At a time when the relationship between the NFL and the NFL Players Association has become as frosty as it’s been since the lockout, it could be getting even frostier.
Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the NFLPA is investigating the league’s handling of a Personal Conduct Policy interview with Saints running back Khiry Robinson following an off-field incident during training camp in West Virginia.
Robinson had been fined by the team following an altercation with an intern. The Saints then reported the incident to the league, as required by the Personal Conduct Policy. The league then commenced an investigation.
But the league interviewed Robinson without a union representative present. The union now will explore how and why that happened.
The interview occurred again the next day, with a union rep present. But the first interview without union representation should not have occurred, and the NFL knows that such interviews without representation never should happen.
Robinson was not arrested or charged for the incident, which arose from a dispute regarding the agreed fee to be paid by Robinson and another player to the intern for driving them from The Greenbrier to a local store so that they could get their phones fixed. The other player paid the fee; Robinson apparently declined because his phone wasn’t actually fixed. (The logic is unassailable.)
The argument over whether Robinson should still pay the amount ended with Robinson striking the intern in the head, which was followed by the Saints fining Robinson and reporting the incident to the league.