The UFL's unsettled labor negotiations boiled over this week when players were warned they would be released if they followed through on a plan to boycott the league's media days, three players confirmed to ESPN.
The threat rankled some players, who believed it represented an unfair labor practice as the sides remain stalled in negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement.
Media days are scheduled for Thursday and Friday in Arlington, Texas, where players have been participating in training camp since Monday.
"We want this league to survive and we want it to thrive," one of the players said. "And we do actually think that they care about developing us and trying to give us more opportunities. But [threatening release] is just kind of bush league in a lot of senses."
A UFL insider with knowledge of the situation could not address the coach-player conversations. But the insider said: "In the normal course of business, like any professional league, the UFL has disciplinary procedures in place for a player's failure to participate in league events. However, it is not a part of UFL policy to cut a player for not participating in events like media day."
The first public sign of discord came last month, when all 24 of the UFL's quarterbacks skipped a league-sponsored passing camp. In a letter to league CEO/president Russ Brandon and executive vice president of football operations Daryl Johnston, obtained by ESPN and other media outlets, the quarterbacks called the UFL's most recent contract offer "unacceptable and insulting."
There has been no substantive negotiations since between the UFL and the UFPA, which represents the players. That led some players to consider skipping media days.
But according to the players who spoke to ESPN, coaches relayed a direct message Tuesday.
"They told us that the league had gotten wind of union organization against the media days," one of the players said, "and that if anyone acted on that, that they would be cut and considered to have acted with conduct detrimental [to the league]. We asked coaches after the meeting where this message came from and they said it came straight from Daryl Johnston, who gave this message to all eight coaches. We later confirmed that all eight coaches gave this message to their teams."
Another player said: "It's coming from the top and those people are making 10-plus times our salary. So it's frustrating to get that kind of pushback when we're trying to fairly negotiate and they're saying, 'We can't budge, and if you try to take action, then we'll just cut you and move on.' I mean, from the beginning it's kind of been that we're just replaceable figures and we don't feel like we are, so that's why we're in this situation."
The UFL's 10-week regular season is scheduled to kick off March 28.