WASHINGTON, D.C. – The NFLPA, New Media Strategies, Blogs with Balls and SB Nation hosted an evening of presentations, conversation and networking, all revolving around America’s favorite sport.
The sold-out event, held Thursday evening at NFLPA headquarters, featured several prominent panelists and NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith as the keynote speaker.
Smith’s “chalk talk,” introduced by SB Nation CEO Jim Bankoff and NFLPA Assistant Executive Director of External Affairs George Atallah, included a discussion of the advances made for players in the NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement and the union’s stance on hGH testing. Here’s what attendees said on Twitter about Smith’s presentation:
- @Brian_Bassett: De Smith on CBA pillars 1) short careers 2) players get hurt (NOT an accident, foreseeable) 3) spending to cap (with cap going up) #bwbdc
- @MikePradaSBN: DeSmith: “We have a deal that is revolutionary in the business of football” #BWBDC
- @thefootballgirl: Listening to DeSmith speak now. NFLPA proudly owns its building so they could liquidate it to help players in event of labor strife #bwbdc
- @ramrparimi: #BwBDC – de smith crushing it
- @theNFLchick: #BWBDC Smith says dirty little secret why lot of players go bankrupt was because of uninsured medical costs due to injury … crazy
- @DraftDaySuit: Listening to DeMaurice Smith & I’m thinking I wouldn’t mind him representing me. Smart guy #BWBDC
- @Duke_Jackson: Awesome #BWBDC event @NFLPA tonight; De Smith is a dude. Players are in great hands. Makes me proud to be a law dog.
- @Brian_Bassett: De Smith: It’s time for our players to take advantage of football instead of football taking advantage of them.”
- @ry_hudson: Watching De Smith break down the NFL CBA in person at the @nflpa HQ at #BWBDC is very neat!
Two panels took place after a break for pizza and hamburgers — courtesy of Spike Mendelsohn of “Top Chef” fame.
Andrew Sharp (SB Nation), Chris Cooley (Washington Redskins), Chris Chase (Shutdown Corner) and Cindy Boren (Washington Post) took the directors’ chairs first to discuss how social media is changing football and the personal lives of athletes. While Cooley field questions from an athlete’s view, Boren, Chase and Sharp offered the journalists’ perspectives. Cooley’s colorful commentary received several Twitter mentions from the audience:
- @Bankoff: “twitter is hilarious”. “the bloggy voice is in twitter” @andrewsharp #bwbdc
- @LMurphyDC: Positives for tweeting athletes? “Generating interest for the game” and showing your personality to fans – @thecooleyzone #bwbdc
- @RNolan12: Chris Cooley on Twitter: “I know how many times I scratched my crotch during a game.” #BwBDC.
Jon DeNunzio (Washington Post), Pete Snyder (NMS), Mark Pesavento (Yahoo! Sports) and Jim Bankoff (SB Nation) led the second panel on the state of sports and technology in the District of Columbia. One attendee Tweeted a summary of the discussion as:
- @haynesd: “Social media should be the central nervous system for sports teams” innovate of die mindset at #BwBDC panel
Participants said they were a little wiser upon leaving, and a few took home more than industry expert knowledge:
- @Lauriewrites: Last #bwb I won an autographed football, #BWBDC I just won a helmet autographed by all of this year’s NFL rookies. Insane.
All photos courtesy of @kevinkoski.
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