linebacker Patrick Bailey were named the 2008 recipients of the Pittsburgh chapter of Pro Football Writers of America’s annual awards. Clark was the recipient of the Chief Award presented annually to the member of the Steelers’ organization who best exemplifies the spirit of cooperation with the media. The award was established in honor of Steelers founder, Arthur J. Rooney, Sr. Bailey was the winner of the Joe Greene Great Performance Award given to the outstanding Steelers’ rookie.

Miami Dolphins: Defensive end Vonnie Holliday won the team’s Good Guy Award for his cooperation with the media. Holliday is a two-time winner, having split the 2005 award with running back Ricky Williams.

ODDS AND ENDS
The PFWA wants to send its best wishes to “Dr. Z” Paul Zimmerman, Ernie Palladino, Mark Cannizzaro and Len Pasquarelli as they battle health issues. Those wanting to write to Dr. Z can send get-well wishes to 146 Lakewood Drive, Mountain Lakes NJ 07046. I can provide contact information for get-well cards for the others if contacted by email (alex@pfwa.org) ... Congratulations to PFWA secretary Howard Balzer o­n his recent wedding to long-time girlfriend Bernie and the Bar Mitzvah of his son Zack this weekend (Jan. 24). The same for Pro Football Weekly editor Mike Holbrook, whose wife Fran is expecting their first child in April ... The tight economic times are affecting NFL media relations staffs. Aaron Salkin had his post as San Francisco’s media relations director eliminated. Washington’s Will Norman and Casey Husband were released as part of the Redskins’ recent employee purge. We wish all three the best in their new endeavors ... Paul Woody, a Washington Redskins beat writer for the past 29 seasons, was recently promoted to sports columnist at The Richmond Times-Dispatch. Michael Phillips is his replacement. Paul jokes that Michael wasn’t born when he began covering the team.

PFWA RELIEF FUND UPDATE
This fall, the PFWA introduced an emergency relief fund designed to help members affected by natural disasters. We provided a $1,000 donation to Bob West of the Port Arthur (Tex.) News stemming from damage his home suffered from Hurricane Ike. Below is a thank-you letter that Bob wanted to share with our membership:

“PFWA Members: Thank you so much for the check I received two days before Christmas to help my wife and me as we continue what is going to be a lengthy struggle to put our lives back in order after the devastation of Hurricane Ike. Thanks also to those of you who have included us in your prayers. If there is a positive to having your home destroyed by flood waters from a tidal surge and losing 95 percent of your possessions, it's seeing how kind and considerate friends and folks you don't even know can be in a time of need. Best wishes to o­ne and all for a happy new year.”

The bylaws to the PFWA Emergency Relief Fund are provided below. ESPN.com’s Pat Yasinskas is heading a three-man panel that includes Brian Allee-Walsh of the New Orleans Times-Picayune (Brian got the ball rolling o­n this fund and we are greatly appreciative) and past PFWA president John McClain of the Houston Chronicle. Any questions can be directed to Pat at Patyaz15@yahoo.com. To donate to the fund, please contact PFWA treasurer Mike Sando at mikejsando@gmail.com.

1. All applicants must submit a request to the three-person committee that oversees the fund. If the applicant is unable to do so because of circumstances related to the hardship, another member of the PFWA can make the request.

2. The application must include a description of the emergency, along with some documentation of the monetary costs or damages involved.

3. All applicants must be current members of the PFWA and have held membership for a minimum of three years.

4. This fund is to provide relief for circumstances such, but not limited to, as natural disasters. Requests for relief for any other situation will be evaluated by the committee o­n a case-by-case basis.

5. o­nce the application is received, the three-person committee will make a recommendation to approve or deny to the President of the PFWA, who will make a final determination.

6. The committee will determine the amount of the donation and the documentation of monetary need explained in By-Law No. 2 will be used as a guide by the committee and the President.

7. The amount of the donation will depend upon the amount presently available in the fund.

8. The account will be funded by members of the PFWA. The president and members of the committee will ask all members to make donations o­n a yearly basis.

Thanks again for allowing me to serve the PFWA for these past two years.

Alex Marvez, PFWA President