There shall be a three-member Appeals Panel, at least one of whom must be a former judge. In the event the NFL and NFLPA cannot agree upon the members of such a panel, the parties will jointly ask the CPR Institute (or such other organization(s) as the parties may agree) to submit to the parties a list of fifteen (15) attorneys (none of whom shall have, nor whose firm shall have, represented within the past five (5) years any professional athletes; agents or other representatives of professional athletes; labor organizations representing athletes; sports leagues, governing bodies, or their affiliates; sports teams or their affiliates; or owners in any professional sport). If the parties cannot within fifteen (15) days from the receipt of such list agree to the identity of the Appeals Panel from among the names on such list, they shall meet and alternate striking one (1) name at a time from the list until three (3) names on the list remain. The first strike will be assigned to the party that received the second strike in the selection of the System Arbitrator, or a coin flip, if striking was not used in selecting the System Arbitrator. The three (3) remaining names on the list shall comprise the Appeals Panel. The compensation of the members of the Appeals Panel and the costs of proceedings before the Appeals Panel shall be borne equally by the parties to this Agreement; provided, however, that each participant in an Appeals Panel proceeding shall bear its own attorneys’ fees and litigation costs.

In the event that there is a vacancy on the Appeals Panel, or in the event that an appeal is taken from a decision of a member of the Appeals Panel serving as the System Arbitrator pursuant to Subsection 6(b) above, the parties shall select another member to the Panel, using the procedures set forth in Subsection 7(a) above.