When it comes to dealing with the legal department of the NFL you better bring your A-Game, since in their dealings with just about everyone in the world, they are undefeated. How else did the NFL convince the city of St Louis to do what they wanted them to do in settling the lawsuit regarding the relocation of the Rams to Los Angeles … and wait until you hear what the league forced St. Louis to do as part of their settlement agreement.
When the city of St Louis lost the Rams, they were not happy and took action, filing a lawsuit against the team’s owner Stan Kroenke and the NFL itself. In a special day before Thanksgiving news dump, the league and the city announced a settlement in the case which calls for the NFL to pay $790 Million to the St. Louis.
The date of the agreement was probably not by accident since, as part of the deal, city officials and attorneys agree to destroy (that’s right, I said DESTROY) certain documents pertaining to the case within seven days of November 24th, clearing the way for the case to be dismissed by a judge. Who calls for documents and evidence to be destroyed as part of a legal case being settled out of court? Well, the NFL, of course … don’t you remember, this is the same league, and the same commissioner Roger Goodell, who made sure all the Spygate tapes were destroyed after the New England Patriots were caught recording the St. Louis Rams in prior to their Super Bowl game?
So, I wonder, how did this conversation go as an NFL lawyer says, “Yes, the league is prepared to give you XXX Million, but we need you to shred some documents for us!” With attorneys for the city of St. Louis saying, “Well, we can do that, but it will cost you an extra XXX Million!”
Was the deal for $700 Million and the extra $90 Million is to recycle all the paper? Or is there a supply chain issue that is making the acquisition of paper shredders very difficult in the Midwest?
Of course the more important question here is simple: What is the NFL hiding that it is willing to pay millions of dollars to hide from the public?
By imposing the seven-day stipulation on the destruction of these documents and have the clock start right before a four-day holiday weekend, it gives newspapers like the St. Louis Post Dispatch less time to file a lawsuit. Something that people are saying will happen since the city as well as many across the NFL want to know what skeletons are buried in those documents.
Is the league worried that some very dirty laundry will reach the public? Did a few owners fight against the moving of the Rams to St. Louis, a fact that the league wants to hide?
There are hundreds of “what ifs” people could come up with; but it is likely a reason we can’t think of that the NFL wants those documents destroyed, and that is what should worry football fans as well as the league’s franchise owners.
This case is not going to go away that easily for the NFL since, with so many public entities involved in this lawsuit, the right judge will side against the league and block those documents from being destroyed. Then, that’s when the real fireworks will begin as anyone who wants to get a real deep inside look at the NFL’s inner workings will be able to do so … and you know many people won’t turn down that opportunity, which is exactly what the NFL is afraid of.
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What Skeletons Did The NFL Leave Behind In St Louis? | TooAthletic.com