NFLPA files suit, accuses owners of collusion

The NFL Players Association filed a lawsuit on Wednesday that accused NFL owners and the league of collusion during the 2010 NFL season.

The complaint describes a conspiracy in which teams "imposed a secret $123 million per-club salary cap for that uncapped 2010 season. Filed in in the United States District Court of Minnesota, it alleges that the league and owners "acted illegally and solely by self-interest, unconstrained by their clear and unambiguous SSA obligations."

"When the rules are broken in a way that hurts the game, we have an obligation to act. We cannot standby when we now know that the owners conspired to collude," NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith said in a statement.

New York Giants owner John Mara, who also serves as the Chair of the NFL Management Council Executive Committee, is cited in the complaint as publicly confirming that the league told teams to restrict players' salaries in the uncapped year.

In response to the complaint, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said: "The filing of these claims is prohibited by the Collective Bargaining Agreement and separately, by an agreement signed by the players' attorneys last August. The claims have absolutely no merit and we fully expect them to be dismissed."


--- Chargers cornerback Quentin Jammer predicted the NFL's proposed rule to make knee and thigh pads mandatory by 2013 will be a costly one.

That's because players, he believes, will opt for uniform violation fines over wearing extra padding that is required at all other levels of football.

The NFL plans to introduce lightweight, built-in knee and thigh pads as a new player-safety initiative. Jammer himself said he would not wear leg padding because of the belief that it restricts movement and slows players down.

"There'll probably be a lot of fines in 2013," Jammer told the Times-Union. "A lot of guys won't wear them."
The rule must be collectively bargained with the players union.