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NFL players hope the wheels of justice turn quickly for them today in a St. Paul, Minn., courtroom.
A federal judge is scheduled to hear the request from 10 locked-out players — including Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora — for an injunction that would force the league’s owners to lift the lockout and get the sport moving again.
The 10 players, who are representing their peers in an antitrust lawsuit against the owners after the NFL Players Association decertified last month, are hoping for a prompt and favorable ruling by Nelson that would revive free agency and off-season workouts before the April 28-30 draft.
Unfortunately for the players, speed might not be in the cards.
Although many observers say the players have the legal momentum on their side, some predict Nelson will hold off granting an injunction until closer to the start of training camp in late July.
The reason: The players are trying to prove “irreparable harm” from money lost to the lockout, but they only get paychecks during the regular season and only a small percentage are missing out on bonus money that would normally be paid this time of year.
“I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if she took this under advisement,” Stanford law professor William Gould, a former chairman of the National Labor Relations Board, told The Post yesterday. “I think she may wait a bit. The mere fact they may lose checks right now is not irreparable.”
The owners, who remain eager to avoid a potentially costly antitrust decision, also might have bought themselves some time with Nelson by filing a complaint with the NLRB last month claiming the union’s decertification is a sham.
The NLRB has yet to say if it will rule on the league’s complaint, and it might not do so for several weeks or even months. The league is asking Nelson to delay her decision on the injunction until after the NLRB makes its position more clear, but legal experts doubt that strategy.
“She might well be influenced in taking this under advisement, but I don’t think she’s going to wait a substantial period of time for the [NLRB],” Gould said.
Despite a terrible track record in antitrust cases, the owners are walking with a little more spring in their step after hiring famed legal big gun David Boies — who argued Bush vs. Gore to the Supreme Court — to head the league’s high-priced defense.
But no matter how much money the owners pay Boies and his costly team, many legal experts still give the players the upper hand if they can keep the dispute in court — especially if Nelson forces the league to lift the lockout soon.
“Both sides have really strong and weak points, but the owners have lost a lot of [antitrust] cases,” Gould said.
Gould said Nelson might speed up her decision because the players can cite missed off-season workouts and minicamps – “competition that trains them for their profession,” Gould said — as further proof of irreparable harm.
Some observers are just glad for the possibility of action after weeks of tiresome rhetoric.
“The bright side of NFL labor litigation? For the first time in a while, someone other than the two sides will tell us who is right,” said Tulane law professor Gabe Feldman, an NFL Network legal analyst.