{"id":397928,"date":"2011-04-26T03:09:25","date_gmt":"2011-04-26T03:09:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/04\/26\/nflpas-smith-football-might-be-on-ap\/"},"modified":"2011-04-26T03:09:25","modified_gmt":"2011-04-26T03:09:25","slug":"nflpas-smith-football-might-be-on-ap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/26\/nflpas-smith-football-might-be-on-ap\/","title":{"rendered":"NFLPA’s Smith: ‘Football might be on’ (AP)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Even as his players are claiming a modest victory, if that, after Judge Susan Richard Nelson granted a preliminary injunction blocking the league\u2019s lockout, DeMaurice Smith was more emphatic.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re thrilled that it looks like football might be on,\u201d the executive director of the NFL Players Association said Monday night.<\/p>\n

Speaking to ESPN, Smith added: \u201cIf we\u2019re in a world where players are actually suing so they can play football \u2026 that tells me we\u2019ve lost our way.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the NFL lost this first step in litigation, it appealed the ruling a couple hours later.<\/p>\n

Gary Roberts, dean of the Indiana University School of Law in Indianapolis, put the granting of the preliminary injunction in football terms.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe players started on their own 20-yard line and I think they gained 15 or 20 yards,\u201d Roberts said, \u201cbut there\u2019s a long way to the end zone.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe expected it, based on the questions she asked at the oral arguments. We knew where she was leaning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bills safety George Wilson<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> confirmed late Monday that the NFLPA emailed players suggesting they report to work Tuesday. He said players were told they should be granted access under normal circumstances and if they are denied access the teams would be in violation of the judge\u2019s ruling.<\/p>\n

Wilson had not heard from any Bills players who said they would report to the facility Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Several agents suggested that players will begin reporting to team facilities Tuesday unless an immediate stay of the injunction is granted. Others were advising their players to hold back for now.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust hold tight, let the dust settle,\u201d Ralph Cindrich said in an email to The Associated Press. \u201cMuch of this is new ground. Doors likely locked until appeal is over.\u201d<\/p>\n

After calling Nelson\u2019s decision \u201cdefinitely a major, major victory for the players,\u201d Kevin Poston said of the NFL seeking a stay:<\/p>\n

\u201cI know it\u2019s going to be hard for a judge to overrule another judge unless there was some major error in law that we don\u2019t know about. But no one knows what happens now to free agency, to undrafted free agents and minicamps now that the lockout has been lifted. We still have to hear some details from the judge over the next couple of days and those details will be important.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vikings linebacker Ben Leber<\/a>(notes)<\/a>,<\/span> who is a free agent, is one of the nine NFL players who are plaintiffs in the lawsuit.<\/p>\n

\u201cFootball is back to business, but guess what? There\u2019s no rules,\u201d Leber said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of positive to that, but there\u2019s also a lot of negatives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, there are many more questions than answers. Leber said he was initially worried about what would happen to a player if an injury occurred during a workout at a team facility, but he said he was assured by NFLPA leadership that liability should not be a concern.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should feel free to try to get workouts in and try to resume any sort of normalcy that we had before,\u201d Leber said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy no means does this mean that we as the players have all the leverage or have an outright outlook that we\u2019re in the winning position right now, because there\u2019s still a long way to go,\u201d said Wilson, who served as the team\u2019s union player representative before decertification on March 11.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it\u2019s definitely encouraging to see that we got the information in the right hands, and the judge took the time to take an objective look at all the information and make a decision that\u2019s in the best interest of the league as a whole.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kicker Jay Feely<\/a>(notes)<\/a>,<\/span> Arizona\u2019s player rep before the NFL Players Association dissolved, was more vociferous in reacting to the decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe players have said all along, \u2018The law is on our side.\u2019 Judge Nelson\u2019s ruling reaffirms our contention,\u201d Feely said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know whenever I\u2019m told I can go back to the building, I\u2019ll be one of the first guys in there,\u201d Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> said. \u201cEvery time you hear there might be news, it makes you think, \u2018Oh, it\u2019s time to go.\u2019 But you\u2019ve just got to be patient. We all want to play, and the schedule coming out makes you excited, then it\u2019s hurry up and wait.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many of his peers are looking at the long term. New York Jets<\/a> guard Brandon Moore<\/a> called it a good day for the players, but recognized \u201cthere\u2019s still some legal wrangling that needs to go on.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has been frustrating,\u201d Moore said. \u201cYou\u2019re working out on your own, trying to set up drills, trying to find a field somewhere, trying to find a time to get together. I mean, we\u2019re professional athletes here. We shouldn\u2019t be going through this. On the same token, these were the only cards we were left with.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a high-stakes poker game as the owners and players wrangle over more than $9 billion in revenues. Seth Borden, a labor law expert at McKenna, Long and Aldridge in New York, emphasized that Nelson stuck strictly to one topic in a multifaceted dispute.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe judge was very clear that the ultimate resolution of the players\u2019 claims against the league is not dealt with in this,\u201d Borden said. \u201cOnly one issue she has addressed here: whether or not the effort of the owners to disallow the players from playing at this time potentially violates the antitrust laws.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt certainly tilts some leverage back toward the players. The major piece of leverage the owners were employing throughout this dispute was the ability to disallow the players from playing. \u2026 For the time being, this judge has said they cannot do so.\u201d<\/p>\n

So what will the players do, at least until a stay is granted\u2014if it is granted?<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they are in town,\u201d agent Joe Linta said, \u201cI would tell them to show up at 8 a.m. with a cup of coffee and their lunch box.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Continue Reading:
\nNFLPA’s Smith: ‘Football might be on’ (AP)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Even as his players are claiming a modest victory, if that, after Judge Susan Richard Nelson granted a preliminary injunction blocking the league\u2019s lockout, DeMaurice Smith was more emphatic. \u201cWe\u2019re thrilled that it looks like football might be on,\u201d the executive director of the NFL Players Association said Monday night. Speaking to ESPN, Smith added: \u201cIf we\u2019re in a world where players are actually suing so they can play football \u2026 that tells me we\u2019ve lost our way.\u201d While the NFL lost this first step in litigation, it appealed the ruling a couple hours later. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-397928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nNFLPA's Smith: 'Football might be on' (AP) - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/26\/nflpas-smith-football-might-be-on-ap\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"NFLPA's Smith: 'Football might be on' (AP) - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Even as his players are claiming a modest victory, if that, after Judge Susan Richard Nelson granted a preliminary injunction blocking the league\u2019s lockout, DeMaurice Smith was more emphatic. \u201cWe\u2019re thrilled that it looks like football might be on,\u201d the executive director of the NFL Players Association said Monday night. Speaking to ESPN, Smith added: \u201cIf we\u2019re in a world where players are actually suing so they can play football \u2026 that tells me we\u2019ve lost our way.\u201d While the NFL lost this first step in litigation, it appealed the ruling a couple hours later.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/c8c10717nflnyj.png.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/26\/nflpas-smith-football-might-be-on-ap\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/26\/nflpas-smith-football-might-be-on-ap\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"NFLPA’s Smith: ‘Football might be on’ (AP)\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-04-26T03:09:25+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/26\/nflpas-smith-football-might-be-on-ap\/\"},\"wordCount\":1030,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/26\/nflpas-smith-football-might-be-on-ap\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/c8c10717nflnyj.png.png\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/26\/nflpas-smith-football-might-be-on-ap\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/26\/nflpas-smith-football-might-be-on-ap\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/26\/nflpas-smith-football-might-be-on-ap\/\",\"name\":\"NFLPA's Smith: 'Football might be on' (AP) - Ghanamma.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/26\/nflpas-smith-football-might-be-on-ap\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/26\/nflpas-smith-football-might-be-on-ap\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/c8c10717nflnyj.png.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-04-26T03:09:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/26\/nflpas-smith-football-might-be-on-ap\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/26\/nflpas-smith-football-might-be-on-ap\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/c8c10717nflnyj.png.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/c8c10717nflnyj.png.png\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/\",\"name\":\"Ghanamma.com\",\"description\":\"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"NFLPA's Smith: 'Football might be on' (AP) - Ghanamma.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/26\/nflpas-smith-football-might-be-on-ap\/","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"NFLPA's Smith: 'Football might be on' (AP) - Ghanamma.com","twitter_description":"Even as his players are claiming a modest victory, if that, after Judge Susan Richard Nelson granted a preliminary injunction blocking the league\u2019s lockout, DeMaurice Smith was more emphatic. \u201cWe\u2019re thrilled that it looks like football might be on,\u201d the executive director of the NFL Players Association said Monday night. 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