Lawtalkers and NFL fans: to this thread!

[The Minsky Moment]

Just brainstorming  . . . should the NFL consider weight limits on players?  That would have health benefits in itself in addition to reducing somewhat the potential impact from hits.  it would also stop the never-ending race to develop more giant sized linemen.

[Grey Fox]

You guys are weird. Tne NFL has been threating QBs differently for years now. It's just finally spelt out. We should be happy.

[sbr]

So basically they're making it a non-contact sport.

Nothing much has changed; it has been a penalty to intentionally hit a defenseless player in the head or neck for a long time.  All they did was define what they consider a defenseless player and let players know that the punishment for that is going to increase. 

[Neil]

Just brainstorming  . . . should the NFL consider weight limits on players?  That would have health benefits in itself in addition to reducing somewhat the potential impact from hits.  it would also stop the never-ending race to develop more giant sized linemen.

You know, this isn't the most unthinkable thing I've ever heard.  It'd be unworkable unless the limits were position-based though.

[jimmy olsen]

Just brainstorming  . . . should the NFL consider weight limits on players?  That would have health benefits in itself in addition to reducing somewhat the potential impact from hits.  it would also stop the never-ending race to develop more giant sized linemen.

I was unaware the NFL was genetically engineering linemen.

[sbr]

Just brainstorming  . . . should the NFL consider weight limits on players?  That would have health benefits in itself in addition to reducing somewhat the potential impact from hits.  it would also stop the never-ending race to develop more giant sized linemen.

I was unaware the NFL was genetically engineering linemen.

You should pay more attention.

[jimmy olsen]

Just brainstorming  . . . should the NFL consider weight limits on players?  That would have health benefits in itself in addition to reducing somewhat the potential impact from hits.  it would also stop the never-ending race to develop more giant sized linemen.

I was unaware the NFL was genetically engineering linemen.

You should pay more attention.

Will do

[MadBurgerMaker]

So....Kendall Hunter (RB, Oklahoma State) scored a 9, and Carl Johnson (OT, Florida) scored a 6 on the Wonderlic Test. 

Impressive.

(while it probably doesn't mean all that much, Hunter came out of OSU with a 4.0 GPA, a couple of academic awards, and was on the President's Honor Roll and Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll).

[jimmy olsen]

So....Kendall Hunter (RB, Oklahoma State) scored a 9, and Carl Johnson (OT, Florida) scored a 6 on the Wonderlic Test. 

Impressive.

(while it probably doesn't mean all that much, Hunter came out of OSU with a 4.0 GPA, a couple of academic awards, and was on the President's Honor Roll and Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll).

ZOMG!　Ｐlagarism!

[MadImmortalMan]

Ken Lanci, Cleveland Browns Fan, Sues Team & NFL Over Lockout

One fan has had enough of the NFL lockout and has taken it upon himself to save the upcoming season.

Businessman Ken Lanci filed a lawsuit on Thursday against the Cleveland Browns and the league over the lockout, according to Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Lanci, a Cleveland Browns fan, claims in the lawsuit that the lockout violates his private seat license contract with the team and "jeopardizes his right to watch a full season of home games."

The 60-year-old reportedly asked the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court to prohibit the lockout.

"What tipped the scale for me is the labor issue between millionaires and billionaires and the fact they can't settle it when the country is in a recession," Lanci said. "Worse yet, they have to rub this in our faces."

[jimmy olsen]

Here's hoping.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=AkHJFkV52fO_MmWrBQo4sY45nYcB?slug=dw-wetzel_retired_players_file_antitrust_suit_against_NFL_032811

Retired players file antitrust suit against NFL
Dan Wetzel

By Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports 6 hours, 15 minutes ago

Holmes spent seven of his 11 NFL seasons with the Chiefs.
(Dick Whipple/AP Photo)

Four retired NFL players, including Hall of Fame defensive end Carl Eller and Pro Bowl running back Priest Holmes, filed a federal class action, antitrust lawsuit against the NFL on Monday seeking to end the current lockout.

Eller v. NFL, obtained by Yahoo! Sports, is similar to the current Brady, et al v. NFL. However, it is based on a potentially clever legal maneuver that could box the league into a corner and prove a significant development in ending pro football's nearly month-long labor impasse.

The former players' suit also covers draft-eligible prospects, who aren't represented by the NFL Players Association under the previous collective bargaining agreement. As such, these plaintiffs could potentially avoid one of the league's chief counterarguments against the Brady lawsuit – that the union illegally decertified.

"The owners say the union has unlawfully decertified and the union should be ordered to reconstitute and forced to sit at the bargaining table," lead attorney Michael Hausfeld of the Washington D.C.-based Hausfeld LLC told Y! Sports. "If you look at the last CBA, it represents the rookies that have been drafted and the rookies who have begun negotiating with teams."

Therefore, college players awaiting next month's draft are not represented by the union and can't be faulted for its decertification. However they are, Hausfeld argues, being affected by the lockout.

"These players have an antitrust claim," Hausfeld said. "They've essentially staked the pursuit of a career on being eligible for the NFL.

"The owners have shut down their potential employees through a concerted boycott," Hausfeld continued. "[The suit is] going to avoid the main thrust of the owners' defense and their argument that the matter should be settled by the [National Labor Relations Board] not in the courts."

The NFL said its "attorneys have not had an opportunity to review" the suit, which was filed in United States District Court for the District of Minnesota. The NFLPA was made aware of the suit prior to its filing, according to Hausfeld. It too has yet to respond with comment.

Hausfeld has made a career out of winning complicated lawsuits – that includes earning reparations for Holocaust survivors from Swiss banks. His firm is currently one of the lead councils in a suit filed by former college athletes such as Ed O'Bannon and Oscar Robertson against the NCAA for the unlawful use of their likenesses.

In the Eller case, Hausfeld believes a crack has been found in the NFL's armor.

"How silly is it to have a draft in April and then say, congratulations, you're locked out?" he asked.

By using the window between now and the start of the NFL draft on April 28, the NFL is exposed to this kind of argument.

The NFL, Hausfeld said, would have to work out a deal with the NFLPA or risk taking on an antitrust case without its top counterarguments. If the league were to lose, it would risk the basic structures of its business – the salary cap, the draft, free agency and so forth. It would be better off agreeing to a deal.

"We see something different," Hausfeld said. "[The NFL has] created more of a mess for themselves. If we can end the lockout and there is no union then they're going to individually negotiate with every player and former player.

"This is basically the proverbial straw that breaks the camel's back. Hopefully it forces everyone to the table."

That remains to be seen. Predicting how any lawsuit, let alone complicated antitrust arguments, will go is fruitless. The NFL has plenty of lawyers also.

For fans eager for any kind of solution or forced movement on the labor impasse though, this unexpected legal challenge is, at the very least, a potential positive.

[sbr]

Veddy Interestink.  Is there any word about what the former players' claims might be?

[dps]

Veddy Interestink.  Is there any word about what the former players' claims might be?

I have no idea.  Sort of like this bit from the article:

"We see something different," Hausfeld said. "[The NFL has] created more of a mess for themselves. If we can end the lockout and there is no union then they're going to individually negotiate with every player and former player.

I'm not clear on exactly what he thinks the league would be negotiating about with former players.  Pensions, maybe, but that would imply that with no union, the league could take away a retired player's pension unless that individual player could negotiate a new pension plan for himself, which is an argument that I wouldn't want my lawyer to make if I was a former employee.