Pro Football

Former practice players who filed suit against the NFL said they performed the same tasks as active players whose wages were five to 10 times as high.

The players were among 235 members of developmental, or practice squads during the 1989 season who are seeking about $10 million in damages from the 28 NFL teams. The trial of the suit was in its fourth day.

U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth last March ruled that the teams violated antitrust laws in fixing a $1,000-per-week salary for players on the developmental squads. The league abandoned the six-member squads after the 1989 season.

The players, backed by the NFL Players Assn., are demanding as damages the wage they would have received had they made the 47-man active squad, minus the $1,000 a week they received.

Attorneys for the NFL teams argued that the practice team players lacked the skills and talents of regular squad members and forfeited their rights to their negotiated salaries when they failed to make the cut.