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Glenn wins ruling Arbitrator overturns year-long suspension for Pats WR
Updated: Wednesday September 12, 2001 5:35 PM
By Don Banks, Sports Illustrated In a decision that will have reverberations in the New England Patriots organization this season, arbitrator Richard Bloch overturned the year-long suspension of wide receiver Terry Glenn on Wednesday. Glenn is now eligible to re-join the team once he serves out the remaining three games of the four-game suspension levied by the NFL for violation of the league's substance-abuse policy. Bloch's decision was expected Tuesday, but was delayed because of the terrorists attack in New York City and Washington, D.C. The two sides conducted a 13-hour hearing last Thursday in Foxboro, Mass. "We are very gratified by the arbitrator's decision to reinstate Terry Glenn back on the football field," said James Gould, the player's agent. "This has been a very long journey with still many steps to be resolved, but the fact that Terry Glenn will be able to play this year for the new England Patriots is the most important firts step of all." Bloch's ruling turned on the issue of whether the Patriots properly applied the five-day notification of suspension as it is written in the NFL constitution and bylaws. Bloch decided that the team and Glenn had agreed to extend the five-day timeline. New England, it was ruled, did not communicate clearly enough to Glenn regarding an agreed upon deadline for returning to the team. "The deadline was mutually extended, but then they never told him at what point he had to be back by or face suspension," an NFLPA source said. Still to come, Glenn will likely file another grievance with the NFL Players Association in an attempt to receive the $9.5 million worth of signing bonus that the Patriots still owe him. "We will continue to work with the NFLPA and all the other parties in an attempt to resolve our differences," Gould said. It is unclear when that matter will be arbitrated. Glenn left Patriots training camp Aug. 3, when the NFL announced its four-game suspension. Glenn said he left the Patriots camp because he had not been paid by the team since June 15. By league rules, a player on the reserved/left camp list can not be activated for the season, released or traded. Gould, then contacted the Patriots and indicated Glenn's willingness to return to the team. New England head coach Bill Belichick made the decision Aug. 15 to suspend Glenn for the season, placing him on the reserve/left camp list. The union's request for an expedited grievance detailed three assertions that would overturn the team's year-long suspension:
Under the collective bargaining agreement, grievances that are expedited are decided by an impartial arbitrator who usually conducts an evidentiary hearing within seven to 10 days after the grievance is filed. Glenn entered the league's substance abuse program in January 2000, after testing positive for marijuana. Glenn claims his most recent violation was missing a drug test, which in the eyes of the league is the same as a failed test. Glenn claims he alerted the program's administrators he would be out of town at the time of the scheduled test. He later took the test and tested negative, Glenn said. Glenn, 27, started all 16 games for New England last year, leading the team with 963 yards and six touchdowns, on 79 receptions.
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