Sportslaw History: The John Mackey Case

Sportslaw History: The John Mackey case

Many football fans remember John Mackey was a star tight end for the Baltimore Colts. Some say he defined the position as we know it today. But John Mackey is also known for being the first player to challenge the NFL's system of restrictive salaries and limited free agency.

Mackey was the first president of the NFL Players Association after the merger of the NFL and AFL in 1968. His activism began from an incident when, during a meeting with an NFL negotiator, Mackey was handed a piece of paper, a contract, and told to sign it. He looked through the lengthy tome, but refused to comply with the demand, walked out the door and ultimately brought a lawsuit.

Restrictive Free Agency

Mackey's lawsuit challenged the so-called "Rozelle Rule" which required a team signing a veteran free agent to provide "fair and equitable" compensation to the team who lost the player. Mackey challenged because in effect this rule served to stifle competition by keeping player free agents stuck with their old teams and limiting their bargaining power. Practically, this restrictive rule made free agency meaningless in the NFL.

Mackey emerged victorious. Both the lower federal court and the appeal court concluded that the restricted violated the antitrust laws. They rejected the NFL claims that star players would flock to richer and warmer cities and competitive balance would be destroyed. Elimination of the rule, said the court, would affect all teams equally. It added that if there was any effect on competitive balance by free agency, the NFL should have used less restrictive measures.

This victory, however, was short lived, since the union negotiated a collective bargaining agreement in 1977 which retained many of the NFL's restrictions. Since antitrust laws do not apply to labor agreements, veterans football players did not get any real measure of free agency until the 1990s.

Mackey's union activism may have cost him votes in Hall of Fame balloting. He finally made it in his 15th and final year of eligibility, an overdue tribute to the man who defined the position of tight end and who took the NFL to court..