MINNEAPOLIS — With its players again barred from work, the NFL told a federal appeals court Monday the fight over whether the lockout is legal won’t get in the way of the 2011 season. The rest of the labor fight? That’s anyone’s guess.
The league filed an 18-page brief with the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis, arguing that the lockout should remain in effect permanently while appeals play out.
The appeals court put U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson’s order lifting the 45-day lockout on hold temporarily last week. The owners reinstated the lockout a few hours later, and they want a more permanent stay of Nelson’s order so they can argue that it should be overturned altogether. A decision is expected soon.
The players have argued there is no guarantee that appeals can be wrapped up in time for the regular season, but the NFL said the process is more a matter of weeks than months.
Still, the Rams announced via Twitter they’re pushing back the deadline for renewing season tickets to June 1 to give fans “flexibility given the current labor uncertainty.” Other teams have adjusted prices and renewal plans to account for the lockout.
Simms on trial for misdemeanor
NEW YORK — Titans backup quarterback Chris Simms went on trial for driving while high on marijuana in a case that was built out of a big misconception, his lawyer told jurors.
According to authorities, Simms told a police officer he’d been smoking marijuana before being stopped at a sobriety checkpoint July 1. But Simms’ lawyers claim he actually said one of his passengers smoked the drug earlier that night.
Simms, who played for the Broncos in 2009, told police “the guy in the back seat smoked marijuana,” said Harvey A. Steinberg, a Denver- based lawyer. That friend will testify, Steinberg said. Simms could face up to a year in jail in the misdemeanor case.
Denver Post wire services
