{"id":409178,"date":"2011-04-30T01:57:31","date_gmt":"2011-04-30T01:57:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/04\/30\/nfl-lockout-back-effective-immediately-ap\/"},"modified":"2011-04-30T01:57:31","modified_gmt":"2011-04-30T01:57:31","slug":"nfl-lockout-back-effective-immediately-ap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/30\/nfl-lockout-back-effective-immediately-ap\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL: Lockout back, effective immediately (AP)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (AP)\u2014A federal appeals court threw the NFL back into chaos late Friday, putting a judge\u2019s order lifting the lockout on hold.<\/p>\n

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis granted the league\u2019s request for a temporary stay of the injunction issued Monday that ended the 45-day lockout. Now arguments will be heard on whether that order should be overturned altogether.<\/p>\n

The decision came as the second round of the NFL draft was getting under way, and it came on the very day players were allowed to return to their teams\u2019 facilities. Dozens if not hundreds of players happily met with coaches, worked out and got a peek at their playbooks for the first time.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell leaves the federal courthouse in Minneapolis last week.
(AP)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Will teams lock their doors again? That wasn\u2019t clear late Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur attorneys will review the decision, and we will advise the clubs as soon as possible on the next steps,\u201d NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Place your vote on Grudge Judge<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Some teams already were operating under the assumption that the lockout would be reinstated. The Vikings spent all Friday trying to get their first-round draft pick, quarterback Christian Ponder<\/a>(notes)<\/a>,<\/span> up to speed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it was not a lockout, they were allowed to spend time here to get (playbooks),\u201d vice president of player personnel Rick Spielman said. \u201cNow that the lockout\u2019s back in, he\u2019ll probably be leaving here shortly.\u201d<\/p>\n

New Tennessee Titans<\/a> coach Mike Munchak said he was disappointed.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs coaches we just want to get to work and get the players in the building and get going forward. Today was a positive day in that regard,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was nice having the guys in and being able to see some of the guys who are in town.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jets wide receiver Braylon Edwards<\/a>(notes)<\/a>,<\/span> scheduled to become a free agent, put it simply on Twitter: \u201cLooks like we\u2019re unemployed again.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 2-1 decision from a panel of the 8th Circuit was issued by Judges Steven Colloton, Kermit Bye and Duane Benton. It included a lengthy dissent from Bye, who suggested temporary stays should be issued only in emergencies.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe NFL has not persuaded me this is the type of emergency situation which justifies the grant of a temporary stay of the district court\u2019s order pending our decision on a motion for a stay itself,\u201d Bye wrote. \u201cIf we ultimately grant the motion for a stay, the NFL can easily re-establish its lockout.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bye also said the league hadn\u2019t shown proof it would suffer irreparable harm without a lockout in place and had asked for the stay so it wouldn\u2019t be forced to run its $9 billion business without a collective bargaining agreement in place.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe NFL claimed such operations would be \u2018a complex process that requires time to coordinate,\u201d\u2019 Bye wrote. \u201cThis contention is severely undermined by the fact that the NFL had, within a day of the district court\u2019s order denying a stay, already planned post-injunction operations which would allow the players to have access to club and workout facilities, receive playbooks, meet with coaches and so forth.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause I expect our court will be resolving the actual request for a stay in short order, I see little practical need for granting an emergency temporary stay in this non-emergency situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ruling was the first victory for the NFL in the bitter labor fight. It came from a venue considered more conservative and favorable to businesses than the federal courts in Minnesota, where the collective bargaining system was established in the early 1990s and judges have generally favored players over the NFL.<\/p>\n

Colloton and Benton were appointed by President George W. Bush. Bye was appointed by President Clinton.<\/p>\n

The appeals court is expected to rule next week on the NFL\u2019s request for a more permanent stay that would last through its appeal of the injunction. That process is expected to take 6-8 weeks.<\/p>\n

Jim Quinn, the lead attorney for the players, downplayed Friday\u2019s order.<\/p>\n

\u201cRoutine grant of stay and totally expected,\u201d he said. \u201cThe only surprise is that Judge Bye is so strongly against giving them even a tiny stay because the league obviously can\u2019t show it is necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n

The order was just the latest in a dizzying week of legal wrangling. U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson late Monday ordered the end of the lockout, calling it illegal, and she denied the NFL\u2019s appeal on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n

That led to a crazy couple of days where teams and players had no rules to guide them. On Friday, the NFL opened up team facilities to players for the first time in nearly two months.<\/p>\n

And the players flocked to the facilities, exchanging smiles and high-fives with their teammates. Tony Romo<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> and Jason Witten<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> even did some sprints on a Dallas Cowboys<\/a> practice field.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the players\u2019 standpoint, I think everybody is pleased we\u2019re not locked out anymore, especially the rookies,\u201d Patriots quarterback Tom Brady<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> said on CNBC, his first public comments about the dispute since he became one of the 10 plaintiffs in a federal antitrust lawsuit still pending against the NFL.<\/p>\n

Players from Seattle to New York warmly greeted a little bit of normalcy in the most unusual offseason in league history, fully aware that it might not last very long.<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s exactly what I expected,\u201d Buffalo Bills<\/a> player rep George Wilson<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> said in a text message to the AP after the stay was granted. \u201cThat\u2019s why I advised my guys to stay put until we knew something more concrete.\u201d<\/p>\n

Attorneys for the players had argued against a stay of Nelson\u2019s order, suggesting that the public and the players, with their short careers, are at far more risk when the business is stalled.<\/p>\n

\u201cProfessional football is part of the fabric of American life,\u201d the attorneys wrote. \u201cBecause 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

The players argued that granting any stay\u2014temporary or permanent\u2014 inflicts irreparable harm by limiting their ability to workout at team facilities and preventing free agents from signing with teams.<\/p>\n

Agent Joe Linta, whose clients include Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco<\/a>(notes)<\/a>,<\/span> lobbied for the NFL to go forward with free agency despite the decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe owners will create a huge injustice to their own GMs and personnel departments if they don\u2019t allow the signing of undrafted free agents tomorrow,\u201d he said. \u201cThey 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. This is by far the biggest issue of the next 48 hours.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many first-round draft choices who arrived at their new teams scrambled to get as much done as they could while they were allowed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m trying to get as much ball talk in as possible and get a feel for what\u2019s going on,\u201d Ponder said. \u201cIt is tough, especially with the uncertainty. We have no idea what\u2019s going to happen, and I\u2019m praying I\u2019ll be back here in two weeks for mini-camp or whenever we\u2019re allowed.\u201d<\/p>\n

By Friday evening, Ponder was on his way home, and the Vikings were on the clock in the second round of the draft when the decision came down. All Spielman could do was shrug.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s nothing you can do about it because you have no control over it, so just do what you do,\u201d he said. \u201cRight now we can draft players and that\u2019s what we\u2019re focused on doing. That\u2019s all you can do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jets defensive lineman Mike DeVito<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> said he was frustrated.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis whole situation is definitely something that I\u2019ve been really trying to pull myself back from and getting excited too much about because of days like this,\u201d he said. \u201cI know there are smart people on both sides, and I know this will all be resolved at some point. I\u2019m not sure when, but at some point.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lockout has hurt a team like the Browns, preventing new coach Pat Shurmur and his staff from talking with players for the first time. He met with a handful on Friday before the bad news.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause we were allowed to talk and communicate with our players, we felt like it was a good few hours,\u201d Shurmur said.<\/p>\n

And then it ended. Bengals quarterback Jordan Palmer<\/a>(notes)<\/a><\/span> said: \u201cIt\u2019s crazy and it\u2019s really, really making it difficult to plan. It\u2019s just really hectic. Everybody I\u2019ve talked to is very thrown off by the situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Palmer told the AP he had no idea if Cincinnati would go forward with organized workouts next week.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t know. I don\u2019t know,\u201d the fourth-year player said. \u201cThis is as uncertain as I\u2019ve been since draft day, as far as the NFL goes.\u201d<\/p>\n

AP Football Writer Barry Wilner and AP Sports Writers Dennis Waszak, Bob Baum, Tom Canavan, Joe Kay, Stephen Hawkins, Dennis Waszak, Tom Withers, John Wawrow, Mike Cranston, R.B. Fallstrom, Mark Long and Joseph White and freelancer Warren Mayes in St. Louis contributed to this report.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Read More:
\nNFL: Lockout back, effective immediately (AP)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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