NFL Was Right to Turn Down Appeal by Denver Broncos and Elvis Dumervil

In one of the most bizarre happenings in recent memory in the NFL, the Denver Broncos were forced to release All-Pro defensive end Elvis Dumervil because of a much hyped situation dubbed “fax-gate.”

On Friday, while Dumervil’s then-agent Marty Magid was trying to figure out how to work an old-fashioned machine called a fax, he missed the 2 p.m. MST deadline to submit paperwork on an agreed deal to keep his client in Denver.

Subsequently, vice president of football operations John Elway had to cut Dumervil loose, instead of paying him $12 million for the 2013 season. Now, the working of the fax is not the story here. Dumervil has since fired Magid, by fax we can only assume, and hired Peyton Manning‘s agent Tom Condon.

Today, both Condon and Elway ventured to the NFL office together in order to appeal the situation, but the super executive and super agent had no chance. The league reiterated, after Elway had already appealed on Friday, that they would not recognize a verbal agreement between the Broncos and Dumervil. Commissioner Roger Goodell only stated that, “All contracts are reviewed by our office. If there is something significant they’ll bring it to my attention, but those are done as a matter of course.”

The NFL is right in their message. If they were to side with Elway and Condon, they would be setting an awful precedent of having to take the word of anyone that was said to have a verbal agreement, but could not get it in to the league office because the carrier pigeon was lost.

Let this be a lesson to those who want to continue using the local Kinkos to fax important documents. Maybe they should consider utilizing their money more wisely and looking into purchasing a Galaxy Note II. The wonders of the technological world are here and we no longer need to be held hostage to outdated methods.

“Rant” your opinions on the league’s decision not to accept the Broncos verbal agreement with Dumervil.

 

Craig Moir is a Denver Broncos writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @cmoir727. “Like” him on Facebook at CraigMoirRants and add him to your network on Google+