NFL GETS THEIR STAY FROM 8TH CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS, NOW WHAT?
Tho I'd much rather be talking about the impact of a particular free agent, an undrafted college free agent or how a team is taking to a new defensive scheme, I'm forced to speak of the legal wranglings of the seemingly never-ending labor strife that is pro football 2011. I've received too many email comments & questions to avoid the subject, so I'm going to tell you everything I know & can understand about this multi-billion dollar squabble. On Monday afternoon, the 8th District Court of Appeals in St. Louis granted a permanent stay to the NFL. When I say "permanent" it means nothing short of a signed CBA can force the league to lift their lockout. The stay will remain in effect until after the same court reaches it's decision from the scheduled June 3rd hearing where both sides will be given 30-minutes to present their side. The league was granted a temporary stay after Judge Susan Nelson rendered a decision in the players favor, lifting the lockout. The permanent stay was granted on Monday.
So now what? I've spent the better part of Monday & into early Tuesday reading a number of opinions written by legal minds well versed in both labor law & appeals. I'd like to thank most of the authors for writing their interpretations in language someone like myself can understand. This is not my strong suit, give me a college player to evaluate or breakdown a game plan & I feel comfortable in explaining my thoughts to you. Sadly, I'm beginning to understand a lot of how the appeal process works & some of the strategy employed by both sides in this dispute.
When the NFLPA de-certified, essentially disbanding the union, they did so in hopes of forcing the NFL to do a lot of things the league wanted no part of, the group formerly known as the NFLPA, wanted to attack the anti-trust status held by the league. That's why a number of lawsuits were brought in the names of Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees & even rookie linebacker Von Miller. If they could get the blackout lifted, they could then challenge the legality of the draft, free agency, salary cap & other labor issues that could alter the league forever. The players couldn't pursue these individual lawsuits as a union, so they de-certified. They banked on winning in Judge Nelson's court, which they did. They had already won a preliminary judgement from Judge David Doty in Minnesota, who ruled the NFL's $4 billion "lockout insurance policy" was illegal. Judge Doty said he might force the league to pay the players up to $2.8 billion out of this fund for illegally altering their television contracts to pay them if the season was cancelled. Judge Doty will issue a permanent judgement in this case within 60-days. If he rules for the players & the season is cancelled, the players could have a monster war chest to be able to sit out the entire season.
If this 3-judge appeals panel renders the same decision after the June 3rd hearing, the players are in trouble. It would mean the league could keep the lockout indefinitely. The aforementioned lawsuits of Brady, Manning & company won't even be on the docket until mid-2012. So no income for the foreseeable future. What about Judge Doty's decision? Will the players get relief from this? Only briefly, because if it goes against the league, they will file an immediate appeal with, you guessed it, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals. If the 8th Circuit rules against the players next month, it appears likely, according to most of the legal scholars I've been reading, the league would again prevail.
If the league wins next month, it appears the players had better get to the bargaining table & strike a liveable deal with ownership. I honestly thought the league was on the ropes just two weeks ago, they were taking a lot of hits, but Monday's decision gives them renewed confidence they will prevail in the long run. That is exactly what ownership is counting on, the players splintering off in different groups, much of it depending on their personal finances. In a contest of "who blinks first" the NFL has deeper pockets, many other sources of income & a public that has gone from taking one side or the other, to fans who want football more than giving a sh*t who claims victory.
The players are really close to being painted into a corner. Their decertification ended the opportunity to collectively bargain. The NFLPA & it's head, DeMaurice Smith could find itself no longer relevant very soon. The almost daily missteps by the players on Twitter or on live radio & TV, certainly hurt their cause with fans. As did Smith himself by his inflammatory rhetoric. After the decision was announced yesterday, Smith said "it's a disappointment obviously that as far as we can tell this is the first sports league in history who sued to not play it's games. Congratulations." Once again Smith didn't tell the whole truth, appealing a courts decision is one thing, a lawsuit is something entirely different. The league didn't sue, they appealed, which is their right. Smith, like so many people & news outlets today, didn't allow the facts to be confused with his agenda.
So now we wait until say mid-June when the 8th Circuit renders their final verdict on the NFL's appeal, something like 4-5 more weeks. It will certainly test the players' resolve, their unity & financial strength. Another step in favor of ownership. Unrestricted free agents are in total limbo right now, many players are due workout & roster bonuses they can't collect as long as there's a lockout. Their leadership has to be oh so careful not to appear as a bargaining committee for all the players of it makes the decertification look like a sham. Many veteran's who know their shelf life as an NFL player continues to grow shorter & were due workout bonuses will soon begin to rebel against their peers.
Seattle offensive guard Chester Pitts made a solid point yesterday morning on a local radio show when he said "It ends soon. One side is going to get leverage in the courts & whichever side has that leverage is going to force the hand of the other side." He's right & as of Monday evening, the NFL has regained that leverage. It will be strengthened to a near-stranglehold with another victory in mid-June.
So much of what has been argued like the proposed 18-game schedule, reduced OTA's & mini-camps or requests to see the real books from all 32 franchises mean little now. This has become so nasty, so hurtful to so many players, it may take a few years & a lot of retirements to heal. Remember, there is a large segment of retired players from the 60's & 70's who are at war with the current leadership, they feel like they were abandoned by Gene Upshaw's administration & that neglect has continued with DeMaurice Smith. In reality, there are a number of players who just wanna play football & collect their big checks while they still are physically able. That number might even grow to a majority the longer this drags on, many players weren't prepared for the lockout, never believing it would happen. Well it did & with the decision of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday, the lockout will continue for at least another 4-5 weeks.
A friend made a good point yesterday when he told me "players come & go, but the teams are forever." He's right, I am a Chiefs' fan, have been for 48-years now. In that time I've seen a hundreds of different players, a number of coaches, but thru all of it, the bottom line is I'm a Chiefs' fan, pure & simple.
I've told you for months, I haven't taken a side in this fight, I just want to watch & enjoy NFL Football. I don't care how they divvy up $9 billion this season or how much more they earn next year. Our government is a bizillion dollars in debt, unemployment is terribly high, gasoline cost nearly $4 a gallon & we're forced to listen to the combatants in this mess fight over $9 billion. We'll gladly pay DirecTV for our NFL Sunday Ticket as we have for 17-years. If I want to go to a Chiefs' game, we'll pay for our tickets. By the way, did you know non-reserved parking at Arrowhead Stadium was raised to $32 a game? That's another gripe for some other day. I just want to get on here & talk football with people who care about it like I do. I have no desire to become any more knowledgeable about labor law or learning all the steps to file an appeal in federal court. I just want my NFL football. So are we any closer to a settlement? Oh man I hope so.
So now what? I've spent the better part of Monday & into early Tuesday reading a number of opinions written by legal minds well versed in both labor law & appeals. I'd like to thank most of the authors for writing their interpretations in language someone like myself can understand. This is not my strong suit, give me a college player to evaluate or breakdown a game plan & I feel comfortable in explaining my thoughts to you. Sadly, I'm beginning to understand a lot of how the appeal process works & some of the strategy employed by both sides in this dispute.
When the NFLPA de-certified, essentially disbanding the union, they did so in hopes of forcing the NFL to do a lot of things the league wanted no part of, the group formerly known as the NFLPA, wanted to attack the anti-trust status held by the league. That's why a number of lawsuits were brought in the names of Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees & even rookie linebacker Von Miller. If they could get the blackout lifted, they could then challenge the legality of the draft, free agency, salary cap & other labor issues that could alter the league forever. The players couldn't pursue these individual lawsuits as a union, so they de-certified. They banked on winning in Judge Nelson's court, which they did. They had already won a preliminary judgement from Judge David Doty in Minnesota, who ruled the NFL's $4 billion "lockout insurance policy" was illegal. Judge Doty said he might force the league to pay the players up to $2.8 billion out of this fund for illegally altering their television contracts to pay them if the season was cancelled. Judge Doty will issue a permanent judgement in this case within 60-days. If he rules for the players & the season is cancelled, the players could have a monster war chest to be able to sit out the entire season.
If this 3-judge appeals panel renders the same decision after the June 3rd hearing, the players are in trouble. It would mean the league could keep the lockout indefinitely. The aforementioned lawsuits of Brady, Manning & company won't even be on the docket until mid-2012. So no income for the foreseeable future. What about Judge Doty's decision? Will the players get relief from this? Only briefly, because if it goes against the league, they will file an immediate appeal with, you guessed it, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals. If the 8th Circuit rules against the players next month, it appears likely, according to most of the legal scholars I've been reading, the league would again prevail.
If the league wins next month, it appears the players had better get to the bargaining table & strike a liveable deal with ownership. I honestly thought the league was on the ropes just two weeks ago, they were taking a lot of hits, but Monday's decision gives them renewed confidence they will prevail in the long run. That is exactly what ownership is counting on, the players splintering off in different groups, much of it depending on their personal finances. In a contest of "who blinks first" the NFL has deeper pockets, many other sources of income & a public that has gone from taking one side or the other, to fans who want football more than giving a sh*t who claims victory.
The players are really close to being painted into a corner. Their decertification ended the opportunity to collectively bargain. The NFLPA & it's head, DeMaurice Smith could find itself no longer relevant very soon. The almost daily missteps by the players on Twitter or on live radio & TV, certainly hurt their cause with fans. As did Smith himself by his inflammatory rhetoric. After the decision was announced yesterday, Smith said "it's a disappointment obviously that as far as we can tell this is the first sports league in history who sued to not play it's games. Congratulations." Once again Smith didn't tell the whole truth, appealing a courts decision is one thing, a lawsuit is something entirely different. The league didn't sue, they appealed, which is their right. Smith, like so many people & news outlets today, didn't allow the facts to be confused with his agenda.
So now we wait until say mid-June when the 8th Circuit renders their final verdict on the NFL's appeal, something like 4-5 more weeks. It will certainly test the players' resolve, their unity & financial strength. Another step in favor of ownership. Unrestricted free agents are in total limbo right now, many players are due workout & roster bonuses they can't collect as long as there's a lockout. Their leadership has to be oh so careful not to appear as a bargaining committee for all the players of it makes the decertification look like a sham. Many veteran's who know their shelf life as an NFL player continues to grow shorter & were due workout bonuses will soon begin to rebel against their peers.
Seattle offensive guard Chester Pitts made a solid point yesterday morning on a local radio show when he said "It ends soon. One side is going to get leverage in the courts & whichever side has that leverage is going to force the hand of the other side." He's right & as of Monday evening, the NFL has regained that leverage. It will be strengthened to a near-stranglehold with another victory in mid-June.
So much of what has been argued like the proposed 18-game schedule, reduced OTA's & mini-camps or requests to see the real books from all 32 franchises mean little now. This has become so nasty, so hurtful to so many players, it may take a few years & a lot of retirements to heal. Remember, there is a large segment of retired players from the 60's & 70's who are at war with the current leadership, they feel like they were abandoned by Gene Upshaw's administration & that neglect has continued with DeMaurice Smith. In reality, there are a number of players who just wanna play football & collect their big checks while they still are physically able. That number might even grow to a majority the longer this drags on, many players weren't prepared for the lockout, never believing it would happen. Well it did & with the decision of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday, the lockout will continue for at least another 4-5 weeks.
A friend made a good point yesterday when he told me "players come & go, but the teams are forever." He's right, I am a Chiefs' fan, have been for 48-years now. In that time I've seen a hundreds of different players, a number of coaches, but thru all of it, the bottom line is I'm a Chiefs' fan, pure & simple.
I've told you for months, I haven't taken a side in this fight, I just want to watch & enjoy NFL Football. I don't care how they divvy up $9 billion this season or how much more they earn next year. Our government is a bizillion dollars in debt, unemployment is terribly high, gasoline cost nearly $4 a gallon & we're forced to listen to the combatants in this mess fight over $9 billion. We'll gladly pay DirecTV for our NFL Sunday Ticket as we have for 17-years. If I want to go to a Chiefs' game, we'll pay for our tickets. By the way, did you know non-reserved parking at Arrowhead Stadium was raised to $32 a game? That's another gripe for some other day. I just want to get on here & talk football with people who care about it like I do. I have no desire to become any more knowledgeable about labor law or learning all the steps to file an appeal in federal court. I just want my NFL football. So are we any closer to a settlement? Oh man I hope so.
Comments