Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Charlie Batch, left, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, second from left, Jim McFarland, second from right, a member of the NFL Players Association's executive committee, and DeMaurice Smith, NFLPA executive director, arrive for football labor negotiations with the NFL involving a federal mediator in Washington Thursday, March 3, 2011. The NFL and the players' union sat down Thursday morning for a last-ditch effort to avoid a work stoppage in America's most popular sport.(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)