The NFL Players Association is giving up its right to negotiate a contract for the league's players.
It may not, however, give up representing the players.Less than a week after an appeals court ruled against its antitrust suit filed at the end of the 24-day 1987 strike, the union informed management in a letter that it would seek decertification.
"The players association will no longer be asserting its rights under labor law as an exclusive bargaining agent, but that doesn't mean the players' legal challenge to management will be over," Doug Allen, the NFLPA's assistant executive director, said. "In fact, it will continue."
But at least one player felt the union was giving up on its membership.
"I think they're really kind of abandoning the players and trying to pass the buck onto the players and maybe not living up to their responsibilities," Vikings linebacker Scott Studwell told ABC Radio Sport. "They feel like maybe they have jeopardized our position such that they might think we can handle it better.
"I think it's ludicrous to think individuals will be able to bargain a position with management as opposed to a solid foundation of players or a union or whatever you want to call it."
The move stems directly from last week's decision by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled that NFL owners were not in violation of antitrust laws simply because of an impasse in negotiations between the union and management.
In effect, that 2-1 decision negated the union's antitrust suit against the league and upheld the NFL's free agency system. Allen said the union would appeal the decision.
The decision to decertify will have to be voted on by the players. It was unclear how long that would take. In the past, players have generally ratified decisions made by union leadership and the executive council.
In any case, that could mean there could be two court cases going at once. If the union votes to decertify, it would likely have to go to court again to challenge management's right to impose its rules.
"Until our appeal is heard on this ill-advised and very troublesome decision, the players have two choices - bargain for benefits collectively or bargain individually for compensation," Allen said. "The union will no longer be a shield behind which management can use to protect itself."
"This decision appears to say that as long as there is an ongoing relationship between the players (union) and the league, players can't challenge restrictions, as there was in the past," NFLPA counsel Dick Berthelsen said.
It remained unclear what decertification would mean.
Management, meanwhile, called for a resumption of negotiations and Jack Donlan, executive director of the Management Council, expressed his regret in a letter to Gene Upshaw, the union's executive director.
"We continue to believ that a resumption of negotiations would best serve the players' interests," Donlan wrote.
Management Council spokesman John Jones said management felt that all league contract rules would remain in effect, just as they do for other businesses, if the union was decertified.
"I don't believe their strategy is valid," Jones said. "But really, our only desire is to get back to the bargaining table and work this thing out."