Sports and Legal Issues in the National Football L 

The NFL Draft: Inside the Oakland Raiders Pressroom

The NFL Draft: Inside the Oakland Raiders Press Room
By: Keith Dobkowski
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With the first training camps over, the major media's take on each teams respective drafts and the excitement of another NFL season staring us right in the face, it is only fair to offer both an insight to the draft, the steals, the trades, plus an insiders look into an actual press room at an NFL facility.

Legalball.com through Sports Business Simulations received an invitation to cover the draft from the Oakland Raiders facility. And what a wonderful experience it was. From our arrival at Raiders' headquarters at 7:30 in the morning on Draft Saturday, through the Raiders second pick, it was an incredible day.

While eating a catered breakfast, the room's mumbles and grumbles were all about Eli Manning and where he was headed. It was only a few days earlier that Manning stated he would never wear a Chargers' uniform. And as predicted, the Chargers drafted Manning with the first pick. Manning's facial expression was as if he just lost a loved one. The ESPN writer I sat next to simply stated, "The kid is costing himself major endorsement money right now. Just smile."

And with that, the Raiders were on the clock.

On Draft Saturday's past, the 15 minutes per team seemed like an eternity. The errors made the previous year by the Minnesota Vikings, not entering a pick on time, seemed impossible. Yet feeling the intensity as each minute slipped away, there was an overall sense that something big was about to happen. The glares between reporters, the whispering amongst the guests, it was as if the world's greatest secret was about to escape.

Still sitting next to the ESPN reporter, he leaned over to me and stated, "my source just walked in the room and something is going to happen. There must be a trade in the works or Robert Gallery would have already been selected." Ten of the 15 minutes had slid by.

Throughout the week and even in the morning paper, predictions that the Raiders would select a wide receiver to team up with Jerry Porter was the talk. Most signs pointed to Roy Williams, the Texas standout. However, the second pick appeared too high for a wide out, especially in a wide out heavy draft.

The ESPN writer kept saying that something big was happening. How come they had not announced a pick yet? It is the second pick in the draft and every board had Manning going first. The Raiders knew whom they wanted and with two of the fifteen minutes left, nothing.

Then silence hit the room. As we watched on television, Paul Tagliabue, the NFL commissioner, walked onto the stage at Madison Square Garden and stated, "With the second pick in the 2004 NFL Draft, the Oakland Raiders select Robert Gallery, Tackle, University of Iowa."

The two Raiders Fans sitting at the table beside ours, who had gotten into the pressroom from a friend of a friend, jumped and hooted like none other. The media and Raiders employees all shook their heads in approval. As I had written just a few weeks earlier, the number one player in the Draft was Gallery.

Gallery's combination of size and strength made him the most likely to play, play-now and play-well player in the draft. Further, Gallery's position, offensive tackle, seldom suffered career-ending injuries in comparison to other positions, namely quarterback. While Manning was the first selection, legalball.com had calculated that a first round quarterback had only a 40% chance of being a good quarterback in the league. And an even much smaller percentage of being a great quarterback.

The NFL as of late had seen a rise in late round and un-drafted quarterbacks leading their teams to the Playoffs and Super Bowl. The emergence of Tom Brady, Mark Bulger, Kurt Warner and Jeff Garcia are just a few names in that trend. The opposite has held true as well from Akili Smith to Cade McNown to Tim Couch to Heath Shular to Jim Druckenmiller, the NFL had also seen a dramatic shift in first round failures.

Suring up a position for ten years is a goal any team would take. And on Draft Saturday, the Raiders took it. When Norv Turner, new Raiders Head Coach, took the stage and answered our questions he said just as much. And when Robert Gallery called the Oakland Raiders headquarters, he too stated the same. I can be a dominant starter at this position and in this league for the next ten years.

So while the second pick is seldom a steal and with the news surrounding this draft was about Quarterbacks, Quarterback trades and wide outs, it was the Oakland Raiders who made the pick of the draft.

While New York wonders if a third Manning has what the first two did, and San Diego wonders if Phillip Rivers' Kosar-like release can have Kosar-like results, Oakland can sit happily back and know that whoever their quarterback will be during the next ten years, the quarterback's blindside will be safe.

Cheating Should Bring Liablity

Cheating Should Bring Liablity

By Keith Dobkowski, NFL Legal Issues Writer
V.P. of Sports and Legal Issues
Keith@Sportsbusinesssims.com


Marcus Williams, former tight end for the Oakland Raiders, has brought a lawsuit against Bill Romanowski ("Romo"). Following a preseason practice, Romo sucker punched Williams in the face breaking Williams' left eye socket. While we will not know the result of the suit for many months, if not years, this law suit, a first of its kind, brings up many issues.

First, an incredibly quick introduction to tort law is necessary to understand the Williams' claim. In order to prove negligence, and thus assign liability, a plaintiff must satisfy the following stages of negligence: Duty, Breach, Causation, Damages and no Affirmative Defenses.

Williams must prove that Romo had a duty of care and breached that duty of care when Romo hit Williams. Williams must show a causal link between Romo's action and the injury suffered. Williams must have suffered actual damages and here a broken bone will suffice. Finally, Williams must prove that Romo has no affirmative defenses.

This case will hinge on the final phase, affirmative defense. In Sports, there is a standard affirmative defense simply known as an assumption of risk. Meaning that one assumes the risk that an injury will occur during sports competition. While it is easy to jump to the conclusion that punching is not a part of football that is far from the truth.

Every preseason there are fights that break out between a team's offensive and defensive players. For instance, Jim Fassel, head coach of the New York Giants, has created a fighting ring for such altercations. Players must remove their helmets and other specified gear and are allowed to fight within the ring until the fight naturally ends.

According to the reported facts, Williams and Romo got into a fight during practice. They were split apart and practice continued. As practice finished a few minutes later, Romo approached Williams from behind and as Williams turned, Romo punched Williams in the face. The injury caused massive swelling to Williams' eye. Williams has since been placed on injured reserve and is out for the season. The Raiders later cut Williams and Williams is now awaiting an injury settlement with the team.

The questions to be answered are whether the punch was a separate incident than the earlier fight and more importantly to this writer and sports in general, was Romo's action the result of steroid induced rage.

Sports talk radio and television has been littered with comments regarding the Williams' suit and Romo's alleged steroid use. Specifically, Brian Bosworth, former NFL player and admitted steroid user, on the Best Damn Sports' Show Period stated that Romo is a steroid user and his actions were the result of "Roid Rage."

The known use of steroids would drastically change the situation at hand. Steroids are illegal and therefore using them would be cheating. Williams assumed the risk that a fight might break out. Williams also assumed the risk that an injury would occur while playing football. But did Williams assume that a player would cheat by ingesting illegal drugs that have the effect of creating rage? No. If this is a "Roid Rage" case, Williams has every right to sue and to win. Williams agreed to assume the natural dangers associated with football and "Roid Rage" is not natural.

Two other cheating situations immediately come to mind involving Terrell Owens and Sammy Sosa. Luckily, no one was injured in either situation, but the 'what if' question lingers.

Last year, Terrell Owens scored the winning touchdown against the Seattle Seahawks. Owens then reached into his sock, removed a sharpie pen and signed the football. The 'what if' that lingers is, what if Owens had been tackled and the pen stabbed the tackling player causing injury. Owens had illegally brought an item onto the football field and that very item led to the injury of another player. The other player had no knowledge of Owens cheating and therefore could not assume the risk of possible injury related to a pen. Owens should be held civilly liable for this action.

During the most recent baseball season, Sammy Sosa was caught using a corked bat. Using a corked bat is illegal in baseball. Sosa was subsequently suspended for 7 games due to his cheating. The 'what if' that lingers is, what if the shattered bat had struck another player causing injury. A corked bat is not as strong as standard bat and is more likely to shatter. Sosa, being the only person on the field of play who knew of this danger, placed the other players at risk of injury, an injury those other players had not assumed. Had Sosa injured another player while cheating, Sosa should be held civilly liable.

A rule on cheating and liability is necessary in sports. Athletes assume that the other athletes on the field are abiding by the rules thus limiting the dangers that an athlete normally faces. And without rules, sports are nothing more than chaos with a ball.

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