With the NFL draft over and the membership moving on to covering OTAs, minicamp and rookie signings, I wanted to share some BIG news. On the recommendation of our New Media committee, we will have our website revamped in the near future. The new website will contain...
Posted by on Thursday, May 16, 2013 - 11:53 AM (14 Reads) Read more... (7479 bytes more)
On behalf of the PFWA, I'd like to thank outgoing president Mark Gaughan for his outstanding service over the past two years. He was a tireless worker and vigorously fought to uphold our principles in fighting for better access for the football fans. I'm sure that the membership is with me in wishing Mark the best in his future endeavors...
Posted by on Wednesday, February 20, 2013 - 01:11 AM (257 Reads) Read more... (17363 bytes more) comments?
A Super Bowl winning quarterback and a coach who has come close to the Super Bowl the past two years highlight the winners of the annual Professional Football Writers of America awards.
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was named winner of the Good Guy Award, given to the player that best helped the media do its job.
Rodgers' win marks the fourth consecutive year a quarterback won the award and the second straight year it was the Super Bowl's winning quarterback.
New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees won in 2010, while the two previous winners were Arizona's Kurt Warner in 2009 and Green Bay's Brett Favre in 2008...
Posted by on Monday, May 02, 2011 - 08:26 PM (2729 Reads) Read more... (9729 bytes more) comments?
First, congratulations to Charean Williams on completing her two-year tenure as president of the Pro Football Writers of America. Charean worked tirelessly to fight for the interests of journalists across the country, and she did it with uncommon class and professionalism. She is a credit to our business, and we, the new PFWA board members, have big shoes to fill. We are fortunate to have two very experienced NFL beat writers, D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and Jeff Legwold of the Denver Post, serving as vice presidents...
Posted by on Thursday, February 17, 2011 - 12:01 PM (1443 Reads) Read more... (14453 bytes more) comments?
This is my last or next-to-last newsletter, depending on whether more Super Bowl information is available to relay before Super Bowl week. In any event, I want you to know how much I appreciate your trusting me to handle the duties of president these past two years. I hope I have built on what Alex Marvez, John McClain, David Elfin, etc., accomplished before me...
Posted by on Thursday, January 20, 2011 - 12:24 PM (1464 Reads) Read more... (15196 bytes more) comments?
I know it's been a while. We've had something of a busier than usual season around here. It has not been quiet in PFWA land either. We have had several issues, most of which have been resolved to our satisfaction. aI am sure you have seen that Randy Moss was fined $25,000 for multiple violations of the media access policy. We hope that other violators around the league have seen this and will more willingly comply with the policy.
If you have any questions about the policy, it is on the PFWA Website or you can email me, and I will answer your question or get you a copy of it. I have had some questions this season about what players, assistant coaches and coordinators requirements are. If you aren't sure, please ask...
Posted by on Wednesday, December 01, 2010 - 12:53 PM (1542 Reads) Read more... (13643 bytes more) comments?
The NFL sent the 2010 media access policy to the teams a couple of weeks ago. I know some of you have seen it, and I have included it in this newsletter in case you haven't. The changes from last season are bold faced and underlined. PR man Michael Signora said, "The policy has been working well, and there are minimal changes this year. Our focus is on improving consistency. In terms of access to assistant coaches, as we discussed at the owner-general manager-head coach session during the March league meeting, compliance with the 'regular and reasonable' standard...
Posted by on Friday, July 30, 2010 - 11:45 PM (1349 Reads) Read more... (31995 bytes more) comments?
I hope all of you are getting ready for some hard-earned time off. I wanted to get this to you before we all start vacations and comp time. It is a wrap-up of everything since the last newsletter went out in March.
OWNERS MEETINGS We held our annual spring PFWA meeting in Orlando in conjunction with the owners meetings. Sean Jensen and John Clayton updated us on the Marriott Athletic VIP cards. We are no closer to a resolution but have joined forces with the other sportswriters’ groups -- baseball, basketball, NASCAR, etc. John is working on reaching someone higher at Marriott who will listen to us...
Posted by on Thursday, May 13, 2010 - 07:27 PM (1338 Reads) Read more... (9646 bytes more) comments?
It is hard to believe another season has come and gone, but it has. Congrats to the Saints for winning their first championship and to the Colts for winning the AFC. It was a nice week with you guys.
Now, it’s onto the combine, the owners’ meetings and the draft … and then finally the offseason. I am in Vancouver for the Olympics and have left the combine in the capable hands of Mark Gaughan, our first VP, and John McClain, our PFWA commissioner. I officially would like to thank John for all of his hard work at the combine annually on behalf of the PFWA. He has done what he does for too many years to remember now, all for the low, low salary of nothing with an occasional pat on the back...
Posted by on Wednesday, February 17, 2010 - 06:41 PM (2358 Reads) Read more... (20436 bytes more) comments?
Happy Postseason! I hope your teams are happy, healthy and done with their coaching search. And if your team is still playing, good luck. We're on the home stretch.
TIME TO RENEW You probably have gotten a renewal notice from treasurer Mike Sando. It is time to renew your PFWA membership. You need to renew online (pfwa.org) by Jan. 15 to receive your membership card. As for the Athletic VIP card, we have been told by Marriott that they are evaluating the program and will know the direction they are going to take by the end of this month...
Posted by on Wednesday, January 13, 2010 - 12:28 AM (1535 Reads) Read more... (13050 bytes more) comments?
It has been a busy four months. Several Internet sties have reported some of the issues we have faced. Yes, T.O. is talking. Yes, the Jets were fined $125,000 for violations of the league's injury reporting policy. Yes, we have had complaints about conference calls.
I can't state this enough: Greg Aiello, Michael Signora, Brian McCarthy, Randall Liu and Corry Rush have been extremely helpful...
Posted by on Tuesday, November 24, 2009 - 01:39 PM (1669 Reads) Read more... (13025 bytes more) comments?
Since the last newsletter, we have seen Peter King awarded the McCann Award at the Hall of Fame dinner. Congrats again to Peter, whose mother, Phyllis King, got him started writing when he was in the fifth grade. Peter is beginning his 26th season covering the NFL...
Posted by on Tuesday, September 22, 2009 - 04:31 PM (2192 Reads) Read more... (11921 bytes more) comments?
Michael Signora recently emailed me the media policy for 2009. The next time you see Michael, or Greg Aiello or Joe Browne or Roger Goodell, please thank them for all they have done for us. Roger does listen to us, and he does act in our interest when we have a legitimate complaint. You will note under the assistant coaches' section that we have elicited some changes that should give us much better access to coordinators this season. Both coordinators have to talk every week, during the week, and the other assistants cannot be made off-limits. The policy recently was given to every team...
Posted by on Monday, July 06, 2009 - 11:59 AM (1287 Reads) Read more... (24495 bytes more) comments?
While at the Cowboys’ ribbon cutting for their new stadium, I got a tour of the press box from Brett Daniels. It is a long way from being completed, but I got a sense of the layout. It is similar to most press boxes being built these days, with seats starting at about the 20 and wrapping around into the end zone. It is four levels up -- Brett estimates 110 feet high. The giant replay board can be seen from any seat in the press box...
Posted by on Wednesday, June 03, 2009 - 11:15 PM (1691 Reads) Read more... (12123 bytes more) comments?
