RALEIGH, North Carolina, May 24 (Reuters) - The NFL lockout has claimed its first casualty.
The rookie symposium, an annual event to help first-year players make a smooth transition into the league, has been canceled because of the lockout, the NFL said on Tuesday.
It had been scheduled for June 26 in Canton, Ohio.
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said in a statement that the cancellation was caused by "uncertainty of the labor issues we are facing and the logistical challenges of conducting the symposium."
The lockout, which has been in place for most of the last 10 weeks, bans contact between teams and players, including draftees.
The NFL ordered the lockout after talks with the players' union collapsed and the union decertified, prompting a group of high-profile players to take legal action against the league.
The players won a federal court order lifting the lockout but it was reinstated after the NFL won an appeal.
Both sides will be back in court on June 3 but there is still no clear indication whether they will resolve their differences in time for the scheduled start of the new season in early September.
"There are all of these court dates but nothing is getting resolved," Atlanta Falcons running back Jason Snelling said in a radio interview.
Former Buffalo Bills linebacker Cornelius Bennett urged the players to remain patient.
"Players want to play, but we also want what's fair for the game," he said.
Legal expert John Hancock told Reuters he thought the saga would test the resolve of the players more than the owners.
"You now have a group of billionaires, a number of whose livelihood is not based solely on the ownership of a football team, pitted against the workers in an economic struggle," Hancock said.
"It is hard to measure the players' resolve in such a situation, and they are talking a good game, but I can't see the players prevailing in such a match."
The rookie symposium, an annual event to help first-year players make a smooth transition into the league, has been canceled because of the lockout, the NFL said on Tuesday.
It had been scheduled for June 26 in Canton, Ohio.
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said in a statement that the cancellation was caused by "uncertainty of the labor issues we are facing and the logistical challenges of conducting the symposium."
The lockout, which has been in place for most of the last 10 weeks, bans contact between teams and players, including draftees.
The NFL ordered the lockout after talks with the players' union collapsed and the union decertified, prompting a group of high-profile players to take legal action against the league.
The players won a federal court order lifting the lockout but it was reinstated after the NFL won an appeal.
Both sides will be back in court on June 3 but there is still no clear indication whether they will resolve their differences in time for the scheduled start of the new season in early September.
"There are all of these court dates but nothing is getting resolved," Atlanta Falcons running back Jason Snelling said in a radio interview.
Former Buffalo Bills linebacker Cornelius Bennett urged the players to remain patient.
"Players want to play, but we also want what's fair for the game," he said.
Legal expert John Hancock told Reuters he thought the saga would test the resolve of the players more than the owners.
"You now have a group of billionaires, a number of whose livelihood is not based solely on the ownership of a football team, pitted against the workers in an economic struggle," Hancock said.
"It is hard to measure the players' resolve in such a situation, and they are talking a good game, but I can't see the players prevailing in such a match."
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