Commissioner Hairbrain Is Stuck in Mess of Own Making

[pbmax]

Any chance he has begun to think that Tagliabue had it right 4 years ago?

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/07/22/settlement-talks-have-occurred-in-brady-case/

Per the source, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is being pushed by a small handful of influential owners to hold firm on the four-game suspension. Working against that pressure, however, is the fear that the four-game suspension would be wiped out by a federal court.

Attorney Gregg Levy, who was one of the finalists for the job Goodell received in 2006, participated in the Brady appeal hearing as a legal consultant to the Commissioner. It’s believed that Levy has been warning Goodell that it will be difficult to make a suspension stick in court, even under the heightened standard that applies to challenging the outcome of a private arbitration agreement.

So while there’s still no good way out of this mess for Goodell, the safest course for him personally would be to hold firm and to force a court to reduce the suspension — since Goodell suffers little or no P.R. consequence when one of his disciplinary decisions is reduced or wiped out by someone else.

[Pugger]

From what I understand isn't the suspension more for Brady not cooperating and not being completely forthcoming in the investigation rather than the psi of those footballs? Wouldn't Brady's attorneys have to prove Goodell overstepped his bounds according to the CBA to get any suspension overturned?

[pbmax]

From what I understand isn't the suspension more for Brady not cooperating and not being completely forthcoming in the investigation rather than the psi of those footballs? Wouldn't Brady's attorneys have to prove Goodell overstepped his bounds according to the CBA to get any suspension overturned?

Well that is one of the wonderfully, completely undefined elements of Roger's action. Some piece of it is about cooperation. Some part of it is about the evidence of his knowledge of tampering.

But Brady will simply claim the team had all the info it needed from the two Patriot employee phones and no other communication occurred.

[Pugger]

If memory serves Wells asked Brady to have his lawyers check his phone and submit any communication concerning 'deflategate' but Brady basically refused. After this I'm not surprised Goodell isn't taking Brady's word for it that no other communication occurred. As long as Goodell followed the CBA protocol here I don't know what legal leg Brady has to stand on. But other players have had their suspensions reduced or rescinded in the past so who knows?

[King Friday]

I really don't see how Tom Brady and Greg Hardy could possibly serve the same suspension. That ultimately is the massive roadblock weighing on the mind of Goodell. I think Goodell wants to maintain the 4 games on Brady, because he looks like a major buffoon otherwise...but the reduction to Hardy's suspension is going to make people go absolutely nuts if they both have the same length when this is all said and done.

[Guiness]

I really don't see how Tom Brady and Greg Hardy could possibly serve the same suspension. That ultimately is the massive roadblock weighing on the mind of Goodell. I think Goodell wants to maintain the 4 games on Brady, because he looks like a major buffoon otherwise...but the reduction to Hardy's suspension is going to make people go absolutely nuts if they both have the same length when this is all said and done.

The league/commissioner wouldn't have this problem if they took a reasonable stance on being on the commissioner's special list as being 'time served'. Then they could say Hardy already served 15 games and is getting 4 more.

[pbmax]

I am not sure he intended this to be the way it works (as PFT seems to think in each of these cases) but Commish has become the maximalist in this situation. Always trying to push the envelope toward greater and greater sanctions.

If he was David Stern and scared everyone with his vocabulary (palaver) and beard



then it might work. But Stern was also a master coalition builder and resistance buster inside the owners' group (and definitely the players association) so he could bulldoze resistance as he created rules on the fly.

The NFL is much more staid and resistant to that kind of bullying leadership.

[Rastak]

The league/commissioner wouldn't have this problem if they took a reasonable stance on being on the commissioner's special list as being 'time served'. Then they could say Hardy already served 15 games and is getting 4 more.

Don't even get me started. That list that was created in the 70's but never used for this purpose until Adolph Godell decided it was a punishment free "make it go away" zone. Call it what it fucking is, you are suspended with pay. In most businesses that is indeed a free vacation. But in this business you have a limited shelf life so you have to be producing and putting it on tape all the time or your dollars tangibly start drying up. It is absolutely a punishment. What is the saying? Fines don't matter, when you take away playing time you get their attention.

[pbmax]

Don't even get me started. That list that was created in the 70's but never used for this purpose until Adolph Godell decided it was a punishment free "make it go away" zone. Call it what it fucking is, you are suspended with pay. In most businesses that is indeed a free vacation. But in this business you have a limited shelf life so you have to be producing and putting it on tape all the time or your dollars tangibly start drying up. It is absolutely a punishment. What is the saying? Fines don't matter, when you take away playing time you get their attention.

And it was amateur hour when the NFLPA didn't get a guarantee that the list would count as time served when they agreed to the new use of it in the first place.

[Rastak]

And it was amateur hour when the NFLPA didn't get a guarantee that the list would count as time served when they agreed to the new use of it in the first place.

Hey PB, when was it even discussed with the NFLPA? You might be referring to back channel discussions when then the Peterson thing hit. If so, the NFLPA fucked it up bad.

[Rastak]

Look, I'm not a big fan of what Greg Hardy did but to put that dude on a 16 game paid suspension while they fucked around? I mean, really? NFL needs to figure this shit out for good.

[pbmax]

Hey PB, when was it even discussed with the NFLPA? You might be referring to back channel discussions when then the Peterson thing hit. If so, the NFLPA fucked it up bad.

I know they were involved in the discussions. Whether they could have stopped it or not, I am unsure. But the issue was not raised by them at the time that I remember.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/09/17/petersons-agent-this-is-the-best-possible-outcome-given-the-circumstances/

[King Friday]

Don't even get me started. That list that was created in the 70's but never used for this purpose until Adolph Godell decided it was a punishment free "make it go away" zone. Call it what it fucking is, you are suspended with pay. In most businesses that is indeed a free vacation. But in this business you have a limited shelf life so you have to be producing and putting it on tape all the time or your dollars tangibly start drying up. It is absolutely a punishment. What is the saying? Fines don't matter, when you take away playing time you get their attention.

To someone like Hardy, it isn't a punishment though...more of an inconvenience only. Despite all the time off and the threat of a significant suspension hanging over him, he STILL signed a 1 year, $11-13M deal. He's probably laughing about how he smacks women around and gets away with it. It is a joke. God forbid you get involved in dog fighting...expect prison time and years out of the league. Smack a woman with a hand that is rightfully a deadly weapon...and the league simply hopes to give you a free vacation long enough for the whole deal to "blow over".

[pbmax]

To someone like Hardy, it isn't a punishment though...more of an inconvenience only. Despite all the time off and the threat of a significant suspension hanging over him, he STILL signed a 1 year, $11-13M deal. He's probably laughing about how he smacks women around and gets away with it. It is a joke. God forbid you get involved in dog fighting...expect prison time and years out of the league. Smack a woman with a hand that is rightfully a deadly weapon...and the league simply hopes to give you a free vacation long enough for the whole deal to "blow over".

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/incoming/article10422650.html

Without the a conviction (the jury trial he requested caused the charges to be dismissed) you are left with transcripts prepared by the defense and her original statement to police, which the article hints might have contained discrepancies.

So even if the testimony was the complete truth, the extreme nature of his attack cannot be accepted at face value based on available evidence. The NFL is left with a player who has embarrassed them and his team, got into an altercation with a women serious enough for the police to be called. But its unclear any suspension based the specific details of the night would stand. Hardy might still be contesting this in Court.

What I don't remember is whether there was physical evidence. Did she need to be treated for injuries?

[Guiness]

To someone like Hardy, it isn't a punishment though...more of an inconvenience only. Despite all the time off and the threat of a significant suspension hanging over him, he STILL signed a 1 year, $11-13M deal. He's probably laughing about how he smacks women around and gets away with it. It is a joke. God forbid you get involved in dog fighting...expect prison time and years out of the league. Smack a woman with a hand that is rightfully a deadly weapon...and the league simply hopes to give you a free vacation long enough for the whole deal to "blow over".

Considering the criminal charges didn't stick, the NFL was pushing things suspending him as long as they did. The charges were dropped, weren't they? I know it was a pretty fishy outcome in the courts, but that was the outcome.

How did the league sort it out with the teams re: cap space? I know the players get paid, but in the cases of Peterson and Hardy, do the teams end up with franchise tag level dead money against their cap?