Union asks prospects to boycott NFL Draft

Union asks prospects to boycott NFL Draft


The dream of top college prospects is to hear their name called in the first round of the NFL Draft, to walk out onto the stage at Radio City Music Hall, don the hat of their new team and then receive a hearty handshake and perhaps a hug from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

That memorable moment looks as if it will be denied to defensive linemen Nick Fairley and Da'Quan Bowers -- possible No. 1 picks going to the Panthers -- as well as quarterback prospects Blaine Gabbert, Jake Locker and Cam Newton. In another sign of the contention infiltrating the NFL labor battle -- set for an April 6 hearing in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis -- ESPN is reporting the NFL Players Association is contacting all the top prospects and instructing them not to attend the NFL Draft event in Manhattan on April 28-30.

As of yesterday, the NFLPA -- even though it decertified last week -- had contacted 17 players expected to receive invitations to attend the first round of the draft April 28, ESPN reported. If the boycott comes about, it will make for an embarrassing evening. Goodell presumably would announce the pick, but there would be no player there to greet him on the stage.

The union reportedly is considering having the top prospects appear on a competing network for interviews during the Draft.

The league, obviously, would prefer that not happen.

"We plan to invite the 15-20 top prospects and their families to New York as we normally do for this once-in-a-lifetime experience," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said in a statement. "And, as always, it is the decision of the players and their families as to whether they attend."

The next step in this painful and tedious process is set for April 6, the day a hearing date has been set in the federal lawsuit filed by the players against the league. The big news here is the hearing is scheduled to come in front of U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson in Minnesota. The players were hoping the case would be heard by Justice David Doty, who since the early 1990s has overseen several NFL labor issues and regularly sided with the players in his rulings.

There is little or no chance of any mediated negotiations prior to the hearing.

The players are seeking an injunction to prevent the NFL teams from engaging in a lockout, which was instituted last Friday at midnight. The case, according to reports, first went to Judge Richard Kyle, who recused himself for unspecified reasons. It was reassigned to Judge Patrick Schiltz and yesterday Schiltz cited a conflict of interest because he represented the NFL in several cases as a private practice attorney. The case then went to Nelson.

A ruling is expected within two weeks of the hearing and if a preliminary injunction is granted, the lockout will be lifted and the NFL will open up with the start of free agency, likely under the 2010 guidelines.

One politician, Michigan Rep. John Conyers, said he is seeking to eliminate the NFL's antitrust exemption for broadcast contracts. That exemption allows the league to sign TV deals for all teams, an arrangement that has pumped money into what has become a $9 million industry. Conyers is the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee. The committee chairman, Texas Republican Lamar Smith, has indicated he will not support that legislation.

On a conference call, Saints quarterback Drew Brees, one of the plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit against the league, called the NFL's final offer last Friday "an unreasonable proposal." Kevin Mawae, the president of the NFLPA, said it is "a complete lie" that the players walked away from negotiations.