The NFL Lockout Court Battle, Explained Via Pretty Word Clouds

Like bright colors? Hate the complexity of legal procedure? Well, not only are you the target audience for the NFL's lockout PR campaign, but you might also enjoy these visualizations we made out of the court documents from Brady et al v. National Football League. Above is a word cloud for all of the court documents so far — briefs from the players, owners, and their allies, as well as judicial opinions. (Click the bottom right corner to enlarge.)

[ Eighth Circuit Court] [ Many Eyes]

Here's the same chart, but with pro-owner documents only. Note the NFL's emphasis on bargaining — they want the issue to be settled out of court.

Here's the cloud with only pro-player documents ."Norris-LaGuardia" is one that appears prominently in both word clouds, is the name of an act that prevents judges from issuing injunctions in labor disputes.

This is a phrase cloud. It lets the viewer see how words are used in relation to each other. Here are the most common words connected by "and" in the pro-owner documents. You can see some of the talking points: the "instability and uncertainty" that a court injunction would cause compared to "mediation and conciliation." Also, we assume that lawyers are contractually obligated to type "terms and conditions" twice per billing hour.

This is a phrase cloud for the players — words separated by a space. Note all the antitrust stuff in the upper left along with the "irreparable harm" done to the players' careers.

Here's a word tree. You can see how phrases follow each other in the text. Here's how "Norris-LaGuardia Act" is used in the pro-player documents. This visual is meant to be interactive: go here to search your own terms and click on the branches to expand them.

Here's a "lockout" tree from the owner docs. Fiddle around with it here.

This is a pro-owner phrase cloud of words connected by possessive adjectives. It speaks for itself.

If you have any ideas for text too boring to read but interesting enough to visualize, send them to tips.