NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is facing a deposition in the Colin Kaepernick collusion case.
Goodell and NFL owners from the 32 NFL teams will have to hand over their cellphone and email records. Kaepernick is claiming the NFL violated the collective bargaining agreement by punishing him for protesting during the national anthem, Daily News reported.
Kaepernick’s lawyer Mark Geragos believes that his client has a strong case against the NFL, and has made statements to that effect after the case was filed.
Kaepernick's attorney Mark Geragos on collusion grievance filing: "We have a high degree of confidence that this will be able to be proved" pic.twitter.com/BmrroYSTrh
— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) October 18, 2017
“I am going to predict right now that we will have a smoking gun. I’m not going to alert who it will be or what it will be but we have a high degree of confidence that this will be able to be proved and that there are people who are not going to get into an arbitration proceeding and they’re not going to lie. They’re not going to lie, they’re going to tell the truth, and they’re going to say what happened: that they were told ‘No, you’re not going to hire him,’” Geragos told Anderson Cooper on CNN.
Sports analysts are not as confident as Geragos that he can win this case for his client. According to ESPN, the reasons given in the court document alleging collusion and violating the collective bargaining agreement are too vague.
The article mentions that just because 32 teams decided not to sign a player doesn’t mean they are working together to do it. Even if Kaepernick wins the case, a team would not necessarily be required to hire him, although he would receive compensatory damages.
Geragos and Kaepernick are claiming the league violated article 17 of the collective bargaining agreement, which states:
“No club, its employees or agents shall enter into any agreement, express or implied, with the NFL, or any other Club, its employees, or agents to restrict or limit individual Club decision making as follows:
(i) whether to negotiate or not to negotiate with any player; . . .
(iii) whether to offer or not to offer a Player Contract to any player; . . .
or (v) concerning the terms or conditions of employment offered to any player for inclusion, or included in, a Player Contract.”
Geragos and Kaepernick are going after any member of management in the NFL that has spoken out about player anthem protests to prove their case. But there are others who have spoken about the reason Kaepernick doesn’t have a job right now, including former NFL tight end Tony Gonzalez.
“Last time he played he didn’t play that well,” said Gonzalez in a video clip on TMZ. “He has the ability to play in the NFL but he’s not good enough [for a team] to put up with that type of attention that he brings.”
Giants co-owner John Mara shared what players following Kaepernick’s protests bring to the team.
“All my years being in the league, I never received more emotional mail from people than I did about that issue,” said Mara via Sports Illustrated. “‘If any of your players ever do that, we are never coming to another Giants game.’ It wasn’t one or two letters. It was a lot. It’s an emotional, emotional issue for a lot of people, more so than any other issue I’ve run into.”
From NTD.tv
