Just a few days from taking over as NFL commissioner, Paul Tagliabue received good news about some previous work.
Last May, Tagliabue argued before the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals that the free agency clauses of the NFL's 1982 labor agreement with the players association can't be challenged as antitrust violations just because negotiations are at an impasse.That impasse was cited by Judge David Doty. Doty was presiding over the NFLPA's suit filed in Minneapolis after the unsuccessful conclusion of the 24-day players strike. The judge had ruled that an "impasse" in bargaining existed and, because of that, the league's labor antitrust exemption no longer existed.
But Wednesday's 2-1 decision - Judges John R. Gibson and Roger L. Wollman, upheld the position of the NFL Management Council - left the league pushing for new negotiations.
"Today's ruling means there are no potential antitrust damage claims, nor should there be," Jack Donlan, executive director of the Management Council, said. "It's a well-deserved victory for the Management Council and the clubs and also the players because it clears the path for further collective bargaining.
"The players haven't had benefit improvements since 1982 and they've always said benefits are their priority. It's time to get something constructive done at the bargaining table. The clubs are ready to negotiate a new labor contract as soon as the union comes to the table."
The union, not surprisingly, wasn't admitting defeat.
"It's a three-round fight and there are two rounds and it's a tie score," said NFLPA counsel Dick Berthelsen, indicating the players would appeal, either to the full nine-judge 8th Circuit or to the Supreme Court.
They also could file for decertification that would leave the NFL without labor antitrust protection.
"This decision appears to say that as long as there is an ongoing relationship between players and the league, players can't challenge restrictions, as there was in the past," Berthelsen said.
"We have to decide at this point whether it's worth continuing the relationship with management or decertifying the union relationship so that management can't hide behind the union relationship," NFLPA assistant executive director Doug Allen said.
The trial on the NFLPA lawsuit was put off indefinitely by Wednesday's split decision.
The majority judges held that because the system of free-agent compensation was the result of a collective bargaining agreement, it didn't constitute an antitrust violation.
"In sum," they wrote, "we hold that the antitrust laws are inapplicable under the circumstances of this case as the . . . exemption extends beyond impasse."