UW Players’ Suit Dropped

Without fanfare, a legal challenge by University of Washington football players against the Pac-10 Conference was dismissed recently by U.S. District Court Judge Barbara Rothstein in Seattle.

The suit had asked for monetary damages on behalf of the players, who claimed they were illegally harmed by the Pac-10 action that barred the Huskies from bowl appearances in 1993 and 1994 because of rules violations.

An appeal has been filed by the players in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, while the Pac-10 has lodged a crossappeal, asking further that the players’ standing to bring such action be removed.

“We strongly believe the plaintiffs don’t have standing to bring this type of action,” said Chris Burford, Pac-10 legal counsel in Walnut Creek, Calif. “Our opinion is, if the university had deemed there was real merit to this, they would have done something about it - that the players weren’t the proper party in the first place.”

The University of Washington was never a party to the suit. Plaintiffs are UW players Russell Hairston, Frank Garcia, Jovan McCoy and Kyle Roberts. McCoy and Roberts have eligibility remaining.

When first lodged, the complaint sought an injunction that would have allowed the Huskies to go to a bowl game, as well as player damages allegedly lost in being barred from bowls.