The NFL Players Association has been down this road before.
Although the union is pushing for changes to the collectively bargained substance-abuse policy, it knows it will require some give-and-take with owners.
“That has not been our experience with the league or the Management Council unfortunately in most cases,” NFLPA assistant executive director George Atallah said in an interview with ProFootballTalk on Monday. “This is clearly one that falls into that health-and-safety space. We know exactly how players feel after the games, what their careers are like, and what their lives are like after they’re done playing football.