The NFL Players Association (NFLPA) is suing the NFL Coaches Association (NFLCA) in D.C. Superior Court for roughly $650,000. The Players Association’s complaint said it loaned the Coaches Association that amount “to cover payroll and other NFLCA expenses.” The players’ union is also asking the court to determine if NFLCA executive director David Cornwell was “lawfully elected” to that position. On Wednesday, NFLPA spokesman George Atallah wrote in an email to The Associated Press that the lawsuit is “about settling that debt, nothing more.”
Atallah said, “The NFLCA has made it explicitly clear that they were interested in severing official ties with the NFLPA. As one example, they no longer wanted to be housed here. A significant debt was accumulated as a result of our support to them over the years. The current NFLCA leadership doesn’t want to settle the debt.” The complaint was filed in court on Tuesday and says the NFLPA has “custody and control” of an NFLCA bank account in New York, “which currently has a balance of $308,509.69.” Cornwell, a lawyer who has represented the NFL and several prominent players, said “the lawsuit and the alleged debt is a smoke screen to prevent the NFLCA from breaking away from the NFLPA. I have seen no evidence that the NFLPA sought to collect this alleged debt when they thought De controlled the Coaches Association.”
