Times wires
Saturday, April 30, 2011
From lockout to injunction to limbo and back to lockout, with the draft thrown in. That was the week in the NFL. Not even Super Bowl week gets that wild.
Friday an appeals court issued a temporary stay of the injunction that blocked the lockout. The league ordered the 32 teams late in the day to shut down all business except the draft.
Players drafted in the first round Thursday in New York took advantage of a small window Friday to meet with coaching staffs and get playbooks.
Now all players across the league are trying to figure out where they stand again.
That includes veterans with contracts, free agents and players drafted Saturday in the fourth through seventh rounds, plus collegians not selected. They can have no communication with teams.
Players association president Kevin Mawae called the past few days chaotic. And with a court hearing scheduled for Monday in St. Louis, the labor dispute could take a few more turns.
What's next?
Monday's hearing in St. Louis becomes critical. U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson's order lifting the 45-day lockout last Monday was what the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis temporarily stayed Friday.
"We are in uncharted but fascinating legal territory," said agent/attorney Ralph Cindrich.
"The owners' lockout is temporary now; it can become permanent after the same three (appeals court) judges do a detailed review. If the lockout is reinstated, it puts the players down on points big."
But Cindrich predicts the NFL will not get Nelson's injunction permanently blocked. If he is correct, teams will open for business again soon.
49ers: Free-agent quarterback Alex Smith met for close to 40 minutes with new coach Jim Harbaugh on Friday, and Harbaugh is convinced Smith will return to the team and be the front-runner for the starting job. The 2005 No. 1 overall draft pick out of Utah left team headquarters with a playbook.