Food for thought in NFL dispute

The NFL and its locked-out players could agree on at least one thing during Thursday's court-ordered mediation: They were hungry. So they sent out for sandwiches during their closed-door session in a Minneapolis federal courthouse that lasted into the late afternoon.

But other than the menu, it's unclear just how much the two sides in the labor dispute agreed to or even discussed.

But this was the first sign of optimism and the first face-to-face negotiations since the CBA expired and the NFL Players Association decertified March 11.

"I can tell you that it's a positive step when the parties are talking,'' commissioner Roger Goodell said during a teleconference with Browns ticket-holders for which he briefly stepped away from the mediation. "Our entire focus is on getting a deal done."

Goodell was joined by, among others, Panthers owner Jerry Richardson and Patriots owner Robert Kraft. NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith also attended.

U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson, who ordered the mediation, still is considering a request from the players to lift the lockout imposed by the owners. After an April 6 hearing, she said she planned to rule on the injunction request in a couple of weeks.