NFL Commissioner Goodell Names Himself To Hear Tom Brady’s Appeal
 What's next Commish? Roger Goodell announced thru the NFL offices that he will hear Tom Brady's appeal of his four game suspension. (USA TODAY Images) |
File this one under, bad news if you hoped that Tom Brady’s appeal would signal the end of the fiasco known as Deflate-gate.
Tom Brady and his legal team officially appealed his suspension with the league office but in a not-so-surprising turn of events, the Commissioner has determined that he will hear the appeal.
The NFLPA demanded to the league that they appear “before someone who is truly independent.” Brady and the NFLPA can’t be pleased to hear that Goodell is the one hearing the appeal. This case likely appears heading for court.
Thursday was a busy day on the latest saga involving Brady, the Wells Report and his suspension. Prior to Brady officially filing an appeal with the league office and the Commissioner’s decision to hear it personally, the Patriots released a scathing rebuttal against the Wells Report, refuting many of the issues they have questions about.
“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 NFL said in a statement released late Thursday night.
While it is certainly within the Commissioner’s rights to hear the appeal, the CBA gave him this power. But with Brady’s camp logging charges of pre-conceived bias against him and the Patriots by the league perhaps Goodell in a show of good faith in his punishment of the QB should have appointed someone else.
That in itself begs the question, is the Wells Report and its inconsistencies that weak of a document in presenting the NFL’s case that Goodell has no faith in an independent arbitrator hearing the appeal?
His insistence to hear the appeal, while within his rights will be interesting to watch. If he upholds the punishment he agreed with in the Troy Vincent letter to Brady, it lends credence to the Patriots claim that he has an axe to grind with them.
The Patriots rebuttal is contrary to what Robert Kraft had stated prior to the Brady suspension where he stated that the Patriots would accept the league’s ruling on punishment. With the rebuttal, the team and Kraft are going to fight this one to the limit.
Some good points of the Patriots piece are the scientific questions that call into question the validity of the Wells Report. Using the Ideal Gas Law, that by now everyone in the country has heard of, even three of the four Colts footballs measured were below the league mandated PSI. The officials’ curious decision not to weigh all of the Colts footballs further lends credence of a league sting.
With the footballs all of which were losing PSI, it is entirely possible that no deflation by McNally occurred at all. But using Exponent, the Wells Report sets itself up as self-serving. Exponent used shaky scientific data that isn’t going to fly in front of a true independent arbitrator. They have a well-deserved reputation of manipulating evidence to favor their client; unless you believe second-hand smoke isn’t dangerous, asbestos isn’t dangerous and Toyota’s acceleration problems were caused by floor mats which were all cases Exponent tried to make.
The league’s insistence on having Brady’s cell phone is another sticking point. Already having McNally’s and Jastremski’s phones gave them all of the texts coming from Brady to either of them concerning the handling of the footballs. They may be trying to paint Bill Belichick or other Patriots coaches into the mix.
Included in the Patriots piece posted on their website Thursday is an explanation that can only be described as quite a stretch. As to Tom McNally addressing himself as “the Deflator”, the report states that it didn’t have anything to do with footballs or air pressure but with McNally’s attempts to lose weight. Seriously, that dog won’t hunt, even in the most pro-Patriots circles.
So now Goodell will hear the appeal within the next 10 days and there is little wiggle room for the Commissioner. On one hand, if he reduces Brady’s punishment, what happens to the hammer he dropped upon the Patriots with the first and fourth round draft picks loss. By his investigation within the Wells Report, the Patriots organization and Bill Belichick had no part in the manipulation of the footballs, if it even occurred at all.
A reduced punishment could paint Goodell as the guy who diffused a bad situation but would then throw his own Troy Vincent and Ted Wells under the bus. On the flip side, if Brady accepts a reduced suspension, it will be admitting guilt in the situation.
If Goodell upholds Brady’s punishment, the case is likely heading to court. Having the Super Bowl winning quarterback, who just slightly more than four months ago was being hailed as one of the greatest ever at the pinnacle of success suing the league isn’t a good image for the league.
Goodell had the chance to make all of this go away with some firm leadership back in January. Instead he allowed leaks and innuendo to make this a much bigger story than it should ever have become. There isn’t going to be any winners in this one.
Everyone loses, and the other 31 NFL owners will be watching.
Follow me on Twitter @SteveB7SFG or email me at [email protected]
Listen to our Patriots 4th and 2 podcast on blog talk radio as the writers Russ Goldman, Derek Havens and I from PatsFans.com discuss the latest Patriots news Wednesdays at 12 noon.
