Posted on 05/15/2015 12:37:57 PM PDT by drewh
May 15, 8:45 a.m. ET: The league confirmed to NFL Media’s Albert Breer that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell indeed will hear Tom Brady’s appeal of his four-game suspension.
Tom Brady’s fate reportedly rests in the hands of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
Goodell will hear Brady’s four-game Deflategate suspension appeal, as first reported by Bleacher Report’s Mike Freeman.
NFL executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent, not Goodell, handed down the suspension on Brady. Goodell “authorized” the discipline imposed by Vincent.
The commissioner said in a statement earlier this week: “We reached these decisions after extensive discussion with Troy Vincent and many others. We relied on the critical importance of protecting the integrity of the game and the thoroughness and independence of the Wells Report.”
If Brady and the NFL Players Association don’t accept Goodell’s appeal ruling, they can take the case to federal court.
Brady was suspended based on Ted Wells’ findings in his Deflategate investigation.
The Patriots sent out a rebuttal to the report Thursday night.
(Excerpt) Read more at nesn.com ...
Thank you for the link. It is very informative.
You may have noticed that my post was framed as a question. The reason being — having not followed this story, I had question.
Listen politely. Then double it.
L
The original ruling was handed down by Troy Vincent, the NFL's executive vice president of football operations. Not only was he a former player, but he was also the president of the NFLPA for four years, too. His credibility is pretty strong.
Except the NFLPA has now stated that the process has been fundamentally flawed, and that they plan to call Goodell as a witness in the proceedings. Based on the normal procedures of the appeals process, Goodell can’t be both a witness and the arbitrator.
In other words, the PA has come out for Brady and is acting to prevent Goodell from judging the appeal. This will make things very interesting...
I can understand your initial reaction. The Patriots have done a good job of throwing up a smokescreen to mislead casual readers.
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