Court Filing: Drew Rosenhaus Bribed DeSean Jackson

Earlier this year, an NFLPA-appointed arbitrator ruled that DeSean Jackson owes former agent Drew Rosenhaus more than half a million in unpaid loans. Jackson is fighting this in court, and in filings made last week, alleged that Rosenhaus illegally paid him to be his client, a payout that included $50,000 in a Louis Vuitton bag handed over at a gas station at midnight.

The filing, first reported by TMZ, claims that the payment was made on Nov. 10, 2009, after Rosenhaus convinced Jackson he had friends in the Eagles organization and could negotiate him a big fat contract. Rosenhaus doesn't dispute that the transaction took place, having acknowledged it during the arbitration hearing.

Rosenhaus gave Jackson a down payment of $50,000 cash around midnight, at a gas station parking lot, in a Louis Vuitton travel bag. He also gave Jackson a $90,000 check, and a $200,000 interest-free loan.

"We went over the contract on the car [on the side of the road]," Rosenhaus said in an arbitration hearing in September of 2013. "I waited until I saw on my phone that it was after midnight. We proceeded to execute the contract. After executing the contract, I then gave DeSean the money that we agreed to give him. I gave it to him in the [Louis Vuitton] bag."

It was announced the next morning that Jackson had fired his old agent.

Jackson's court filing indicates a second payment, in 2011. After a holdout from Eagles camp didn't result in a new deal but did rack up $300,000 in fines, Jackson indicated his plan to fire Rosenhaus, blaming for the holdout. According to Yahoo Sports, Jackson claims that Rosenhaus then paid him and his family $143,088 to remain a client.

This is all illegal. NFLPA regulations on agents prohibit them "providing or offering money or any other thing of value to any player or prospective player to induce or encourage that player to utilize his/her services."

Jackson's legal strategy hinges on this. Players aren't obligated to repay money given to them in violation of the rules. But if all this cash was a loan—as Rosenhaus claims it was—then Jackson is still on the hook.