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Former Pro Bowl running back Clinton Portis and other retired NFL players have been charged by a federal grand jury with defrauding the NFL's retiree health care benefits plan for more than $3 million, according to two indictments unsealed Thursday. "Ten former NFL players allegedly committed a brazen, multi-million dollar fraud on a health care plan meant to help their former teammates and other retired players pay legitimate, out-of-pocket medical expenses," Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski said in a statement. The former NFL players allegedly submitted phony health care claims seeking to be reimbursed for expensive medical equipment that was...

As NFL labor negotiations Opens a New Window. loom over the 2019 season, the NFL Players Association is already warning players to save money Opens a New Window. to prepare for a possible work stoppage in 2021. In a Tuesday email, NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith advised NFL agents to tell their clients to budget their income to account for a player strike or lockout by ownership. The NFL’s current collective-bargaining agreement expires after the 2020 season, and negotiations on the next deal are widely expected to be contentious.

Hawks make labor deal difficult By Ken Rosenthal - The Sporting News Ask any player if he wants a strike, and he would say no. Ask most owners, and their answer would be the same. But then there are the "hawks," the hard-line owners who would risk destroying Major League Baseball while claiming they're trying to save it. Padres owner John Moores spoke for the hawks when he said eight to 10 owners were prepared to shut down baseball for an entire season to get the labor agreement they wanted. But a moderate owner, speaking on the condition of...