Matt Johnson
The National Football League is already lobbying for support from government officials in Washington, D.C., to help push through the multi-billion-dollar deal with ESPN within the next two years. Now, amid lawsuits from Jon Gruden and Brian Flores, the NFL may need to turn to the United States Supreme Court.
Senior NFL reporter Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports shared on Thursday’s episode of the “Inside Coverage” podcast that he believes the NFL would be willing to go to the U.S. Supreme Court if the lower courts continue to rule in favor of Gruden and Flores.
“The NFL is going to appeal both and eventually, I think if the NFL has to push it that far, it will go to the U.S. Supreme Court…They are prepared to take it, ultimately, that far. Let’s say the U.S. Supreme Court either says ‘Hey, the lower courts we’re correct, we’re not taking this case up’ and this would be further down the line. That means that Flores and Gruden win their cases and the NFL now has to go to court, unless they decide, hey we want to settle.”
Yahoo Sports’ Charles Robinson on the NFL’s willingness to appeal the Brian Flores, Jon Gruden lawsuits
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Gruden, the former Las Vegas Raiders coach, filed a lawsuit against the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell in 2021, alleging a “malicious and orchestrated campaign” to derail his coaching career by leaking his old emails that contained racist, homophobic, and misogynistic language, which eventually forced him to resign.
A year later, a Las Vegas judge denied the league’s bid to dismiss Gruden’s claims or to force him into out-of-court talks in an arbitration process overseen by the NFL commissioner. The NFL appealed that ruling in 2022 to Nevada’s high court. In a 5-2 ruling this past week, the Nevada Supreme Court sided with Gruden, stating that the NFL’s effort to force Gruden’s complaint into a private arbitration process overseen by Goodell was “unconscionable.” The NFL has since announced it will appeal the Nevada Supreme Court’s decision and is requesting a rehearing.
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Flores, now the Minnesota Vikings’ defensive coordinator, filed a racial-discrimination lawsuit against the NFL, the Denver Broncos, the New York Giants, and the Houston Texans. In 2023, Judge Valerie Caproni ruled that some of Flores’ claims could proceed in court. On Thursday, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan upheld Caproni’s decision, and Judge Jose A. Cabranes criticized the NFL’s appeals process that Goodell oversees.
The lower courts have sided with Gruden and Flores regarding the NFL’s arbitration system. Goodell is a part of these lawsuits, and neither he nor the NFL should be the arbiter when they are the ones being sued. As Robinson noted, the NFL wants to handle the lawsuits behind closed doors in a private arbitration process because, otherwise, the standard court system would involve a discovery process that could damage the NFL’s image.
“The NFL, as a league not wanting to air its dirty laundry, is on the verge, with these two lawsuits, of being put in a situation where a lot of dirty laundry could get aired. At the very least, people are going to be poking around in emails and other documents and talking to people under oath in ways that I think would make the league uncomfortable.”
Yahoo Sports’ Charles Robinson on the NFL’s desire to avoid the discovery process in a normal court system
The NFL has a long history of settling matters behind closed doors, as it did with Colin Kaepernick, reporter Jim Trotter, and others who have filed civil suits against the league in the past.
Without a settlement, which Gruden and Flores have shown no public interest in, the discovery process could lead to findings that would jeopardize the NFL’s public image or result in the release of emails or documents that would place other prominent league members under the same scrutiny Gruden faced when his emails were leaked.
For now, the NFL will continue to go through the appeals process in the lower courts. However, if rulings continue to go against the league, it appears both matters could eventually reach the U.S. Supreme Court.
