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In an unprecedented foray into college sports, the National Labor Relations Board general counsel has declared that Northwestern University must eliminate unlawful rules governing football players and allow them greater freedom to express themselves. The ruling, which referred to players as employees, found that they must be freely allowed to post on social media, discuss issues of their health and safety, and speak with the media.The new rules could apply to the football programs at the 16 other private universities that play in the FBS, including schools such as Notre Dame, Stanford and Baylor -- but not public universities. As the nations top labor agency, the NLRB governs relations between private employers and their employees, so it has no power over public schools. Its findings on Northwestern became public on Friday.The ruling does not have force of law on the private schools, but if anyone raised a complaint, the result would likely be similar to the Northwestern case. Coaches and administrators there are no longer able to ban players from posting on social media -- as some high-profile programs have done -- or even regulate what they say. And whereas Northwestern once barred players from talking to any media not approved by the school, it is no longer allowed to do so.In addition to granting players greater freedoms, the NLRB ruling will offer athletes a clear path to bring their issues before an independent agency outside of the organizations that have historically governed college athletics -- the universities, the conferences and the NCAA.So while this ruling did not address compensation for athletes, someone could now file a charge with the NLRB asserting that failing to pay players constitutes an unfair labor practice. After all, if the NLRB -- which is led by a five-person board and a general counsel, all appointed by the president -- declared that close monitoring of social media is an unfair labor practice, it is an open question how it would view failure to pay players. Until now, the issue has been contested only in antitrust courts.The action against Northwestern came in a highly unusual proceeding. It stemmed from a charge filed in August 2015 against the school by David Rosenfeld, an activist labor lawyer with the firm of Weinberg Roger & Rosenfeld in Alameda, California, and echoed the 2014 attempt by Northwestern players to form a union. Rosenfeld alleged that Northwestern was guilty of unfair labor practices in its treatment of football players.Rosenfeld, who had no previous connection with Northwestern, relied on a provision of American labor law that allows anyone, anywhere, to bring unfair treatment of employees to the attention of the NLRB for remedial action. By the same token, if someone were to challenge the NCAAs compensation rules, it would not need to be a player -- it could be anyone.In response to Rosenfelds charge, the NLRB issued an advice memorandum late last month that described the Northwestern team rules as unlawfully overbroad. The memorandum was made public last week after ESPN.com filed a freedom of information request for the material.The jumping off point for Rosenfelds filing was a decision in 2014 by the NLRB Regional Administrator in Chicago, Peter Ohr, that Northwestern players were employees. Northwestern vigorously disputed the idea at the time and appealed Ohrs decision to the five members of the NLRB.During the course of the appeal, most of the private universities that would be affected joined Northwesterns effort. They succeeded in obtaining a ruling from the NLRB board members that the agency would not enter into the world of college sports. The board said it did not make sense for the NLRB to take jurisdiction over a potential Northwestern players union since it was the only private school in the Big Ten. It would be chaos, the board reasoned, if Northwestern was governed by the NLRB and the other schools were governed by the laws of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska.But even as the NLRB refused to take jurisdiction over the situation, Ohrs decision that the players were employees remained untouched and in effect. In the memorandum made public last week, an associate general counsel of the NLRB stated in a footnote that he assume(d) that Northwesterns scholarship football players are statutory employees.Northwestern, in a written statement from vice president for university relations Alan K. Cubbage to ESPN.com, stated that the school disputes the General Counsels assumption that Northwesterns athletes are employees and asserted that they are students, first and foremost.In his charge of unfair treatment of employees, Rosenfeld cited the Northwestern team handbook that was a critical exhibit in the 2014 hearing. The handbook includes rules governing the daily lives of the players and makes clear that they would be closely supervised by coaches.I obtained the handbook from the NLRB with a Freedom of Information Act request and located the provisions that were unfair labor practices, Rosenfeld told ESPN.com.The provisions cited by Rosenfeld and found to be unlawful included coaches monitoring of players social media use and bans on discussion of any aspects of the team ... with anyone, discussing individual grievances with fellow team members or third parties, including lawyers and union representatives, and all contacts with the media unless they were arranged by the athletic communications office.During the course of the just concluded NLRB proceedings, Northwestern agreed to modify or to eliminate the rules in question. The universitys changes and its notice to team members of the new policies resulted in the NLRB dismissing the charge without further hearings or actions. The initial filings by Rosenfeld and Northwestern have not yet been made public.Under the rule that the NLRB found to be unlawful, Northwestern coaches and even the university police could regularly monitor social media postings made by football players. Former team captain and quarterback Kain Colter, the leader of the players union effort, testified in the NLRB hearing in Chicago early in 2014 that when he posted a photo of himself in Oakley sunglasses that were a gift at a celebrity golf outing, an assistant coach texted him within 10 minutes of the posting that he must remove it. The coach was concerned that the selfie might be construed as an endorsement of Oakley products.Under the modification offered by Northwestern, the new social media rule provides that postings can be seen by Northwestern personnel and cautions against posting full or partial nudity (of yourself or another) sex, racial or sexual epithets, underage drinking, drugs, weapons or firearms, hazing, harassment, or unlawful activity.A previous handbook rule on communications told players that they must never discuss any aspects of the team with anyone. Emphasizing the confidentiality of players physical conditions and planned team strategies, the rule stated, The team is a family and what takes place on the field, in meetings, or in the locker room stays within this family.The new rule is limited to a ban on discussion of individual medical conditions and allows players to discuss on a no-name basis -- owing to HIPAA, they cannot refer to another player by name -- any vital health and safety issues impacting themselves, their teammates, and fellow collegiate football players.Rules governing Northwesterns student-athlete grievance process -- called the Student-Athlete Rights and Responsibilities (Dispute Resolution Procedure) in the handbook -- were also deemed unlawful and Northwestern has completely eliminated the procedures. The rules had stated that any grievance concerning personal rights and relationships within the team must begin with an appeal to the teams director of football operations (Cody Cejda), further appeals to Head Coach Pat Fitzgerald and the athletic director, and ultimately a review by Northwestern President Morton O. Schapiro.The universitys elimination of its procedures for player grievances was based on the NLRBs finding that the rule prohibited discussions with fellow players and third parties concerning workplace grievances.Another handbook rule told Northwestern players that they should never agree to an interview (with the media) unless the interview has been arranged by the athletic communications office, and that the players must be positive when talking about your teammates, coaches and team. Responding to the NLRBs conclusions that the rule was an infringement on player freedoms, Northwestern abandoned the rule, rewriting it to provide that players may directly speak with members of the media if (they) choose to do so.In its revised handbook, the school suggested to players that, in interviews, they should share credit for your success by talking about the contributions of your teammates and use their names. Players were also admonished to remember that every great running back needs a good offensive line and talking about the great work of others shows you have confidence in your own role and the value of your own contributions, so youre not afraid of letting someone else have their moment of glory, too.Editors note: This story has been updated for clarity.? Authentic Cheap Yeezys . -- Vincent Lecavalier got everything but the desired result in his return to Tampa Bay. Cheapest Yeezys For Sale . 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Ovechkin and his Russian national team were eliminated from the mens hockey tournament in Sochi on Wednesday with a 3-1 quarter-final loss to Finland. SEATTLE -- Washington stayed quiet. Stanford was just the next opponent, the Huskies said, and there was no extra meaning or motivation.Then the celebration happened, complete with purple-clad fans rushing the field to celebrate Washingtons 44-6 rout Friday night.After months of hype surrounding a possible breakout performance for Washington (5-0, 2-0 Pac-12), the 10th-ranked Huskies showed they were ready for their return to the national stage.And they did it emphatically, handing No. 7 Stanford (3-1, 2-1) its worst loss since a 41-3 setback against Arizona State in 2007.We have had this game circled since spring time, Washington defensive end Joe Mathis said. They beat us so bad last year. We wanted them so bad.Jake Browning threw for 210 yards and three touchdowns, Myles Gaskin added 100 yards rushing and two scores, and Washington claimed its most lopsided victory over an AP top 10 team since beating No. 5 Southern California 31-0 in 1990. That game 26 years ago announced Washington as a national contender and it went on to share the national title a year later with Miami.It was Washingtons biggest win over a top 10 team, bettering a 36-point victory over Wisconsin in 1959.But try getting Washington coach Chris Petersen to acknowledge the importance.We dont get any trophies for winning tonight, Petersen said.Browning was the leader of an efficient offense that scored on seven of nine drives. He threw touchdown passes of 3 yards to Dante Pettis, 19 yards to John Ross and 3 yards to Aaron Fuller with 5:30 remaining. Browning was 15 of 21 and did not commit a turnover.Equally important was Washingtons ability to establish a running game. The Huskies rushed for 214 yards and averaged 5.2 yards per carry.Everyone just did their job, Browning said. It wasnt anything flashy about it. Everyone did what they were supposed to.Meanwhile, Stanford star Christian McCaffrey saw his Heisman Trophy aspirations hit a major speed bump. McCaffrey was held to 49 yards rushing on 12 carries, five catches for 30 yards and continued his streak of never scoring an offensive touchdown in a road game.It was McCaffreys fewest yards rushing since 2014 at California when he had 19 yards on three carries.Stanfords only TD came late in the third quarter on a 19-yard pass from Ryan Burns to J.J. Arcega-Whiteeside.ddddddddddddWe didnt play well. We didnt block well. We couldnt run the ball. We couldnt pass protect and we couldnt complete passes with any consistency, particularly the first two and a half quarters, Stanford coach David Shaw said. Just not the style of football that we can play and not as well as we can play.Burns was 15 of 22 for 151 yards, but Washington controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides. Stanford quarterbacks were sacked eight times, six in the first half. Stanford had allowed only four total sacks in the first three games combined.That was about as poorly as we can play from start to finish. Thats the bottom line, Shaw said.POLL IMPLICATIONSWashington has a chance to make a significant jump possibly into the top five depending on what happens in the other matchups of top 10 teams this weekend. The Huskies were as high as No. 8 but slipped to 10th after edging Arizona in overtime last week.Stanford is likely to be punished for such a lopsided defeat, but still has quality wins over Kansas State, USC and UCLA. Expect the Cardinal to fall into the teens.TAKEAWAYSStanford: The Cardinal were unexpectedly sloppy. Stanford committed 11 penalties after entering the week as the least penalized team in the Pac-12. There were communication issues in part due to the roaring Washington crowd, but also a lack of sharpness not normally seen from Shaws team.Washington: The defense was up to the task of keeping McCaffrey under control and forcing Burns to beat them through the air. McCaffrey had 34 yards on 10 carries in the first half and forced the Cardinal into numerous long third-down situations. That allowed Washington to bring extra pass rushers to get to Burns.SHORT-HANDED CARDINALStanford was playing short-handed without starting cornerbacks Quenton Meeks and Alijah Holder, starting wide receiver Francis Owusu and starting fullback Daniel Marx. Starting right tackle Casey Tucker limped off with an apparent leg injury late in the fourth quarter.UP NEXTStanford: The Cardinal head home after two straight weeks on the road to host Washington State.Washington: The Huskies travel to Oregon looking to snap a 12-game losing streak to the Ducks. ' ' '