The wheels of justice often move like molasses on a frozen sliding board.
Via Daniel Kaplan of TheAthletic.com, the NFL has officially appealed the ruling denying the league’s effort to force the lawsuit filed against the league and Commissioner Roger Goodell to arbitration.
The presiding judge ruled from the bench in May that the case should proceed in court. More than four months later, the next level of the court system has been activated. Much of the delay arose form haggling by the lawyers regarding the language of the written order formalizing the denial of the league’s motion.
The league undoubtedly will appeal to every possible court in the land, culminating with the U.S. Supreme Court. That’s what happened when the league tried to force the St. Louis relocation lawsuit to arbitration.
Once all appeals are exhausted, then the litigation will get rolling. And the litigation will likely answer important questions, such as who leaked the emails sent by Gruden to former Washington executive Bruce Allen.
The NFL surely wants to avoid that, at all costs. It could prompt the NFL to start making significant settlement offers to Gruden, if/when it becomes obvious that there’s no possible path to the league’s secret, rigged, kangaroo court.