Play of The Week !

IN THE RELENTLESS STRUGGLE BETWEEN ATHLETES and team owners for a bigger slice of professional sports' financial pie, control of free agency has been the utensil of choice. Last week, following a 36-day trial, a federal court dropped the owners' favorite fork on the floor, ruling that the National Football League's limited free-agency plan was illegal and awarding four players $1.6 million in damages. The decision will probably lead to a less restrictive agreement and higher salaries.

Players contended that the existing plan kept salaries low and curtailed their ability to move freely to higher-paying teams; the owners argued that fewer restrictions would unleash uncontrolled salary escalation. On this last point, both sides might agree; in the National Basketball Association and major-league baseball, free agency is looser. Annual player salaries average $1.1 million and $1.08 million, respectively. In the N.F.L., the average is about $400,000. Probably not for long.

The plaintiff's suit included a total of eight athletes, but according to Tom Condon, a sports agent and former head of the N.F.L. Player's Association, some 1,000 of the N.F.L.'s 1,500 players have been affected by the old free- agency rule, which has been in effect since 1989. The players' attorney, Jeffrey Kessler, called the decision a "total victory." The N.F.L. said it would appeal.