Rebels DT rebuts motion to dismiss Kiffin lawsuit
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Heather Dinich, ESPN Senior Writer
Attorneys on behalf of Ole Miss defensive tackle DeSanto Rollins filed a memorandum in district court Tuesday asking the court to deny a motion to dismiss a lawsuit Rollins filed against coach Lane Kiffin and the university.
In mid-September, Rollins said he was kicked off the team for missing practices and meetings during a “mental health crisis.” He filed a lawsuit against Kiffin and the university for failure to provide equal protection, racial and sexual discrimination, and multiple other allegations.
Rollins, a backup lineman whose career has been marred by injuries, is seeking $10 million in compensatory damages and $30 million in punitive damages. The lawsuit alleges that Kiffin intentionally took adverse action against Rollins “on account of race for requesting and taking a mental health break, but not taking adverse action against white student-athletes” for the same request. It alleges sexual discrimination on the basis that Ole Miss has not taken “adverse action against female student-athletes for requesting and taking a mental health break.”
The 26-page legal document filed Tuesday rebutted the motion to dismiss point by point.
“The court should consider the allegations of Rollins’ complaint as true,” the memorandum said. “Almost all of those allegations are undisputed. Kiffin and the University dispute only one allegation — that Kiffin kicked Rollins off the football team. … However, Rollins has submitted a declaration … detailing contradictory evidence. That evidence must be construed in the light most favorable to Rollins.”
On March 21, Rollins legally recorded a meeting with Kiffin without the coach’s knowledge, and a copy of the transcript was included in the lawsuit. ESPN obtained a copy of the audio in September.
In it, Kiffin can be heard saying, “you’re off the team. You’re done. See ya. Go. And guess what? We can kick you off the team. So go read your f—ing rights about mental health. We can kick you off the team for not showing up.”
According to the memorandum, Rollins has not been able to participate in any football activities, including meetings, meals, media events, community service events, travel, games, watching film, receive gear, practice or participate in Senior Day.
Tuesday’s memorandum stated that “all of Kiffin’s actions and inactions were intentional, deliberate, malicious, grossly negligent and taken in reckless disregard for the rights and mental health of Rollins.”
Kiffin declined to comment when reached by ESPN, deferring to the university’s original statement. A school spokesperson also referred ESPN to the university’s only statement on the matter, which read, “DeSanto was never removed from the football team and remains on scholarship. In addition, he continues to have the opportunity to receive all of the resources and advantages that are afforded a student-athlete at the university.”
Earlier this month, attorneys for Kiffin and Ole Miss filed a written brief in support of Kiffin that argued that the coach and university “are immune” from some of Rollins’ claims and that his “remaining allegations fail to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.”
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Don Van Natta Jr.
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Don Van Natta Jr.
ESPN Senior Writer
- Host and co-executive producer of the new ESPN series, “Backstory”
- Member of three Pulitzer Prize-winning teams for national, explanatory and public service journalism
- Author of three books, including New York Times best-selling “First Off the Tee: Presidential Hackers, Duffers, and Cheaters from Taft to Bush”
- 24-year newspaper career at The New York Times and Miami Herald
FBI agents have reached out to major league baseball players about their knowledge of financial dealings related to a multibillion-dollar group-licensing firm started and owned, in part, by their union and the NFL Players Association, multiple sources with knowledge of the investigation told ESPN.
The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they had direct knowledge of law enforcement calls to at least three players involved in union leadership in recent days. The sources said the players are not targets of the investigation.
According to the sources, law enforcement agents inquired about money related to OneTeam Partners, established in 2019 by the NFLPA, MLBPA and a private-equity partner, RedBird Capital, and used to strike media deals and monetize athletes’ name, image and likeness.
In a statement, OneTeam said it is “aware of an ongoing investigation of allegations concerning our partners. We want to emphasize that OneTeam is not the subject of the investigation and has not been accused of any wrongdoing in any way. OneTeam is fully committed to cooperating with the investigation.”
Union executives said they have not been contacted by federal agents. “If the MLBPA is contacted by the government, we intend to cooperate fully with any investigation,” the MLBPA said Friday in a statement to ESPN. Player leadership has retained separate legal counsel outside of the union, sources said.
Multiple sources said the investigation is being run out of the Eastern District of New York, whose office is based in Brooklyn. A senior FBI official declined to comment Friday, and a spokesperson with the Eastern District declined to confirm the investigation.
The OneTeam partnership has become a major financial boon for both associations and has grown in valuation as it added the players’ unions of women’s basketball, men’s and women’s soccer, and other sports and college athletes to its portfolio. OneTeam was valued at $1.9 billion in 2022, when RedBird Capital sold its 40% stake to three other investment firms.
The MLBPA’s and NFLPA’s relationships with OneTeam have come under scrutiny before. In late 2024, an anonymous unfair labor practices complaint was filed with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging “nepotism, corruption, mismanagement” at the MLBPA.
In December, the NFLPA’s outside counsel, Richard Smith, launched an audit into whether OneTeam had granted equity options to the executive directors of unions that the company represents, including the MLBPA. In its statement, OneTeam said it “remains steadfast in our commitment to following the best business practices, as has already been determined by the independent audit conducted earlier this year. … We remain dedicated to upholding the highest standards of integrity and transparency in all that we do.”
The NLRB complaint against the MLBPA alleges that the union’s executive director, Tony Clark, “improperly gave himself & other executives equity” in OneTeam and made “inadequate disclosures” about the partnership in annual union filings.
The union has previously denied the allegations against Clark, 52. He was hired as the MLBPA’s director of player relations after 15 seasons as a player and ascended to executive director following the death of his predecessor, Michael Weiner, in 2013. According to an LM-30 federal labor union disclosure he filed last year, Clark holds a seat on the OneTeam board.
Union finances have improved significantly under Clark’s leadership, due in part to proceeds from OneTeam. In 2020-24, the partnership paid the MLBPA nearly $160 million, according to the union’s annual LM-2 reports. In 2024, the union received $44.5 million from OneTeam.
The reports don’t detail how much of the OneTeam windfall was distributed to players. The MLBPA has more than $353 million in total assets, the highest fiscal-year-end figure in its history, according to the documents.
According to the MLBPA’s most recent filing, the union paid Clark $3.5 million in 2024.
The NFLPA’s audit of OneTeam was completed in March and found that the NFLPA’s role as part of OneTeam was “in compliance with best governance practices,” a source with firsthand knowledge said.
An NFLPA spokesperson declined comment Friday.
According to its LM-2s, OneTeam paid the NFLPA $422.8 million in the past five years. The NFLPA’s total assets are nearly $1.4 billion, with almost $240 million in cash, according to the union’s filings.
DeMaurice Smith, the former NFLPA leader who co-founded OneTeam with Clark, left the union in 2023 and was replaced on the partnership’s board by the union’s new executive director, Lloyd Howell Jr.
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