Judge Susan Richard Nelson becomes third judge to be assigned NFL federal antitrust lawsuit
The federal antitrust lawsuit brought against the National Football League (NFL) by ten professional players has been reassigned for the third time, this time to Judge Susan Richard Nelson.
The lawsuit has been brought against the league by ten players, including Super Bowl Most Valuable Player (MVP) New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, Indianapolis Colts MVP quarterback Peyton Manning and New England Patriots MVP quarterback Tom Brady.
The lawsuit was filed after the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) decertified themselves from the league.
The case first went to United States District Judge Richard Kyle in Minnesota on Friday. He decided to forgo the case because of reasons known only to himself, resulting in the case being shifted over to U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz. On Monday, Schiltz
also withdrew from presiding over the case because he represented the league in a couple of past cases as a private practice attorney. Now the case has been given to Nelson.
The interim division manager of the court clerk’s office in Minneapolis, Deb Bell says that nothing other than chance predicted who would judge the case since the cases “are randomly assigned by computer.”
However, this may not be the last time the lawsuit is reassigned. Players would prefer that the case be brought in front of Judge David Doty, since he has presided over NFL labour problems since the 1990's and usually rules in favour of the players. Bell
says that reassigning the case would entirely be up to Nelson. If she wishes to judge the case, she may, but if she decides not to, the case would once again be randomly assigned.
Doty, an 81-year-old former U.S. Marine, ruled in favour of the players back in 1993. He granted a handful of players free agency and was also the foundation of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that expired on Friday. As long as the bargaining agreement
is in effect, Doty will be in charge of ruling who is right and who is wrong in this case.
“The players are in a phenomenal position of leverage right now,” said Ron Washburn, who teaches sports law at Bryant University. “From the owners’ perspective, Doty has certainly shown himself to be player-friendly in his interpretations of the Collective
Bargaining Agreement. And this will likely be the most important legal decision in sports of the last decade."
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