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| Ray Lewis is at the center of a controversy between the Bakers and the Corsairs. |
By R.E. Porter
Associated Web Press
NASHVEGAS—In a move that threatens to shake the very foundation of the NFFA, Commissioner William D. Money resurfaced today and announced his ruling on the controversy surrounding the hiring of Ray Lewis as head coach by the champion Corsairs.
As was reported by FSN last week, the 12th Avenue Bakers filed a formal complaint with the league office, as well as a civil lawsuit, to block the Corsairs's hiring of Lewis, claiming they have the rights to him on the basis of a preexisting contract.
In a written statement released to the media today, Commissioner Money issued the following ruling:
The 12th Avenue Bakers have provided the NFFA office with a copy of the contract Ray Lewis signed with the team 12 years ago. Our attorneys have examined the document and deemed it to be authentic and enforceable. Therefore, I must find in favor of 12th Avenue in this matter. But instead of disallowing Ray's contract with the Corsairs, I have decided to allow Ray to become their head coach and to compensate the Bakers by awarding them the Corsairs first-round draft pick in the 2013 draft, giving them the second and the eighth picks in the first round.
According to a highly placed source within the league office, Money said Bakers owner QCurl Sharif had been pressuring him, insisting he do something about what Sharif called "this abomination." The source continued, "The commissioner said QCurl 'gets attached to people — and monkeys' — and he wasn't going to let it go."
Money has been absent from the league offices since August when he suffered a severe cranial injury there as the result of a vicious assault by an unknown assailant, and employees were surprised to find him in his office when they arrived this morning. Deputy Commissioner Meemaw Murrman had been in charge in Money's absence, but she left town for Texas Wednesday night to oversee construction on the league's new Hall of Fame in Alamo and will be out of the office until the middle of next week. According to the source, the commissioner said he planned to be in the office for the next few days.
The AWP will have more on this story as it develops.
