Roger Goodell and his team of suits are heading down the same road they traveled in 2012, when they suspended Jonathan Vilma and three other Saints for a pay-to-injure scheme.
That time, Goodell and the fellas ended up wrapped around a tree.
Vilma walked, never missing a game due to the suspension Goodell levied (a 16-game punishment). And Goodell got his face pushed in it.
He didn’t just get clowned by players like Drew Brees -- "Nobody trusts [Goodell]. Nobody trusts him," Brees told Sports Illustrated that summer. "I'm not talking about a DUI or using a gun in a strip club, which are pretty clear violations. I think there are too many times where the league has come to its decision in a case before calling a guy in, and the interview is just a façade. I think now if a guy has to come in to talk to Roger, he'll be very hesitant because he'll think the conclusion has already been reached."
He didn’t just get clowned in the court document submitted by attorney Jeffrey Kessler (Tom Brady’s attorney, as well) after Goodell upheld the suspension Goodell handed down -- Kessler wrote that Goodell "engaged in a farcical review (of the original suspensions), imposed the same judgment as previously imposed and continued his abuse of the process."
No, Goodell and the NFL got their wrist slapped regularly by U.S. District Court Judge Ginger Berrigan. In a September, 2012 ruling, Berrigan told Vilma and his fellow suspendees that they had to exhaust NFL appeals before she overturned Goodell’s punishment but added that she believed Goodell had wholly overstepped his bounds.
The league at least fastened its seatbelts this time. There was noteworthy saber-rattling in the letter released by the NFLPA Friday morning, warning the NFL a storm is coming, but the NFL knew that would be their stance.
So, by leaving the disciplining of the Patriots and Tom Brady to Troy Vincent, the Executive VP of Football Operations, Goodell attempted to put distance between himself and the punishment. The league no doubt will contend that if Goodell didn’t hand down the punishment, he can objectively rule on it.
That may seem illogical. Goodell handpicked Ted Wells to do the investigation. Goodell appointed Vincent to do the disciplining. Goodell authorized Vincent’s decision.
But we would be stupid to think the NFL is stupid. They have the CBA on their side and, in that agreement, the NFLPA agreed to give Goodell the power to hear appeals. Yes, it’s absurd to believe Goodell doesn’t have a vested interest in seeing the work of his investigator and the minion to whom he delegated the dirty work upheld. But the players knew that dynamic would exist before they entered into a contract allowing Goodell to do that.
Goodell’s powers to rule have taken hits in court. A May 6 ruling in the Missouri Supreme Court highlighted how the CBA contradicts itself when it comes to Goodell hearing disputes. That ruling will almost certainly be used by Kessler if and when Goodell throws out Brady’s appeal. It’s an important read today.
I think we can all agree that it looks like the NFL will get an ass-kicking in court given the flimsiness of the Wells Report conclusions and the puppet-master role of Goodell in the whole thing. The wheels of justice move slowly, though, so the ass-kicking won’t be quick.
Especially since the NFL and Goodell decided to lead with their chin. It will take a while for the NFLPA legal team to move that far south