The NFL wants the judge presiding over the "No-Call" lawsuit in Orleans Civil District Court to move any depositions in the case to somewhere other in than New Orleans, citing safety concerns and travel expenses.
The NFL's lawyers point to some choice tweets it says were directed at NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell after the NFC Championship Game and the pass interference and helmet-to-helmet personal foul calls that were missed in the closing minutes of regulation.
"@nflcommish Don't ever think about stepping foot in the state of Louisiana. Because we will kill you. WILL KILL YOU," reads one tweet quoted in the filing.
"Bill vinovich. That's the name. Murder him and you get 5,000 dollars. Find the other ones and get 1,000 dollars extra for each one."
"[Expletive] need to find one of Roger Goodell [expletives] family members and hole em hostage til he give us a [expletive] rematch."
The league said the tweets were later removed, either by the user, or by Twitter for violating the social media site's rules.
The filing also mentions how the league changed hotels for the NFC Championship Game officials after the game, added armed security to the new hotel, and had an armed escort bring them to the airport the next day.
In addition to the safety factor, the league claims in its filing that forcing the referees to travel to New Orleans during the football season would disrupt the league's ability to assigned them to officiate football games, and would be an undue expense for the officials, since they are part-time employees who have other employment.
Judge Nicole Sheppard set August 22 as a date for the plaintiffs to argue why this motion should not be granted.
Plaintiffs' attorney Anthony Le Mon says any damages awarded would be given to charity.