We all know how dirty the NFL's business practices can be at this point. The league has shown its penchant for making billions while stepping on the necks of the fans they so-called refer to as "Family." Not so long ago, the NFL and its owners cared about its fans and did their best to tailor a product to those fans.
As of late, Anyone from St. Louis knows how deep the rabbit hole goes. Through countless leaked documents of depositions from owners, league executives, league officials, and so on, they have turned on a dime, stating under oath that they knowingly violated league policy on relocations, with Jerry Jones admitting that he hasn't read the relocation policy. At the same time, Roger "The Dodger" Goodell, NFL Commissioner, stated that the relocation policy is indeed a rule book to be followed.
As you can see, the NFL owners decided to do what they wanted, damn the rules. This document is just a tiny snippet of some of the evidence that has been presented to the court. The NFL blatantly and knowingly violated their rules to get the Rams out of St. Louis to L.A.'s luscious, cash-laden pastures. The NFL has tried to cover up this fact. The large media companies refuse to report on it with the analogy of don't bite the hand that feeds you. This lawsuit has become much more significant than anyone had ever anticipated. (not this guy).
From day one in January 2016, when this vote went down, I knew it reeked of corruption. I was one of a few people following this case with zeal because I knew what the NFL did in St. Louis was egregious and flat-out fraud. We are learning that it was much more than just fraud. It is outright corruption and collusion between Stan Kroenke, Kevin Demoff, Rodger Goodell, Eric Grubman, Jerry Jones, Clark Hunt, and several others within the league to poison the well in St. Louis in the hopes that fans would turn their backs on the team. It was a concentrated effort of these individuals over the years, and in the case of Stan Kroenke since as early as 2010, to move the team back to L.A. without giving St. Louis a shot at retaining the team.
Tweets from Randy Karraker of 101 ESPN St. Louis
Tweets from Ben Frederickson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
These tweets of information are a small sample size of what the NFL, Kroenke, Demoff, Jones, Grubman, and Goodell did to help the Rams circumvent the rules to relocate to L.A.
Recently, some prominent legal eagles have entered the fray with their insight into the entire case stating that we could be in store for the trial of the century if the city of St. Louis can prove (I believe they can) that NFL executives and a group of owners conspired with one another in this case. We could be talking BILLIONS of dollars at stake.
Daniel Wallach and Dan Lust of Conduct Detrimental have been digging like a dog in a boneyard for facts in this case, and it has fans around the world now taking notice. Even the big media groups cannot ignore what they have put out on Twitter.
When I came across both these men, I immediately reached out with additional information, and I pointed them in the direction of breaking case news at the time. I was more than happy to share the info, and these guys didn't disappoint! They went right to work breaking down all the legal mumbo-jumbo so we could all understand what it meant.
Now, the question is this. Does St. Louis stay the course, go to trial, and take billions from the league that spurned them?
Does St. Louis settle with the NFL? What does that look like, money? The promise of a future relocating team? Expansion team?
I think that most fans in the St. Louis market are over the Rams leaving. I also know in these cases, the defendant must repair or replace what was taken with something of equal or greater value. In this instance, St. Louis' team was brazenly taken from them covertly and with malice. It wasn't like St. Louis didn't have a deal on the table. The timeframe in which the Rams and the NFL gave St. Louis to work up a viable plan was outrageously short. That was intentional on the NFL's part. Kevin Demoff tried to disenfranchise city leadership by "leaking" a memo before the city vote on the stadium referendum. He lied on the radio. He lied on TV and in newspaper interviews.
Liar-Liar pants on fire, Rams, NFL & Kevin!
If you were to put me on the spot and ask me what I think St. Louis stands to gain from this case. I'd like St. Louis to receive an expansion team and a fully-funded stadium as compensation for the NFL's fraud. Realistically, I'd say that they receive a team either expansion or relocation/rebrand or a monetary settlement. The ball is really in the STL law team's court. I know it's not what St. Louis football fans like to hear on the backend, but I must be a realist. All signs point to Cleveland 2.0 for me, but that's just my opinion. If none of that happens, I guess we will see the NFL in court in St. Louis on January 10th, 2022, where they will lose, and they will forever have egg on their collective faces.
As for me, I've been on this for nearly five years. What are a few more weeks?
Stay Tuned!
Derek King