Jonathan Vilma knows if he wants to make it to training camp, he has to act fast.
So the Saints linebacker filed a motion to expedite his request for a temporary restraining order, which would hold up his year-long suspension for his involvement in the Saints bounty scandal.
According to the New Orleans Times-Picayune, Vilma’s lawyers filed the motion Monday in the Eastern District Court of Louisiana, requesting a hearing on Thursday or as soon as possible. The Saints report to training camp July 24.
Vilma’s attorney, Peter Ginsberg, wrote that: “Vilma will suffer real, immediate and irreparable injury in the absence of the injunctive relief sought.”
“The NFL’s decision to bar Vilma from participating in the 2012 season, attending team and individual meetings, training at the Saints’ practice facility . . . and collecting his salary will cause Vilma not only to lose his annual salary but also to miss one of the most competitive seasons of his short professional career,” Ginsberg said in the motion. “There is no opportunity to ‘make up’ this lost time. Vilma will simply never have the ability to participate in these lost games and practices again.”
I’m not the lawyer in this department, but this is an attempt by Vilma at a Hail Mary, in an effort to get into camp at all. If he can get the injunction and get on the practice field, the process could drag out long enough for him to gain some traction in his attempt to overturn Commissioner Roger Goodell’s punishment, or at least buy him some time.