CBA Has Panthers Kicking Players Out Of OTAs

[Sweets]

Ron Rivera had to do something last week he probably never had done in 16 years of coaching: Kick players out of the team facility for studying too long according to Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer. Rivera, the Panthers’ second-year coach, learned there were players who had been at Bank of America Stadium longer than the six-hour limit spelled out in the NFL’s collective-bargaining agreement. So Rivera stuck his head in the first-floor meeting rooms to break the bad news. “I went downstairs and said, ‘OK, everybody who’s been here since 7, you’ve got to go,’ ” Rivera said. “So those guys got up and left.” Including the practice time, players are allowed to be at the facility for six hours, plus a half-hour for lunch and showers. Two groups of Panthers’ players check in with strength coach Joe Kenn when they arrive at the stadium each morning and start their clock, the 7 a.m. group must clear out by 1:30 p.m.; the 8 a.m. group leaves an hour later.

Source: The Redzone