Ulpianus

Arbitration as a Dispute Resolution Method for the NFL: The Terrell Owens Case

National Football League team Philadelphia Eagles suspended receiver Terrell Owens because of what was perceived as negative behavior. The straw that broke the camel’s back occurred in November 3, when he accused his team of showing “a lack of class” for not celebrating Owens’ 100th touchdown.

The Eagles suspended Terrell Owens for four games, and announced that were going to deactivate him for the rest of the year.

The National Football League Players Association filed a grievance against the Eagles. The means to solve disputes between the league and players is arbitration, and the designed sole arbitrator was Richard Bloch.[1]

Bloch played for the Dartmouth hockey team in 1962 and a graduated at Michigan Law. He is –and has been for the last thirty years- an arbitrator and a magician by hobby.[2] Legend says that his business card reads “Richard Bloch - Whatever I Damn Well Want to Do.”[3]

In his arbitral award, Arbitrator Bloch ruled that “no violation of the labor agreement inherent in the club's decision to pay Mr. Owens, but not to permit him to play or practice due to the nature of his conduct and its destructive and continuing threat to the team,”[4] ant therefore upheld the suspension imposed on the player by the Philadelphia Eagles.

The answer from the syndicate of players is apparently going to be the deactivation of Mr. Bloch as an arbitrator.[5]

Mr. Bloch was indeed a qualified arbitrator, and probably one of the most suitable to deal with sports arbitration, both because of his legal profile and because he himself was a professional sport player.

And for Terrell Owens, it is clear that discipline and respect for the team matter more than individual ability. After all, football is the team game by definition.

posted by Mastropiero @ 3:26 PM