In 1972, my dad, Clinton Jones, Charlie West, and 12 other players filed a lawsuit led by John Mackey, president of the NFL Players Association, to challenge the Rozelle rule in the United States District Court. Judge Earl Larson ruled in favor of the players in Mackey v. NFL on December 30, 1975. The Rozelle rule was found to violate antitrust laws, and the court’s judgment acknowledged that the application of the rule damaged players’ professional careers. The ruling didn’t come in time for my dad or others who retired before or shortly after the court’s decision, but their efforts made free
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