Stallworth buys down drunken manslaughter sentence

by | Jun 17, 2009 | Business of Football, NFL Random Thoughts

Cleveland wide receiver Donte Stallworth agreed to a plea bargain that will require him to spend 30 days in jail after killing a man while driving drunk in his car. With time served, according to the New York Times, he’ll serve 24 more.

Unreal.

Michael McCann, legal analyst for Sports Illustrated, visited the Dan Patrick Show Wednesday to discuss the sentence. It appears the agreement became possible when the family agreed to a financial settlement with Stallworth, he told listeners.

So despite killing someone, Stallworth was able to buy himself a lesser prison sentence. That doesn’t speak well of a legal system that is supposed to put everyone on equal footing regardless of their place in society.

Stallworth will be out of prison in time for training camp, if his current team in Cleveland or any other team out there decides they are willing to risk the public relations hit that employing him would hopefully entail.

The comparison has already been made several times in other places. Stallworth got a year-and-a-half less than Michael Vick did for killing dogs and could end up with several years less than Plaxico Burress, who came closer to killing himself than anyone else.

At least one organization is angry. Mothers Against Drunk Driving indicated that it is deeply upset with the sentence and that, if the sentence required a donation to MADD that the organization would decline the money. MADD indicated that it would be watching how NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell deals with the on-field aspect of this case.

They’re not alone. Stallworth might not be behind bars when the 2009 NFL season starts. But that doesn’t mean he should be on the field. Hopefully the commissioner acts accordingly.

Latest Favre Rumor Just a Marketing Ploy?

by | Jun 9, 2009 | 2009 NFL Free Agency, Business of Football, NFL Rumors

The latest rumor (other than ESPN’s update tonight that the Vikings have suspended their pursuit of Favre–presumably until tomorrow, when they wake up and start again) is that Favre’s family and friends have booked a block of rooms at the Midway Motor Lodge near Lambeau Field for the weekend of the Vikings game against the Green Bay Packers on Nov. 1

Every report of this story that I’ve seen has been accompanied by the mention that this COULD be a sign that Favre has told those close to him that he is returning.

But what if it isn’t?  What if a really clever manager or bellhop just started the rumor to drum up some publicity for the Midway Motor Lodge?  Get some early reservations going, and hope that people don’t cancel in time, or decide to make the trip even if Favre stays retired?

Or, another possibility–what if Favre has actually decided NOT to come back, and he’s been in touch with the Packers, and that’s the weekend they’re finally going to retire #4?

OK, admittedly, neither of those scenarios seem real plausible–but neither does the idea that family & friends booking a block of rooms means he’s 100% coming back, if you ask me.

Until we finally hear something direct from Brad Childress or Favre himself, all of these reports–NFL Network, ESPN, etc–they are all 100% speculation, in my eyes.  And speculation that I could care less about.  After all, it’s only about two and a hlaf months until our first fantasy draft…

NFLPA settles retired player lawsuit; Madden next in sights?

by | Jun 5, 2009 | Business of Football

A few days ago DeMaurice Smith, the new head of the NFL Players Association, asked for unity among current and former players as the union and the National Football League prepared to embark on negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement.

Thursday, perhaps in a tip of the cap toward achieving that unity, the NFLPA settled a lawsuit that alleged the union had breached licensing and marketing terms while using retired players’ images in video games and other projects, according to several media accounts including the linked ESPN article by Chris Mortensen.

The settlement, for about $26 million, was just under the $28.1 million a jury had awarded the retired players in a San Francisco court last November. The union had originally planned to appeal the court judgment.

Herb Adderley, a former Dallas and Green Bay cornerback, was one of the main faces behind the suit and a frequent antagonist of former union head Gene Upshaw, who died in August. “I’m elated that this thing is coming to a close,” he told the Associated Press. “It’s a great feeling and I’m happy to be a small part of it.”

Retired players have been fighting the union hard in recent years over disability and pension reform along with the licensing issues. With this issue seemingly out of the way for now, it appears as though they may be preparing to next put John Madden in their sights.

(more…)

Yahoo sues for free access to NFL player stats

by | Jun 3, 2009 | Business of Football, Fantasy Football, NFL News

Yahoo Inc. has filed suit in Minnesota alleging that the NFL Players Association has no right to charge for player pictures, biographies and statistics used to drive its fantasy football games.

According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the NFLPA has argued in the past that such information is proprietary.

This isn’t the first time the issue has arisen. CBS Interactive and NFL Players have been fighting over the issue in court since September 2008. CBS filed suit in Minnesota while NFL Players filed a countersuit in Miami a week later.

Richard Berthelsen, acting chairman of the NFLPA at the time, said in a September 2008 press release announcing the lawsuit that “It is just wrong for companies to use the rights of NFL players to generate revenues for their own benefit without any compensation to the players. NFL PLAYERS will take all steps necessary to protect its rights, and the rights of NFL players generally.”

Last year CBSSports.com announced that it would proceed with a college fantasy football offering after Major League Baseball Advanced Media lost a suit in which it claimed ownership of statistics generated by baseball players.

The U.S. Supreme Court in June refused to hear its appeal.

Union chief working with no contract

by | Apr 23, 2009 | Business of Football

DeMaurice Smith, elected last month to head the NFL Players Association, has been working without a contract.

And if the dollars, cents and other terms thrown around by ESPN are accurate, he might be for awhile.

He wants five years and between $3.2 million and $3.7 million, according to the story. The NFLPA is pushing for, cough, $1.5 million to $2 million.

The late Gene Upshaw made $6.7 million his final year, $4.3 million of which was in salary. The remainder, according to ESPN, was in licensing fees.

Strangely, the Washington, D.C.-based Patton Boggs partner appears to have been elected originally to a three-year term – or at least that’s what the Washington Post thought the union announced when they said he’d been elected unanimously last month.

Smith might be confident that the league will keep playing football without a work stoppage in 2011, according to the USA Today, though we believe he’s  still espousing positions – that if the salary cap goes away the players won’t agree to bring it back – that would harm the genesis of what has made the league great.

He’s been working without a contract for several weeks. But if a significant salary gap can’t be bridged who knows if he even gets the chance to try and keep the league and the union working toward a new agreement.

I’m no expert on how this stuff works. But wouldn’t the players union have wanted to have at least some sort of framework for this position in place when they went and voted Smith in in the first place?

Lions Unveil New Logo

by | Apr 20, 2009 | Business of Football

Detroit Lions New Logo

Detroit Lions New Logo

In an effort to distance themselves from last year’s 0-16 campaign, the Detroit Lions today officially unveiled their new logo–which is, in fact, not that different from their previous logo.

The new logo, which had been leaked on the Internet weeks ago, still features the Honolulu Blue Lion introduce in 1970 pouncing on…something–but now features more details, including a mouth, eye and details around the mane.

While the logo isn’t as drastic a change as say, the 1997 Tampa Bay Buccaneers change (when they dumped the classic creamsicle orange & winking pirate for today’s pewter, red & black skull & crossbones combo), I actually kind of like the new logo–and specifically like that they didn’t make too drastic of a change.

I also appreciate that the team, which just added the black outline to the Lion in 2003, didn’t feel the need to follow the recent trend in the NFL by changing to jerseys featuring different colored side panels & Nike swooshes on the pants.

Some traditionalists will likely decry the move, and the change is unlikely to cause their fans to forget about last season’s record setting performance–but with less than a week until the Lions are officially on the clock for the #1 overall pick, Lions fans can at least take comfort in the fact that the Lions could have screwed this up a lot worse.