NEW YORK (AP) — New York Giants owner John Mara was appointed chairman of the NFL Management Council, the league’s most powerful committee.

Commissioner Roger Goodell announced Thursday several changes to the leadership of league committees, with Mara replacing Panthers owner Jerry Richardson as head of the Management Council, which is the main NFL labor committee.

Goodell also has formed a committee on health and medical issues that will be chaired by 49ers owner John York. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, Falcons President Rich McKay, Packers President Mark Murphy and Mara also will serve on that group, called the Health and Safety Advisory Committee.

There have been few significant changes to the committees in recent years due to labor and other issues.

“Our committee structure has been very important and beneficial to the NFL over the years,” Goodell said. “It has allowed us to address and study complex issues in depth and present our clubs with comprehensive information and thoughtful recommendations.”

Most notable is the creation of the health and safety unit as the league deals with increasing concerns about the health of current and former players, and the dangers of the sport.

“Player health and safety has been a key focus of the league for decades,” league spokesman Greg Aiello said. “An ownership level committee will support and oversee all of our work in this area that is critical to the future of the game.”

Other new committee chairmen are Texans owner Bob McNair (finance), Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver (investment), Steelers President Art Rooney (stadium), Chargers President Dean Spanos (business ventures), Bengals executive Katie Blackburn ( Super Bowl advisory), Chiefs owner Clark Hunt (international) and Jones (Hall of Fame).

“I’m honored that Commissioner Goodell has asked me to serve in this capacity,” McNair said. “The finance committee is one of the most important committees in the NFL. We have many challenges facing us in the future and I look forward to working with the commissioner and staff and other members of the committee as we do our financial planning to continue to be a successful enterprise going forward.

“Fortunately, I’ve been on the committee for a number of years and so I am familiar with its workings and so I don’t see there will be much of a transition to move from being a member of the committee to being the chairman.”

Stepping down as chairmen are Saints owner Tom Benson (finance), Broncos owner Pat Bowlen (labor), McNair (investment), Weaver (business ventures), Bears chairman Mike McCaskey (Super Bowl advisory and Hall of Fame), and York (international). Of course, McNair, Weaver and York are taking on similar duties with other committees.

Staying on as chairs are Patriots owner Robert Kraft (broadcast), McKay (competition), Falcons owner Arthur Blank (audit and compensation), Saints executive Rita LeBlanc (employee benefits), Cardinals President Michael Bidwill (stadium security and fan conduct), Jones (NFL Network), Patriots executive Jonathan Kraft and Redskins owner Dan Snyder (digital media), Colts owner Jim Irsay (legislative), and Blackburn (workplace diversity).

NEW YORK — Giants defensive tackle Jimmy Kennedy was suspended for four games Tuesday for violating the NFL’s policy on performance enhancing substances.

Kennedy signed with the Giants in August and has four tackles in five games this season. He is eligible to return to the active roster the day after the Giants face the San Francisco 49ers on Nov. 13.

The ex-Penn State star was selected by St. Louis with the 12th overall pick in the 2003 draft. He played for the Rams, Broncos, Bears, Jaguars and Vikings during his first eight seasons in the league.

Kennedy has 8½ sacks and 31 starts in 91 career games.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

TWEET-ENHANCED: If the action on the field isn’t enough for fans, the New York Giants will now display selected fan tweets on the main video screens around MetLife Stadium’s. Next time Brandon Jacobs tears off a run like this, he can do it to a fan’s Tweeted commentary. (Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)

NEW YORK—This could be interesting. The Giants announced plans, starting with this Saturday’s pre-season matchup against their cross-town rival Jets, to display fans’ real-time tweets on freshly named MetLife Stadium’s video boards and other stadium distribution channels, as well as for those watching the live televised broadcast.

Does this mean gripes about penalties, play calls, and player miscues will be on display for everyone to see? Probably not, according to Communications Manager DeAndre Phillips, who said: “Essentially, there are filters set in place. If the tweet passes those filters, then they are put into a queue. A Giants employee reads through those tweets and approves which tweets will air. Think of it in terms of a live game broadcast with a slight time delay.”

This should be a game-changer. 

The first-of-its-kind plan in the NFL is part of a larger social initiative, as the team has partnered with Mass Relevance to enhance the game atmosphere for Giants’ fans everywhere. In addition to airing the in-game tweets, fans will also be able to have a little halftime question-and-answer Twitter session with radio announcers Bob Papa and Carl Banks.

Finally, the Giants will tally tweets pertaining to the three preselected game MVP candidates (Twitter hash tags for each one are to be determined) for a specific time period during the game, and the player with the most tweets will have his online merchandise at the Giants store discounted for the following week.

How this will change the game-day experience remains to be seen, but either way, the New Meadowlands Stadium has changed.