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Denied Belichick's request for restraining order turned down
Posted: Tuesday January 25, 2000 05:42 PM
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) -- A federal judge Tuesday denied Bill Belichick's request for a temporary restraining order that would free the former Jets assistant coach from a decision by NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue and allow him to seek a new job. At a hearing before U.S. District Judge John W. Bissell, Belichick's lawyer, Jeffrey Kessler, said the league was unfairly restricting his client's ability to make a living. But Bissell said Belichick created the situation in which he finds himself in and said there would be no irreparable harm if Belichick sat out a year. The judge scheduled a Wednesday conference call with lawyers for Belichick and the New York Jets to determine if am additional hearing would be scheduled on Belichick's request for a permanent injunction. Kessler, who also has represented NFL, NBA and Major League Soccer players in antitrust cases, said Belichick has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to become head coach of the New England Patriots and that there was no guarantee he would ever be offered another head coaching job in the NFL. "This would be a unique opportunity for the coach, never replaceable again," Kessler said. The Jets' lawyer, Glenn Kurtz, responded that allowing Belichick to coach the Patriots, a division rival, would cause serious harm to the Jets due to Belichick's intimate knowledge of the Jets' players and the organization. Belichick, who filed the antitrust suit Monday, did not attend the hearing. Belichick, who lost Friday in an administrative proceeding before Tagliabue, asked for a temporary restraining order against the league that would prohibit the NFL or the Jets from stopping negotiations between Belichick and any team. Bill Parcells quit as Jets coach on Jan. 3, a day after an 8-8 season ended. Belichick, Parcells' defensive coordinator and handpicked successor, quit as head coach the following day, saying Parcells' status and the ownership picture was too confusing. Belichick filed a grievance with the NFL, claiming the team was not allowing him to look for work elsewhere. The estate of late Jets owner Leon Hess then agreed to sell the team to Robert Johnson IV, who unsuccessfully attempted to persuade Parcells to return as coach. The Jets hired linebacker coach Al Groh as head coach Monday. Tagliabue rejected claims by Belichick that he never actually assumed the head coaching job. The commissioner cited "more than 10" discussions between Belichick and Parcells about the prospect of Belichick becoming coach after the 1999 season. Tagliabue denied the Jets' claim that Belichick should be barred from leaving for another team for the remaining three years on his contract. This ruling applied to 2000 only. Tagliabue cited the uncertainty in the Jets' coaching situation, and told both sides to address three points by Feb. 1:
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