NFLPA formally requests Goodell recuse himself from Brady appeal
The NFLPA said last week in its appeal letter on behalf of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady that commissioner Roger Goodell is “inherently biased” to decide his punishment. Tuesday, the NFLPA formally requested the commissioner to recuse himself as the arbitrator in the appeal hearing that will ultimately decide Brady’s punishment in the deflate-gate saga.
Goodell and executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent announced a suspension of four games for Brady in addition to a $1 million fine and loss of draft picks for the Patriots as a result of the findings in the Wells Report, which investigated the Patriots’ alleged effort to deflate footballs for a competitive advantage.
While Patriots owner Robert Kraft begrudgingly said Tuesday that he would not appeal the penalties levied on the franchise, Brady and the NFLPA predictably have fought back and seek a “neutral party to serve as an arbitrator” in the quarterback’s appeal.
“Given a process that has contained procedural violations of our collective bargaining agreement, the Commissioner’s role as a central witness in the appeal hearing and his evident partiality with respect to the Wells report, the Commissioner must designate a neutral party to serve as an arbitrator in this matter,” the NFLPA said. “The players also believe that the Commissioner’s history of inconsistently issuing discipline against our players makes him ill-suited to hear this appeal in a fair-minded manner.”
Though it’s pretty clear that Goodell had a major role in coming up with the four-game suspension, he ultimately assigned the duty to Vincent. Vincent was the one who sent Brady a strongly worded letter detailing the league’s position and reasoning for the suspension, but in its initial appeal letter, the NFLPA made it clear that it had problems with Vincent handing down the punishment to Brady. That sentiment is reiterated here.
Additionally, Goodell’s recent history in flubbing disciplinary matters clearly gives the NFLPA no confidence that he could make a fair ruling in this instance.
In the end, the NFLPA just wants the ability for a neutral observer to scrutinize the suspension in the same way the Patriots’ actions were scrutinized in the Wells Report, by a purported neutral party.
“If the NFL believes the Ted Wells report has credibility because it is independent, then the NFL should embrace our request for an independent review,” the NFLPA said.
Whether Goodell actually goes along with the request is anybody’s guess.
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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
