The Daily Blog

NFL Looking Into Players’ Casino Investment.

DOTHAN, Ala. — The NFL is investigating the reported investment by at least 25 NFL players in an Alabama casino that has been shut down.

League spokesman Greg Aiello confirms the investigation Friday, a day after Yahoo! Sports reported that wide receivers Terrell Owens, Santonio Holmes, Santana Moss and other players had invested some $20 million in Country Crossing casino. The report also named defensive tackle Gerard Warren and linebacker Adalius Thomas.

NFL rules bar employees from involvement with any gaming operation. Players violating that rule could be subject to fines or suspensions and have to give up their investment.

Country Crossing owner Ronnie Gilley and two of his lobbyists have pleaded guilty to offering legislators millions in bribes.

Players call NFL a ‘cartel’ in court filing.

MINNEAPOLIS — NFL players who sued the league for alleged antitrust violations liken the league to a “cartel” in their latest court filing, again urging an appeals court to lift the lockout.

In arguments filed in the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, just minutes before Friday’s midnight deadline, attorneys for the players reiterated their argument that the NFL has violated antitrust laws. They also argued the lockout has imposed immediate, career-ending threatening harm on players and may deprive the public of the 2011 professional football season.

“The players face immediate, continuing, severe irreparable injury from unlawful conduct orchestrated to force them to re-unionize against their will and make immense financial concessions,” the players’ attorneys wrote. “The NFL, by contrast, claims only a temporary loss of leverage by members of a cartel that is no longer entitled to any exemption from the antitrust laws.”

The longer the fight over how to divvy up $9 billion in annual revenue drags on, the closer the league and players get to missing games. The first preseason game is Aug. 7, with the regular season opener between the Saints and Packers set for Sept. 8 in Green Bay, Wis.

In Friday’s filing, the players reiterated that the decision to dissolve their union was their lawful right, and the absence of a collective bargaining agreement shouldn’t stop the NFL’s ability to “conduct professional football.” And, they argued, the harm they would suffer isn’t comparable to the league’s argument that it would suffer an “intangible blow to their ‘negotiating position’ and ‘leverage.’”

“The overwhelming inequity in that imbalance is patently obvious,” the players’ attorneys wrote.

The players have argued all along that their careers are being harmed by the work stoppage — they can’t work out, or sign contracts with any of the 32 clubs while the lockout persists. A federal judge in Minnesota agreed and lifted the lockout April 25, but the league appealed.

The appeals court reversed U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson’s decision just four days later. And on Monday, the appellate court ruled the lockout can stay in place until a full appeal is heard on whether it is legal. That hearing is set for June 3.

The players got some support Friday from other pro players and fans. The unions for hockey, baseball and basketball players filed a legal brief saying the lockout should be lifted because professional athletes’ careers are short, and the loss of even part of a season causes personal and professional injuries for which they can’t be compensated.

In their filing, the unions for the MLB, NBA and NHL wrote, “there is no off-season in professional sports — only the portion of the work year during which no games are played.” The unions said that part of the year brings opportunities — such as the option to change cities, teams or the trajectory of one’s career.

Also Friday, a nonprofit group that has been fighting sport work stoppages said the lockout should be lifted. The Sports Fans Coalition, which says it gives fans a voice on public policy issues and fights for fan access to games, said in a legal brief that the lockout is not in the best interest of fans, who pay billions of dollars to see their teams perform.

The players’ attorneys argued: “The NFL does not suffer irreparable harm from operating the game of football — especially at a profit.”

“Here, there is no question that the interest of the public — the fans, stadium workers, parking lot attendants, sports bars and restaurants, and local governments — favors an injunction to allow football to proceed on whatever lawful terms the NFL Defendants collectively impose,” the players’ attorneys wrote.

The group of players suing the league, including star quarterbacks Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees, have said the lockout is inflicting irreparable harm on their brief playing careers by preventing them from working out at team headquarters, holding full practices with teammates and coaches and jeopardizing games.

Their attorneys wrote that suggesting monetary damages, even triple damages, would fully redress the harm to players “ignores the reality of the game.”

The NFL has argued in its appeal that lifting the labor lockout without a new contract in place would allow better-off teams to sign the best players, tipping the NFL’s competitive balance and damaging the league.

The league also said that lifting the lockout with no labor deal in place would cause chaos, with teams trying to make decisions on signing free agents and making trades under a set of rules that could change drastically under a new agreement.

The league says the union’s move to decertify after the initial bargaining talks broke down is a sham; that Nelson does not have the jurisdiction to lift the lockout; and, that she should have waited for a decision from the National Labor Relations Board before issuing that ruling.

The players disagree with all those points.

They argued that by decertifying, every player gave up many rights, including having union representation at grievances, and the right to collectively bargain and strike. Now, players seek the protections of federal antitrust laws that limit monopolies.

The players also have a federal antitrust lawsuit against the league pending before Nelson. And attorneys for the players filed documents in U.S. District Court on Friday, opposing a league request for more time to respond to the claim. The league has argued it shouldn’t have to respond to the lawsuit until the appeal over the lockout is resolved.

But the players say the lawsuit will go forward whether or not the lockout is lifted and that the NFL’s request for an extension is “yet another deliberate step in their campaign to crush the players by extending the lockout for as long as they can.”

“The players face immediate, continuing, severe irreparable injury from unlawful conduct orchestrated to force them to re-unionize against their will and make immense financial concessions,” the players’ attorneys wrote. “The NFL, by contrast, claims only a temporary loss of leverage by members of a cartel that is no longer entitled to any exemption from the antitrust laws.”

The longer the fight over how to divvy up $9 billion in annual revenue drags on, the closer the league and players get to missing games. The first preseason game is Aug. 7, with the regular season opener between the Saints and Packers set for Sept. 8 in Green Bay, Wis.

In Friday’s filing, the players reiterated that the decision to dissolve their union was their lawful right, and the absence of a collective bargaining agreement shouldn’t stop the NFL’s ability to “conduct professional football.” And, they argued, the harm they would suffer isn’t comparable to the league’s argument that it would suffer an “intangible blow to their ‘negotiating position’ and ‘leverage.’”

“The overwhelming inequity in that imbalance is patently obvious,” the players’ attorneys wrote.

The players have argued all along that their careers are being harmed by the work stoppage — they can’t work out, or sign contracts with any of the 32 clubs while the lockout persists. A federal judge in Minnesota agreed and lifted the lockout April 25, but the league appealed.

The appeals court reversed U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson’s decision just four days later. And on Monday, the appellate court ruled the lockout can stay in place until a full appeal is heard on whether it is legal. That hearing is set for June 3.

The players got some support Friday from other pro players and fans. The unions for hockey, baseball and basketball players filed a legal brief saying the lockout should be lifted because professional athletes’ careers are short, and the loss of even part of a season causes personal and professional injuries for which they can’t be compensated.

In their filing, the unions for the MLB, NBA and NHL wrote, “there is no off-season in professional sports — only the portion of the work year during which no games are played.” The unions said that part of the year brings opportunities — such as the option to change cities, teams or the trajectory of one’s career.

Also Friday, a nonprofit group that has been fighting sport work stoppages said the lockout should be lifted. The Sports Fans Coalition, which says it gives fans a voice on public policy issues and fights for fan access to games, said in a legal brief that the lockout is not in the best interest of fans, who pay billions of dollars to see their teams perform.

The players’ attorneys argued: “The NFL does not suffer irreparable harm from operating the game of football — especially at a profit.”

“Here, there is no question that the interest of the public — the fans, stadium workers, parking lot attendants, sports bars and restaurants, and local governments — favors an injunction to allow football to proceed on whatever lawful terms the NFL Defendants collectively impose,” the players’ attorneys wrote.

The group of players suing the league, including star quarterbacks Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees, have said the lockout is inflicting irreparable harm on their brief playing careers by preventing them from working out at team headquarters, holding full practices with teammates and coaches and jeopardizing games.

Their attorneys wrote that suggesting monetary damages, even triple damages, would fully redress the harm to players “ignores the reality of the game.”

The NFL has argued in its appeal that lifting the labor lockout without a new contract in place would allow better-off teams to sign the best players, tipping the NFL’s competitive balance and damaging the league.

The league also said that lifting the lockout with no labor deal in place would cause chaos, with teams trying to make decisions on signing free agents and making trades under a set of rules that could change drastically under a new agreement.

The league says the union’s move to decertify after the initial bargaining talks broke down is a sham; that Nelson does not have the jurisdiction to lift the lockout; and, that she should have waited for a decision from the National Labor Relations Board before issuing that ruling.

The players disagree with all those points.

They argued that by decertifying, every player gave up many rights, including having union representation at grievances, and the right to collectively bargain and strike. Now, players seek the protections of federal antitrust laws that limit monopolies.

The players also have a federal antitrust lawsuit against the league pending before Nelson. And attorneys for the players filed documents in U.S. District Court on Friday, opposing a league request for more time to respond to the claim. The league has argued it shouldn’t have to respond to the lawsuit until the appeal over the lockout is resolved.

But the players say the lawsuit will go forward whether or not the lockout is lifted and that the NFL’s request for an extension is “yet another deliberate step in their campaign to crush the players by extending the lockout for as long as they can.”

Rooney responds to Mendenhall’s tweets about bin Laden.

If there weren’t enough tension between NFL players and owners during the league’s current labor unrest, Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall found another way to tick off his boss — with some ill-timed and ill-advised comments.

Mendenhall via Twitter, shared a series of sentiments about not believing that slain al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was behind the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Those thoughts, including criticism about those celebrating bin Laden’s death on Monday, prompted Steelers president Art Rooney II to make a counter statement through his team’s official website on Tuesday.

“I have not spoken with Rashard so it is hard to explain or even comprehend what he meant with his recent Twitter comments,” Rooney said. “The entire Steelers’ organization is very proud of the job our military personnel have done and we can only hope this leads to our troops coming home soon.”

Later Tuesday afternoon, Mendenhall removed one of the tweets, which was directed at former Illinois basketball player Dominique Keller.

The tweet said, “We’ll never know what really happened. I just have a hard time believing a plane could take down a skyscraper demolition style.”

Although Mendenhall, just like everyone in the United States, has freedom of speech, he should be aware that what he said has the potential to cause a public relations nightmare for what’s considered to be one of the league’s classiest franchises. Rooney wisely was just protecting the interests of his brand.

This is not the first time Mendenhall has turned some heads with his Twitter account. In March, Mendenhall supported Vikings running back Adrian Peterson’s comments that compared the players’ place in the NFL to “modern-day slavery.”

NFL lockout returns, to players’ and teams’ dismay.

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — The wildest week in NFL history had one more twist at the end and it means football is off limits again.

The NFL locked out its players Friday night after its first legal victory in the fight with the players over the future of the $9 billion business.

The players who showed up smiling and relieved to be back at work Friday morning are now cooling their heels. The ups and downs of the day — and the weeks and months of this labor dispute — may be taking their toll with the first preseason game little more than three months away.

“It’s crazy and it’s really, really making it difficult to plan,” Bengals quarterback Jordan Palmer said. “It’s just really hectic. Everybody I’ve talked to is very thrown off by the situation.”

Raiders quarterback Bruce Gradkowski vented on Twitter: “Gosh I just wanna get back to work and play! I feel bad for our fans having to put up with this.”

The day began with dozens, if not hundreds, of players reporting to team facilities all over the league. They met with coaches, picked up playbooks and went through workouts for the first time since they were locked out after talks for a new collective bargaining agreement broke down March 11.

“From the players’ standpoint I think everybody is pleased we’re not locked out anymore, especially the rookies,” Patriots quarterback Tom Brady said on CNBC in his first public comments about the dispute since he became a plaintiff in the still-pending federal antitrust lawsuit filed against the owners.

Not so fast, Tom.

U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson’s order lifting the 45-day lockout on Monday was temporarily stayed by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis. The NFL made its decision a few hours later.

Teams “have been told that the prior lockout rules are reinstated effective immediately,” NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told The Associated Press.

Agent Peter Schaffer said he has advised his clients to abide by the court’s ruling.

“You can’t have convenient justice,” Schaffer said. “Whatever the ruling of the day is, it must be followed. So I have told my players to stay away from the facilities.”

The appeals court is expected to rule next week on the NFL’s request for a more permanent stay that would last through its appeal of Nelson’s injunction, a process expected to take 6-8 weeks.

“Nobody’s happy about any of this,” Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson said. “But it is what it is. The lockout is back into effect.”

Teams had announced plans for organized practices and camps as early as next week, but those have again been put on hold.

“Chaotic,” Vikings receiver Bernard Berrian wrote on Twitter. “I dunno where to go.”

Coaches and general managers scrambled to bring their first-round picks in on Friday during what proved to be a brief window of time. They started to give the youngsters crash courses in what they wanted them to work on in the event that the lockout does drag on into the summer.

Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland said teams had no choice but to “go with the flow.”

“It was good to see the players today, great to see some of those guys, and wish it would have lasted a little longer,” Ireland said.

The NFL’s victory came in a venue considered more favorable to businesses than the federal courts in Minnesota, though it was a narrow one. The 2-1 decision from a panel of the 8th Circuit included a lengthy dissent from Judge Kermit Bye, who suggested temporary stays should be issued only in emergencies.

“The NFL has not persuaded me this is the type of emergency situation which justifies the grant of a temporary stay,” Bye wrote.

Jim Quinn, the lead attorney for the players, downplayed Friday’s order and was heartened by the dissent.

“Routine grant of stay and totally expected,” he said. “The only surprise is that Judge Bye is so strongly against giving them even a tiny stay because the league obviously can’t show it is necessary.”

Agents were concerned with how undrafted rookies will find work with teams unable to sign free agents after the draft concludes on Saturday.

“The owners will create a huge injustice to their own GMs and personnel departments if they don’t allow the signing of undrafted free agents,” said agent Joe Linta, whose clients include Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco. “They may not care about the players, but they should at least help their own scouts, coaches and personnel people who have worked so hard in the scouting process.”

The volatile atmosphere is rocking a league that thrives on routine and stability, and it doesn’t figure to settle down soon.

“It seems like you hear something different almost hourly,” Lions defensive end and player rep Kyle Vanden Bosch said. “This is a difficult situation for everybody involved.”

Attorneys for the players had argued against a stay of Nelson’s order, suggesting that the public and the players, with their short careers, are at far more risk when the business is stalled.

“Professional football is part of the fabric of American life,” the attorneys wrote. “Because the uncontroverted record of evidence shows that the 2011 season could be canceled or significantly curtailed without an injunction in place, a stay may deprive the public of professional football altogether.”

Said Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver: “It’d be great to have everybody back in the building, but the real thing is we’ve got to get back to the negotiating table and get a CBA.

NFLPA decertifies; NFL locks out players.

The NFL’s labor situation has gone from bad to worse.

Talks between the owners and players broke down Friday, and the NFL Players Association decertified. In response to a federal antitrust suit filed Friday, with three Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks among 10 players listed as plaintiffs, the NFL put a lockout into effect, sources told NFL.com.

With this contentious fight moving from the conference room to the courtroom, months could easily pass before the owners and players reach a new collective bargaining agreement.

Somebody dial 911.

NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith gave NFL owners an ultimatum Friday afternoon, asking for 10 years of audited financial records from the owners. Smith said the NFLPA would need those financial records before the union would agree to extend talks beyond Friday’s negotiating deadline. The NFL declined.

“I dare any one of you to show an economic indicator the NFL has fallen on hard times,” Smith said Friday night outside his Washington office.

“We think mediation is the fairest and fastest way to a reach an agreement that works for the players and the clubs,” commissioner Roger Goodell said Friday night. “And we believe ultimately this is going to be negotiated at the negotiating table. But they’ve chosen to pursue another strategy, and that is their choice.

“But we will be prepared to negotiate an agreement that is fair to the players and fair to the clubs.”

Federal mediator George H. Cohen said Friday night that he saw “no useful purpose” in extending the negotiations. If both sides ask for his assistance later, he said he would welcome more mediation.

“The parties have not achieved an overall agreement,” Cohen said, “nor have they been able to resolve the strongly held competing positions that separated them on core issues.”

Decertification was the union’s biggest card to play in negotiations, and it finally played it. That sets the stage for a long, contentious court battle between the owners and players that could drag on for months and months and threaten the 2011 season.

By decertifying, the union cleared the way for individual players to file antitrust lawsuits against the NFL, which opted out of the collective bargaining agreement in 2008. It renounced its right to represent the players in contract bargaining.

The union — now operating as a “trade association” — filed an injunction Friday in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis to block NFL lockout. New England Patriots QB Tom Brady, Indianapolis Colts QB Peyton Manning and New Orleans Saints QB Drew Brees are the primary plaintiffs, and a ruling is expected at some point in the next month.

The case was assigned to U.S. District judge Patrick Schiltz, not his colleague David Doty, who has overseen NFL labor matters since the early 1990s and has several times ruled in favor of the players. The lawsuit still could end up in front of Doty. New cases are randomly assigned to judges when they’re filed but are sometimes reassigned to others on the bench with expertise in a certain issue.

“Not once have the players asked for more money during this negotiation,” Brees wrote Friday night on Twitter. “That is a FACT. I don’t expect anyone to feel sorry for us. … Past players sacrificed a great deal to give us what we have now in the NFL, and we will not lay down for a second to give that up.

“We have a responsibility and at some point you just have to stand up for what is right.”

The NFL, in a statement, said it had offered to split the difference in the financial gap and to ultimately reach the players’ asking price by the end of a proposed five-year CBA. The NFL also said it had offered a rookie salary scale for first-round picks, guarantee no reduction in veteran pay, reduced offseason workouts, retain the current 16-game regular season and establish a new $82 million fund for improved health coverage for retired players.

NFLPA counsel Jim Quinn called the NFL’s statement “a lie,” saying the league’s last offer would roll back player salaries back to 2007 levels. Smith said the NFL last proposal would have reduced the salary cap from “$149 million to 2009 to $141 million in 2011” and added that 2012 cap would have been $148 million, also less than the 2009 cap.

Smith said the players’ union was willing to extend the negotiating window a third time but was only willing to do so if the owners agreed to present 10 years worth of audited financial data for all 32 teams. The owners balked, and the union decided the deal on the table wasn’t as favorable as the one it could forge once the court challenges play out.

“They said, ‘Trust us,’ but when it came time for the verification, they told us it was none of our business,” Smith said. “The measure of our association is the men and their families who fight for the only thing they can bestow to each other: a better game, a safer game and a recognition from those who own for common respect.”

Simply, from the players’ and owners’ perspective, there wasn’t much pressure to compromise now — and there won’t be until July. This is the league’s first work stoppage since 1987.

“I’d say to fans — I don’t think we’re going to lose the season,” said Gary Roberts, a law professor at Indiana University-Indianapolis and a labor relations expert. “We might lose the preseason, and we might lose a couple of games in the regular season. But I can’t believe they won’t get a deal done in time for most, if not all, of the 2011 season.”

Now that the union has decertified and the CBA has expired, the NFL can do one of two things: Lock out the players or declare an impasse and institute new work rules. Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney said Friday night that the lockout was the likely course of action.

“We’re going to make that decision in the next 24 hours,” Rooney told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “I would say we’re probably headed in that direction.”

At the stroke of midnight ET, the lockout became official, sourced told NFL.com.

In the 52-page lawsuit filed Friday, the players are seeking a declaration that NFL salary cap, draft, franchise tag and other restrictions violate the Sherman Antitrust Act, according to SportsBusiness Journal. The suit also seeks a declaration that NFL teams pay all contractually owed amounts to players regardless if lockout continues.

If Doty grants the injunction to prevent the lockout, the NFL could appeal that decision. During the appeals process, the league likely would be forced to take the players back and impose work rules. The new “trade association” then is expected to file an antitrust lawsuit.

At the same time, the league could ask the NLRB to decide on a charge that the union did not engage in serious bargaining. The NLRB, if it sides with the league, could file an injunction in a federal court seeking to block the union’s decertification. A union cannot file an antitrust lawsuit, so decertifying was critical to the players’ strategy.

With the dispute now in court, both sides could end up with a deal they don’t like.

Goodell had emphasized that negotiation was better than litigation. The case now goes to Doty — who already has ruled against the owners, denying them access to more than $4 billion in TV money during a lockout — and has been favorable to players in other rulings.

With the league seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in concessions, the players weren’t willing to move much in negotiations unless the league opened its books fully and justified the proposed cuts.

“No one is happy where we are now,” NFL lead negotiator Jeff Pash said. “I think we know where the commitment was. It was a commitment to litigate all along.

“The absence of an agreement is a shared failure. I think (fans) should be disappointed.”