Roger Goodell ‘pleased’ with Brady appeal decision (of course)

In the least shocking news you will see today, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell thinks the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit got things right Monday when it reinstated Tom Brady’s four-game suspension for L’Affaire Deflategate and basically ruled that Article 46 of the collective bargaining agreement means Goodell can do whatever he wants when it comes to discipline.

Goodell appeared on Bloomberg TV Tuesday morning.

“We’re obviously pleased with the court’s decision. We think that was the right decision,” Goodell said. “They were very firm in their decision that that was within our authority and the judgments were based on solid facts. So we’re actually pleased with that, and we hope we can move on from there.”

Did he really say his decision was “based on solid facts”? Like the not-worth-the-paper-it’s-printed-on Wells report? Pardon us while we enjoy a good laugh.

(Still laughing.)

Ok, we’re back.

Goodell was also asked if this experience has made him think that either himself or the next commissioner should have less authority, and Goodell trotted out his favorite word while giving a roundabout answer that amounted to “no”.

“We think it’s important that the commissioner protect the integrity of the game, that you can’t entrust that to someone who has no understanding of our business, and the appellate court yesterday reaffirmed that. So we think this is an important element of our success,” he said. “We obviously have changed our discipline process through the years and we will continue to do that if we think it’s in the best interests of the NFL.”

Seriously: does he get a bonus every time he says “integrity of the game”?