The biggest loser (at least short-term) in the Trent Richardson-to-Indianapolis deal? Browns fans. Second biggest? Anyone with Ahmad Bradshaw on their fantasy team.
Wednesday afternoon, Lee's "Roethlisberger Rapists" traded Bradshaw and Rashard Mendenhall to "Eric's Amazing Team" for Matt Ryan. Wednesday evening, Richardson was traded to Cleveland rendering Bradshaw a backup. Sucks for Eric. But the next day, the league voted to veto the trade. Sucks for Lee.
Did we mention these are Ole Miss law students? Lee did what any good lawyer-in-training would, and prepared an appellate brief, petitioning for the trade to go through as agreed. Above the Law has obtained the brief, which you can view below.
It cites precedents ranging from Bleacher Report to Campbell Soup Co. v. Wentz, and attempts to define "trade rape" in the legal lexicon. (It also gives us a peek at every team name in the league. Not a lot of creativity there, guys.)
It's actually an interesting question: should a trade be declared invalid if real-life events intervene before the league votes?