National Football League Management Council

About 1,300 professional football players will share in a record $30-million settlement of charges arising from the 24-day NFL strike in 1987. The National Labor Relations Board said Monday the agreement between the NFL Players Assn. and the NFL Management Council is the largest such award in NLRB history. The settlement includes back pay, incentive bonuses and interest.

The NFL Management Council and the players' association have agreed on a new drug policy, described by the two sides as the most comprehensive in sports. The policy expands the testing and discipline components of the previous policy by adding a stronger emphasis on education, evaluation and treatment, the league and the NFLPA said.

Jack Donlan, executive director of the NFL Management Council for 10 years, has resigned, and Commissioner Paul Tagliabue already has interviewed several possible successors, Newsday reported. Donlan's decision to step down apparently is the result of a structural change approved by NFL owners at a meeting Nov. 14 in Dallas that stripped the Management Council of its independent status and placed it under the authority of the commissioner, along with NFL Properties and NFL Films.

About 1,300 professional football players will share in a record $30-million settlement of charges arising from the 24-day NFL strike in 1987. The National Labor Relations Board said Monday the agreement between the NFL Players Assn. and the NFL Management Council is the largest such award in NLRB history. The settlement includes back pay, incentive bonuses and interest.

The NFL was ordered Monday by a federal judge in Baltimore to increase player benefits by $29.4 million because the league failed to make required contributions in 1985 and 1986. U.S. District Judge Joseph C. Howard, who presided over a jury trial that found the league guilty July 12, ordered management trustees to increase benefits by $17,848,160 for missed payments, $163,713 for back interest from 1984, plus interest on both at 12% per year. The total as of Oct. 31 would be $29,408,706.

The NFL Management Council and the players' association have agreed on a new drug policy, described by the two sides as the most comprehensive in sports. The policy expands the testing and discipline components of the previous policy by adding a stronger emphasis on education, evaluation and treatment, the league and the NFLPA said.

William Bidwill, president of the Phoenix Cardinals, was elected to the National Football League Management Council's executive committee, replacing Tex Schramm, who recently resigned as president and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys.

Jack Donlan, head of the National Football League's Management Council, repeatedly insisted Wednesday in New York that his motives with respect to the rival United States Football League concerned only competition in signing players. Donlan, the third witness called to testify in the USFL's $1.5-billion antitrust suit against the NFL, denied he intended to harm the USFL.

Jack Donlan, executive director of the NFL Management Council for 10 years, has resigned, and Commissioner Paul Tagliabue already has interviewed several possible successors, Newsday reported. Donlan's decision to step down apparently is the result of a structural change approved by NFL owners at a meeting Nov. 14 in Dallas that stripped the Management Council of its independent status and placed it under the authority of the commissioner, along with NFL Properties and NFL Films.

The NFL was ordered Monday by a federal judge in Baltimore to increase player benefits by $29.4 million because the league failed to make required contributions in 1985 and 1986. U.S. District Judge Joseph C. Howard, who presided over a jury trial that found the league guilty July 12, ordered management trustees to increase benefits by $17,848,160 for missed payments, $163,713 for back interest from 1984, plus interest on both at 12% per year. The total as of Oct. 31 would be $29,408,706.

The National Football League's Management Council Sunday reported that 229 of 619 unconditional free agents changed teams and declared the system a success. "Hundreds of players moved and weaker teams had an opportunity to get better," Jack Donlan, executive director of the council, said in a statement. Among the more prominent players to switch teams were linebackers E.J.

The National Football League Management Council said Tuesday that it would allow ticket holders to apply for refunds during the players' strike despite the league's intentions to play games with non-striking veterans and free agents. The Management Council said: "As games are played during a strike, all ticket holders desiring refunds for those games may obtain them by personally surrendering their tickets at designated refund locations by the prior Tuesday.