Missouri Responds to NFL : Pro football: Lawsuit threatened if Ram move isn’t approved.

From across the continent, pressure began mounting Monday on the NFL owners to approve the Rams’ move to St. Louis.

Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon said if the owners say no, he would file an antitrust lawsuit by the end of the month. He said the suit would seek a temporary restraining order against the NFL “to stop any unlawful restraint of trade.”

“I don’t use my antitrust authority unless I feel very strongly about it,” Nixon said in a phone interview from St. Louis.

Nixon sent NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue a fax and overnight letter Monday announcing his intentions.

“They still have the power to clear themselves of the problem by allowing this transfer to go through,” Nixon said. “I thought it was important to tell the commissioner we had made the decision that we had the authority and desire to sue them.”

Nixon called the threat of a suit a “preemptive warning” against the “NFL cartel.”

“We would not be out there trying to seek huge amounts of damages,” Nixon said. “We will, however, enforce the law.”

The desired effect was to scare the league into approving the transfer. San Francisco 49er President Carmen Policy said it might backfire. “It might influence people to vote against the move,” Policy said. “My emotional response is negative. I don’t think that’s the proper way to address an issue.”