Jane Goodell, wife of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, is listed among those who are requested to give depositions as part of Colin Kaepernick‘s grievance against the NFL, Yahoo Sports’ Charles Robinson reported Tuesday.
The free-agent quarterback is alleging members of the league’s office, teams and players have colluded to keep him out of the NFL.
Last October, the Wall Street Journal‘s Andrew Beaton found out that Jane Goodell had created an anonymous Twitter account to defend her husband. In one instance, she was critical of an article by ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr. and Seth Wickersham about players protesting during the national anthem.
Bloomberg’s Kim Bhasin shared an image of the since-deleted tweet:
Jane Skinner Goodell made an anonymous account to defend her husband, NFL commish Roger Goodell, on Twitter. Amazing https://www.wsj.com/articles/roger-goodell-has-a-secret-defender-on-twitter-his-wife-1507839658 …
Kaepernick has cast a wide net for his grievance, according to Robinson. In addition to Roger and Jane Goodell, three team owners (Robert Kraft, Jerry Jones and Bob McNair), two head coaches (Pete Carroll and John Harbaugh) and two general managers (Ozzie Newsome and John Schneider) are included on the deposition list.
CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora reported former Papa John’s CEO John Schnatter may be deposed as part of the case as well. Schnatter stepped down from his role with the company last December after receiving criticism for claiming the NFL’s player protests were hurting Papa John’s sales.
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio reported some inside the league believed Jones had spoken to Schnatter about tying the protests to a drop in profits for Papa John’s.
