NFL coaches back players in contract dispute

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota — NFL coaches threw their support behind players in their legal battle to end the league-imposed lockout on Wednesday, filing a brief with a court saying the work stoppage jeopardizes their jobs."Owners and fans increasingly demand immediate success, and coaches whose teams cannot fulfill such severe expectations face likely dismissal, which means the uprooting of families, economic dislocation, and a significantly less promising career path," lawyers for the NFL Coaches Association wrote in the brief filed with the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.No individual coaches were identified in the brief, which said that the eight new coaches hired this year face particularly daunting odds of success if the lockout is not lifted soon.The same court has scheduled a June 3 hearing to hear arguments on the legality of the lockout.A judge in St. Paul, Minnesota, ruled the lockout was illegal and ordered it lifted, but the appeals court has put a stay on that ruling pending the appeal, so the league remains on hold."Preparation is a coach's currency, and coaches rely heavily on the offseason to prepare their players for the season," the NFLCA said. "If the NFL's lockout denies coaches the necessary time with players, coaches will be significantly more limited in their ability to prepare their teams and to prove their value as coaches."Meanwhile, as NFL owners concluded their spring meetings in Indianapolis, commissioner Roger Goodell acknowledged that the lockout, now in its 10th week, was turning off fans of America's most popular spectator sport."Clearly it has had an impact on the fans," Goodell said. "We see it in various metrics. There's been a noticeable change, TV ratings were down on the draft roughly 4 million people. NFL.com traffic (is down), we see that."Ticket sales also are down."Fans want certainty," Goodell added. "We can't underestimate that the fans are going through challenges just in the general economy."While the owners spent much time on the labor issue, they haven't

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