Source: USA TODAY

BOSTON — NFL owners will meet Tuesday to discuss issues involving the league, including player safety.

Stephen Jones says there will be another pressing issue on the agenda: the increasing problem of getting NFL fans off the couch, away from their high-definition TVs and back into stadium seats.

“Everybody always says we have to watch concussions and all of that, and that’s at the forefront. But I’d say 1-A is this,” the Dallas Cowboys’ executive vice president and chief operating officer told USA TODAY Sports on Monday.

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“We don’t ever want to take for granted our fans, and with the technology out there … the flat screens, the laptops, the iPhones. I’ve got young kids, and they’ve got a lot of options. If we’re not innovative, we’re going to have issues.”

The league is expected to award Super Bowl L to the Bay Area, and with that announcement there will be plenty of discussion about the innovations the San Francisco 49ers will roll out at Levi’s Stadium, which opens in Santa Clara in 2014: Wi-Fi, tablet holders on seats, Internet Protocol television (IPTV), with in-house video and easy access via public transportation.

These innovations also will be presented to owners who built new stadiums at the turn of the millennium. Those facilities were constructed to move away from the multipurpose stadiums to football-only stadiums with luxury suites. Now, the challenge is adapting to reach the new breed of stay-at-home fan. Wi-Fi will be a major topic, according to several owners who have begun to explore the possibility.

“That’s a technological challenge, to get that many people streaming video in a stadium,” said New York Jets owner Woody Johnson, who has shared MetLife Stadium with the New York Giants since it opened in 2010 and knows it already will need tinkering. “I’ve heard you could have a little transmitter at each seat, but that wouldn’t work, either. It’s not a question of money. It’s a question of know-how.”

Do experts truly know how?

“They say they can do it, but let’s see them do it,” Johnson said.

Baltimore Ravens President Dick Cass said soon 85% of the fans at M&T Bank Stadium will have full 4G capability. Wi-Fi, though, is at least a year away in Baltimore.

“It’s what our fans want,” said Cass, who, like Jones, is a member of a league committee called the Fan Experience Working Club group. “They want the ability to take out their tablet, send a Facebook picture and check the fantasy football scores, so we have to provide that.”

To keep selling tickets, the NFL has mandated changes that include:

– Cameras in the locker room to show edited content to fans inside the stadium.

– Replays after all scoring plays, turnovers, fumbles, challenged plays, first downs and receptions when the receiver ends up out of bounds, with the best camera angles available.

– More audio before each play (than rules previously allowed) and unlimited video to stir the crowd.

Jones, whose Cowboys already show locker-room footage in Cowboys Stadium, said further advancements are being explored, such as microphones on the players and officials to provide audio exclusively to in-stadium fans.

“You’ve got to be careful, because you want them to be football players and play how they play,” Jones said. “But if fans want to watch Ray Lewis and what he’s saying and doing, they don’t need it all, but they could use some fun stuff.”

No one is mocking the Cowboys’ decision to put 160-foot-wide, 72-foot-tall, punt-blocking video boards above the field anymore. And the idea of vibrating “rumble seats” in the Atlanta Falcons’ stadium proposals doesn’t seem so far-fetched.

Meanwhile, the Houston Texans, hoping to be awarded Super Bowl LI, will boast video screens roughly 30% larger than the Cowboys’, currently the largest in the NFL.

“Everything’s bigger in Texas,” Jones said. “You always want people aiming to do better.”

Contributing: Jarrett Bell

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

Source: USA TODAY

Doctors who performed surgery on New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski’s left forearm Monday believe the nagging infection that hampered his recovery has finally subsided, a person informed of the prognosis following the procedure told USA TODAY Sports.

The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the team’s policy of not discussing details of players’ medical conditions, said Gronkowski had a new plate inserted in the arm he broke in November. It was the fourth procedure on the arm since the initial injury.

Gronkowski isn’t quite in the clear yet. He’ll soon see noted spine specialist Robert Watkins to see if a disc issue, which has bothered him since last year, requires surgery. The rehabilitation from that injury would coincide with the recovery of his forearm.

Even if he doesn’t need back surgery, Gronkowski has to work his way back into top form after being inactive for most of the offseason. Due to the arm issue, he’s been unable to lift weights.

The hope is Gronkowski will be ready for the start of the regular season. Following Monday’s surgery, that seems a more likely goal now the infection has cleared, but he still has a long way to go before kickoff of the game against the Buffalo Bills on Sept. 8.

***

Follow Mike Garafolo on Twitter@MikeGarafolo

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

Source: USA TODAY

BOSTON – Woody Johnson believes the New York Jets are like Superman.

Well, in what they stand for, anyway.

“We’re trying to win games and do the right thing. Truth, justice and the American way. We live by it, we really do,” the Jets owner told reporters upon arriving at the NFL spring meeting. “We have a strong credo, very proud people, very intelligent people that work in our building. We want to avoid the avoidable and I think we do a good job.”

Johnson was talking about those values because Mike Goodson allegedly didn’t live by them last week.

The Jets’ running back, who was new general manager John Idzik’s first free-agent acquisition this offseason, was arrested on charges of drug and gun possession. According to New Jersey State Police, Goodson was the passenger in a car driven by Garant Evans of Roselle, N.J. — a man previously convicted on drug-possession charges.

Goodson was charged with unlawful possession of a handgun, possession of a loaded handgun, possession of hollow-point ammunition, possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

Police say a .45 caliber gun and hollow-point bullets were found in the car, though they’re still investigating which of the men in the car owned the gun.

After approximately 12 hours in jail, Goodson was released on $50,000 bail.

Goodson was at the Jets’ facility Monday and met with the general manager, but did not participate in organized team activities.

“We’re at a point of investigating the facts,” Johnson said. “John Idzik met with him this morning, he’ll meet with the coaches today. We’ll try to get the story on what the facts are and go from there.”

The Jets recently cut two players – defensive lineman Claude Davis and defensive back Cliff Harris – who were charged with drug possession. But those players were roster hopefuls at best. Goodson signed a three-year deal worth $6.9 million, so he was expected to play a big role in the Jets’ backfield along with Chris Ivory.

Johnson was asked if Goodson’s situation is like that of Davis and Harris.

“It may or may not be,” Johnson said. “That’s why we’re trying to get the facts.”

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.