The NFL told a federal court yesterday it will be asking to toss part of a lawsuit filed by retired players against the league seeking licensing payments for their use in NFL video products. The one-page filing did not say what part of the case the league would try to have dismissed. The Minnesota federal court set a hearing for July 11. The league contends the players signed away their licensing rights as part of CBAs during their playing days, while the retirees want to be paid for use of their images. The case is Dryer et al v. NFL. Also yesterday, the court gave a split decision on the latest discovery dispute between the retired players and the league. In one instance, the court dismissed the latest efforts by the retirees to have all the electronic stored information (ESI) records for another four NFL employees, but granted it for a fifth, CMO Mark Waller. The league is already under orders to provide ESI records for many of its top execs (Daniel Kaplan, SportsBusiness Journal).
LETTER OF THE LAW: The AP's Barry Wilner reported NFLPA President Domonique Foxworth yesterday sent a letter to his membership "outlining the gains they made in the collective bargaining agreement reached last summer" with the NFL. Foxworth "stressed safer working conditions and more lucrative contracts." He said that the amount of cash spent on players in salaries and benefits increased to about 55% "of all NFL revenues" in '11. That total "exceeds any year" under the '06 agreement. Foxworth, who took over in March from the retired Kevin Mawae, noted in his letter that "players were also working in a better environment" (AP, 5/21).
HISTORY LESSON: SI.com's Peter King noted the NFL this year has moved its annual Rookie Symposium to Aurora, Ohio, a town about 45 minutes away from the Pro Football HOF, "to take advantage of what it feels the Hall of Fame can teach rookies." NFL VP/Player Development Troy Vincent described the HOF's benefits to the rookies as, "History, history, and more history." King noted on the final day of their sessions, NFL rookies will "spend a half-day" at the HOF, "taking a two-hour tour, watching a 20-minute football history film, and listening to a Hall of Famer speak about the lessons of the past." King: "It's something I've long felt was missing from the modern player's football syllabus." Vincent also said that the Rookie Symposium is divided into AFC and NFC sessions this year "because it's tough to connect one-on-one with players with up to 300 players in the room" (SI.com, 5/21).
