Players: Don't Put NFL Lockout Ruling On Hold
NEW YORK (WFAN/AP) — NFL players say the league's request to put a federal judge's lockout ruling on hold should be denied.
Why? They say every day it remains in effect they suffer more harm.
Lawyers for the players filed their response to U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson on Wednesday morning.
Nelson is weighing a request from the owners for a stay, which means the injunction she issued to stop the lockout would be frozen during the appeals process. If Nelson grants the league's request, players want the NFL to post a $1 billion bond, roughly 25 percent of players' compensation last year.
The NFL says it needs the stay to make sure the rules for the new league year are fair and clear.
But players, in their response to the league's request, say the dilemma the NFL says it's in — risking violation of antitrust laws by imposing a system the players would challenge or harming the league's competitive balance by a potential free agency free-for-all — is the league's own doing.
"They put themselves in that position by repeatedly imposing rules and restrictions that violate the antitrust laws," attorneys for the players wrote.
They argue the league could simply implement a new set of free agency guidelines and other rules: "There is no reason why the NFL Defendants cannot devise a lawful player system, and their complaints about potential antitrust scrutiny are not well-founded where such scrutiny is a reality of doing business."
Some Jets players tried to go back to work Tuesday, but were told they couldn't work out at team facilities once they entered the building.
Should Judge Nelson put her lockout ruling on hold? Sound off below...
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