Getty ImagesThe NFLPA believes that the league colluded in 2010, and now the players are trying to prove it.
The process of collecting evidence in the two-week-old collusion case began Thursday. A source with knowledge of the litigation tells PFT that the NFLPA has submitted requests for information and documents to the NFL.
In a normal federal lawsuit, so-called discovery requests can’t be made until after the court conducts an initial status conference. Since the present action arises from a petition to reopen the Reggie White antitrust lawsuit, the NFLPA presumably believes that the process of collecting information and documents may begin.
Look for the NFL to fight this one, refusing to provide information until Judge David Doty has ruled on the question of whether the collusion claim was waived as part of the 2011 Collective Bargaining Agreement and the settlement of all pending litigation.
In a roundabout way, the union’s strategy could get the case moving at a time when it isn’t. By trying to take the initiative and gather evidence even though Judge Doty has yet to even acknowledge the new filing, the NFL will file paperwork that forces Judge Doty to dust off the file and get to work.
The NFLPA contends that the NFL had a secret salary cap of $123 million per team during the uncapped year of 2010. According to the union, evidence of the collusion arose in the aftermath of an agreement between the league and the NFLPA to strip $46 million in salary cap space from the Redskins and Cowboys due to alleged competitive advantages obtained in the uncapped year.
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Cutting into those Billions are we?
What’s there to dust off? The case was just “settled” last year. Not sure even Judge Doty will have much patience for this latest act of desperation by the NFLPA. Even first year law students have to be scratching their heads at this one. Judges simply don’t like parties who try to weasel out of a court assisted, binding, settlement.
Anybody else out there remember (and this is when I was a kid) back during the 70′s and 80′s, watching football and hardly ever hear about lawsuits, court cases and crap….
Football used to be a get away from all that crap.
Sheesh
Sounds like a fishing expedition to me. It would seem to me if the owners were going to collude (and I am certainly open to that possibility), they would do it with a wink and a nod. Even Jones and Snyder know it would cost them much more to let the cat out of the bag if that is what happened.
They started with an information request.
“Uhhh…how do we go about doing this, anyway….?”.
Just to establish a minimum degree of sentience among the bickering parties, the Judge requested that all present raise their right hand to their right ear. “Right hand!”.
“Before we get started here, does anyone need to use the bathroom?”.
Mike Florio wants some evidence.
John Mara requires an explanation…
@geo1113
They are hardly fishing. Keep in mind that John Mara in his finite wisdom. Admitted to the secret salary cap during an interview with ESPN.com this spring. The union even used his quotes as part of their initial court papers.
Strangely enough the cat was not let out of the bag by Snyder or Jones. They merely fought the penalty. When they did Mara got all rightous and indignant and in doing so let the cat out of the bag.
While Mara’s quotes alone may not prove collusion they prove being smart is not a prerequisite to spending your daddy’s money.
It’s clear the NFL colluded so for anybody to question that you’d have your head in the sand or just blind to reality. Mara is the idiot who could keep his mouth shut regarding the Skins and Boys! Multiple occasions he publicly talk about the spending too much!
Whether Doty allows the case to be reopened is another story. The league has all these judges in their pockets so I suspect they’ll walk away without any damages. They clearly believe that otherwise they wouldn’t have imposed those penalties against the the Boys and Skins for spending too much in an uncapped year! Getting the players to sign off on could be their undoing!!!
@BeerBudsnBevo
Your right. I remember in the ninties as well!
Best thing to do is avoid all these sports/legal/rumor sites and just strictly watching the games on Sunday. If you want news on your team just read your local online paper or team site. It’s gotten quite ridiculous!
They should play a game of football to settle the score.
Beerbudsnbevo:
It wasnt even that long ago. You just gotta look back to before Roger Goodell was Commissioner and thats when football was still football.
This is dumb. thanks De Smith
They should attach numbers to the NFL and NFLPA counsel’s blazers. Defendants should have to wear home ties, etc. Come on NFL your missing out on a great new revenue stream
not thanks DE Smith, thank Roger Goodell and John Mara, had they not been so heavy handed with Dallas and Washington none of this would be happening.
The NFLPA is just looking for a way to still win what they already lost! They gave up any right to litigate these kinds of things when they signed the new CBA, so now they are going to the secret weapon Judge Doty (AKA Ultra Liberal Doty) or (Pro Union Doty).
Now why would the League ever negotiate in good faith or trust the NFLPA again if they do this? Lawsuits arise from the failure to negotiate and the lack of strong leaders. They are nothing more than a fallback position for the weak. De Smith is tolerated not respected by the NFL. If the NFLPA wants to be happy fire De Smith and get someone that can be respected. The key is to find someone who can find common ground with the NFL and its owners without lawsuits. The league tends to be a bit of a hypocrite it champions player safety yet defends the very players who intentionally harm its own members. This issue should be a no brainer and common ground with the NFL. If you find common ground on these issues maybe the financial issues wouldn’t be such a roadblock.
A collusion suit was filed and dismissed by players before the CBA was finalized. I think the issue is what, if any, collusion was admitted to by the owners that the NFLPA relied on as being the only collusion issues before agreeing to the CBA. If the owners misrepresented the facts that the NFLPA is now suing over, there was not a true “meeting of the minds” of the parties to the contract.
Actually I cannot blame this on Goodell… John Mara is the one who opened this can of worms wanting to punish divisional rivals, and De Smith signed off on it to save his own @$$ and get re-elected, instead of putting the players first.