Showtime is over for now and it's down to the nuts and bolts in the antitrust trial that could decide the NFL's future.
After a long day of jury selection and opening arguments, testimony begins with witnesses scheduled to include quarterback Don Majkowski of the Green Bay Packers, offensive tackle Dave Richards of the San Diego Chargers and their agent, Randy Vataha.The trial, which could bring a liberalized system of free agency to the NFL, could continue until mid-August.
Majkowski was used during the NFL's opening argument Tuesday as an example of a player who had benefitted from the current system, going in four years from a salary of $80,000 a year to $1.7 million for 1992, even after what Frank Rothman, the NFL's lead attorney, described as "an abysmal last two years."
The eight players, suing for antitrust damages after being denied the right to become free agents in 1990 under Plan B, got what they appeared to want - an all-woman jury of nine, only two of whom professed any interest in sports.
In his opening remarks, Quinn portrayed a prosperous league that grossed, according to the NFL's own figures, $1 billion in 1989, $1.3 billion in 1990 and $1.4 billion in 1991.
Rothman said in his opening argument that an open free agent system would benefit big-name stars but do nothing for the average player.
"None of thse defendants are stars," he said. "They are good players but they wouldn't necessarily benefit from the system."
The suit is an outgrowth of the unsuccessful strike for free agency in 1987.