According to a report from Seth Wickersham and Don Van Natta Jr. of ESPN, NFL owners have filed a grievance with the NFLPA over annual team report cards. According to the report, the NFL says the report cards violate the Collective Bargaining Agreement by airing public criticism of teams.
The grievance is being led by New York Jets owner Woody Johnson, who received an F in last seasons report card.
At the NFL league meetings back in March, Johnson said “it’s supposed to be a process [where] we have representatives and they have representatives, so we know that it’s an honest survey.”
“And that was violated, in my opinion. I’m going to leave it at that, but I think there are a lot of owners that looked at that survey and said this is not fair, it’s not balanced, it’s not every player, it’s not even representative of the players.”
NFLPA Alerted Players to Grievance Last Week
Though the grievance has been filed for a number of months, the NFLPA just recently alerted players about it last week. The NFLPA says it plans to continue with the survey this season in spite of the grievance, which has not been decided upon yet.
In an email to players, the NFLPA wrote “We have responded to the grievance with our intention to fight against this action and continue what’s clearly become an effective tool for comparing workplace standards across the league and equipping you to make informed career decisions.”
The CBA clause that the owners say is being violated states that NFL owners and the union must “use reasonable efforts to curtail public comments by club personnel or players which express criticism of any club, its coach, or its operation and policy.”
A great tidbit from this report is a quote from an anonymous league executive, who says that “the only owners who don’t care for [the report cards] are the ones who get the subpar grades.”
Johnson was one of five owners who received an ownership grade of D or worse last season. The others were Robert Kraft of the New England Patriots, Art Rooney of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Michael Bidwill of the Arizona Cardinals, and David Tepper of the Carolina Panthers.
This is allegedly the second time in the last two years the owners have requested the NFLPA stop the report cards, to which the NFLPA declined both times.
Another Sign of Dysfunction For Jets
Johnson received a grade of F in last years’ report card, a true sign of top to bottom dysfunction within the Jets organization when coupled with their play in recent years.
Johnson has owned the team since 2000, and in those 25 years, New York has made the playoffs just six times.
Following the Jets trade of cornerback Sauce Gardner, New York fans made their opinions on Johnson vocal on social media, calling for him to sell or move the team. Jets fans are so sick of Johnson’s antics as owner and the lack of success under him that they simply want him gone.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Report: NFL Files Grievance With NFLPA Over Team Report Cards appeared first on Heavy Sports.