SEC sues LSU over use of ex-NFL players
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The Southeastern Conference filed a lawsuit Thursday against LSU, one of its founding members nearly a century ago, to prevent the school from allowing players returning from NFL training camps to play on the Tigers’ football team.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Birmingham, Alabama -- the SEC’s headquarters -- and asks for a court injunction barring LSU from violating the SEC’s First Amendment rights by forcing it to “associate with conduct that is contrary to the conference’s purpose and mission.”
Listed as defendants are LSU, its board of supervisors, school president Wade Rousse, athletic director Verge Ausberry and new coach Lane Kiffin.
The filing came while SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey was testifying at a hearing in a Louisiana state court in Baton Rouge to defend the conference’s ability to enforce its rules against professional athletes playing on its members teams.
Rick Karcher, a faculty athletics representative at Eastern Michigan and former practicing attorney in sports law, said the SEC’s lawsuit serves as a backup legal maneuver in the event the players prevail in state court.
“It’s weird in the sense that these schools are in a partnership and together they sell SEC football … The SEC is just following the natural sequence of events in preparation for the judge in Louisiana to grant a permanent injunction after today’s hearing,” Karcher wrote in an email. “The First Amendment claim gets them in federal court and they need to seek injunctive relief that prevents LSU from putting former pro players on the field, in the event Kiffin wants to do so.”
It is the second time in less than three months that a major conference has taken legal action against one of its own members. The Big 12 filed a federal complaint against Texas Tech on June 15 seeking an injunction allowing the Big 12 to enforce its bylaws and ban quarterback Brendan Sorsby for wagering on sports in violation of rules. That filing was in response to a state judge’s ruling allowing Sorsby to play. Sorsby ended up discontinuing his legal battle and turning his attention to next spring’s NFL draft.
LSU head football coach Lane Kiffin watches his Tigers during spring practice on March 24 in Baton Rouge, La. (AP file photo)