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Tom Brady won't get a fair deal in his deflate-gate suspension appeal. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell made sure of that.
In announcing he would rule in Brady's appeal of his four-game suspension, Goodell invited criticism no matter what he decides. The NFL Players Association tried to bait Goodell into giving the case over to an independent arbitrator, but to no avail. The decision will bring about more acrimony from the union down the road, but that's for another day.
The announcement also included Goodell taunting the union by reminding it that it was unable in the current CBA to ensure the concession that there would be an independent arbitrator for appeals.
The NFL put itself in a no-win situation, but even that is probably better than letting an independent arbitrator look over the flimsy Wells Report evidence - if you can call it evidence - that led the NFL to suspend Brady four games, fine the Patriots $1 million and strip them of two draft picks.
If Goodell upholds the suspension, why would that surprise anyone? The NFL ruled on it to begin with, and even though executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent's name was on the punishment, no sane person could believe Goodell didn't have a say in a historic punishment. So Goodell will basically rule upon his own punishment. Huh.
Perhaps Goodell is hoping that Brady comes in and grovels for forgiveness. The NFL has a history of punishing based on lack of contrition rather than the crime. There's no sign that Brady will do such a thing. If Brady doesn't apologize for crimes the NFL hasn't proven he committed, what would it say about investigator Ted Wells and Vincent if Goodell lessened the suspension? It undermines them. It would show that the NFL was wrong to punish the Patriots as harsh as it did. That looks like a loss for the league.
But again, maintaining total power is important to the NFL, more than the appearance of fairness is an incredibly high-profile case. Losing the Brady appeal would be embarrassing to the league, and given the lack of evidence, there was a real chance the NFL would have lost. So Goodell made sure that won't happen.
In announcing he would rule in Brady's appeal of his four-game suspension, Goodell invited criticism no matter what he decides. The NFL Players Association tried to bait Goodell into giving the case over to an independent arbitrator, but to no avail. The decision will bring about more acrimony from the union down the road, but that's for another day.
The announcement also included Goodell taunting the union by reminding it that it was unable in the current CBA to ensure the concession that there would be an independent arbitrator for appeals.
"Commissioner Goodell will hear the appeal of Tom Brady's suspension in accordance with the process agreed upon with the NFL Players Association in the 2011 collective bargaining agreement," the statement said, via NFL Network's Albert Breer.
Mike Freeman of Bleacher Report was first to report that Goodell said he'd rule on the appeal.
The NFL put itself in a no-win situation, but even that is probably better than letting an independent arbitrator look over the flimsy Wells Report evidence - if you can call it evidence - that led the NFL to suspend Brady four games, fine the Patriots $1 million and strip them of two draft picks.
If Goodell upholds the suspension, why would that surprise anyone? The NFL ruled on it to begin with, and even though executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent's name was on the punishment, no sane person could believe Goodell didn't have a say in a historic punishment. So Goodell will basically rule upon his own punishment. Huh.
Perhaps Goodell is hoping that Brady comes in and grovels for forgiveness. The NFL has a history of punishing based on lack of contrition rather than the crime. There's no sign that Brady will do such a thing. If Brady doesn't apologize for crimes the NFL hasn't proven he committed, what would it say about investigator Ted Wells and Vincent if Goodell lessened the suspension? It undermines them. It would show that the NFL was wrong to punish the Patriots as harsh as it did. That looks like a loss for the league.
But again, maintaining total power is important to the NFL, more than the appearance of fairness is an incredibly high-profile case. Losing the Brady appeal would be embarrassing to the league, and given the lack of evidence, there was a real chance the NFL would have lost. So Goodell made sure that won't happen.
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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab