When the National Football League Coach’s Association filed a “friend of the court” brief on Wednesday in support of ending the lockout, no names were signed to the bottom.
The Redskins coaching staff has responded negatively to the brief, with 17 signatures on it. NFL Network’s Albert Breer reports the Redskins coaches are standing with ownership.
“We stand united with our ownership and the brief does not reflect our thoughts on the matter,” the statement reads. “We, like everybody else, are hopeful we can return to playing football.”
(Possible translation: Dan Snyder asked us to write this.)
The statement is a blow to the NFLCA, but it’s not particularly surprising. There is no union for coaches and the NFLCA clearly doesn’t represent everyone.
“Our former representative, Kirk Olivadotti, is no longer w/the organization & no member of our. . . staff was consulted,” the statement signed by the Redskins’ coaches asserts.
As far as we know, this is the first public response from anyone in the coaching community to the NFLCA briefing. It will be interesting to see if any other staffs speak up.
