Recent Deadspin report revealed how the NFL forced prosecutors in the Greg Hardy domestic violence case to hand over records not meant to be available to the public. Main reason was for PR reasons in case sensitive stuff from the case got released/leaked before the NFL could punish him and prevent public backlash if it was seen as weak.
They were given normal records available to the public whenever a criminal case is reported but wanted more sensitive records that were hands-off for legal reasons. Ended up striking a secret deal which allowed the NFL to get those files while claiming deniability in case anyone tried to find out about it earlier. Only got to see the crime photos and files for a day before handing it right back to prosecutors.
Biggest thing the DA was worried about was someone from the NFL's side leaking files to Hardy's legal team which they might have actually done prior to them getting the really sensitive stuff. Ended up tweaking the deal so that while the NFL got the legal power to access the files, the NFLPA would get zero access regardless if it was fair or not.
http://deadspin.com/how-the-nfl-conv...-no-1729992346