Roger Goodell: NFL preparation for every contingency

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — NFL players urged a federal judge Wednesday to deny the request of the League to revert to the lockout, essentially saying that their careers were at stake. Commissioner Roger Goodell, meanwhile, said the owners were preparing for any contingency.United States District Judge Susan Richard Nelson weighs a request from the owners for a stay, meaning the injunction issued to stop the lockout could be frozen during the appeal process.The waiting game was on. "You must respond to the judgment and make sure this is done in an orderly process, "Goodell said Wednesday during a predraft event in New York The players rejected the argument of the NFL that risks both violating antitrust laws by coming up with new league rules without a collective bargaining system in place or damage the competitive balance of the League by a potential free agency melee. "If defendants NFL are faced with a dilemma, they put in that position by repeatedly the rules and restrictions that violate antitrust laws, "wrote lawyers. "Any situation allegedly is doing."The solution, gamers have argued, it is sufficient to implement a system that does not violate antitrust laws. "There is no reason why the defendants NFL cannot conceive a legitimate player, and their complaints about potential antitrust scrutiny are not founded, where such test is a reality of doing business, "they wrote.Grant request if Nelson of the League, players want the NFL to post a bond of $ 1 billion, roughly 25% of player compensation last year.There was no immediate response from the NFL or its lawyers, but the League said it needs to stay to ensure that all rules that puts in place are fair, clear — and legal.If Nelson denies accelerated motion of the League for a stay, the owners will ask the United States the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis for the same thing. They are asking the Court of appeal, appears as a place friendly to the League than the federal courts in Minnesota, to overturn the decision by Nelson project NFL starts Thursday night, but it will be anything but normal. The lockout prevented teams from the addition of free agents and adjusting their roster this year, so their strategy is more complicated, not knowing exactly when they will have the opportunity to sign or trade for Veterans of sundry reserve positions.Players claim that the non-existence of free agency this offseason has hurt them severely. "Players should be marketing their services to find the right team in which they have the best chance to make a roster, be a appetizer or otherwise advance their careers, '' wrote lawyers for the players. "This process requires an extended period of time to play equitably for all players, and any deletion or compression of this era of free agency will lead to a result set to shuffled and harms other players who may not be cancelled."Repeatedly in the store on Wednesday, the players took a topic the League did and turned it into their own.They referred to the expression of concern that Goodell for as long as the uncertainty around the 2011 season continues, the worse it is for all those involved. Players said teams won't be damaged if the court denies the motion for a stay, which means that the NFL would be back in business ".This is the only way to preserve the 2011 season announced by the NFL, given the need to sign free agents, to complete the drafting of the NFL and sign players and elaborate, plan to hold training camp and plan for the season itself "players wrote. "To deny a permit will be NFL return active defendants their multibillion-dollar business operating and making huge sums of money, as they did previously."The NFL said he expects a hearing from the VIII since the beginning of June, even though players said the length and the outcome of the appeal are unknown and every day, "players will continue to suffer significant damage."Some players tried to return to work Tuesday, but said he could not work out at team facilities once they are entered the building in one of the weirdest days in League history.More sinister in minutes with more questions than answers. "Drives me crazy, which is what he does, "said rookie Chicago J ' Marcus Webb (FSY), which was said to him and a handful of other bears couldn't use the weight room. "I'm trying to eat healthy and work out, do my job and now I have just blocked out and work at home all day watching cartoons."What's up with that? Let me revert to what better. "It might take some time. The 2011 season and trade between 32 teams and thousands of players are anxious, in a model of the company. The NFL said Tuesday that he needed "a few days to resolve the issue and provide some rules for everyone to follow. "We are in the process of determination throughout the League alone as you proceed and when you open the new year in the League, the new year," Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said. "We haven't done that."In a note of questions and answers distributed by the NFL Players Association and obtained by The Associated Press, free agents were told that you may contact teams and their services, putting pressure on the NFL to institute a system of free agency that complies with antitrust laws.The document also said players who teams are responsible for the care of any football-related injury, which means more its ' safe for players to work out on the club. "NFL negotiator Jeff Pash said it was too early to say exactly when he would begin free agency and that players would be eligible. He expressed optimism and confidence about the case of the League — and the Court of appeal. "On these issues, in particular, the judgments of the Court of appeals was very different from trial judges as they looked at this," Pash said. "We feel we have a lot of credible legal arguments to say, and do not know in a short period of time that there is right or not.".