Adam Schefter of ESPN is reporting that Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney is joining Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt and New York Giants owner John Mara in the mediated negotiations between the NFL and the NFLPA. Hunt and Mara joined the fray yesterday.

It looks like the NFL is going old school here, relying on the decedents of some of it’s most historical ownership families to help bring home a deal.

Unfortunately, the buzz is that the two sides are still pretty far apart. We told you yesterday that the NFLPA hired a firm to review any financial information released to them by the league. We speculated that this was a good sign because the players have been asking to see the books for a long time now. It appeared to represent a concession on the part of the league.

As it turns out, various reports are indicating that while the league is prepared to release some of their financial information, they aren’t planning to release all of it. The players reportedly aren’t thrilled with that option. They don’t want to back down until the owners show them the money.

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