Goodell, Smith meet with rookies in Florida

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and players’ union chief DeMaurice Smith have talked to rookies attending a symposium in Sarasota, Fla., and are flying back to Minneapolis together today resume negotiations in the four-month-old labor dispute. Goodell and Smith spent about an hour together with the 155 players this morning, took questions and then climbed into an SUV and headed to the airport. Smith says both sides are “continuing to work hard” to end the lockout and reach agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement. Goodell says it was “a great opportunity to be able to sit with the rookies” because they “obviously have a lot of questions.”