A letter by former New England Patriots...

A letter by former New England Patriots owner Billy Sullivan berating his players for participating in last year’s NFL strike prompted the labor complaint filed against the team last month, the Boston Sunday Globe reported.

The complaint, filed by the players’ union with the National Labor Relations Board March 29, charged that Sullivan waived former player representative Brian Holloway and threatened other players for participating in the strike.

“I might say that I am not as proud of the Patriots as I once was,” Sullivan said in a letter sent to Patriots’ player representative Lin Dawson during the strike. “Indeed I am ashamed of them and wait (for) the conclusion of this event (the strike) to see if I can get someone else to buy the contracts of people who have acted in such a manner.”

Holloway was eventually traded to the Raiders.

Sullivan, who recently declared bankruptcy and sold the team to Paul Fireman, chairman of Reebok International, blamed the collective bargaining agreement between players and management for the team’s loss of $16 million since 1982, when there was also a strike.