There's been a lot of this over the last few years, hasn't there?
Goodell talking about the CBA and absolute power, and the courts slapping him around in the end? I think he's been convinced, either by himself or somebody (an owner or three) that the NFL can simply outspend the NFLPA if it comes down to it.
I've sort of noticed something a bit more nefarious in all this that I don't see being brought up.
Not only does Goodell think he has absolute power outside the law or judicial review to do whatever he wants - but this is now, what, four, five, six cases in a row where the NFL just keeps these going on as long as they can, knowing they've lost, just because...what?
I'm starting to see a real attempt to try to break the NFLPA union.
Brady might be the biggest profile to this point, but it's not going to be the last. Goodell inferred from his "close relationship" with Benedict Kraft that Brady wasn't a "union guy", and gleaned that he would roll pretty fast if even the slightest pressure was put on him, and that he sure wouldn't go to the NFLPA for help.
He was wrong, and pissed that he did, hence this complete sham. Because if he wins this, he really can do whatever he wants, and there's nothing the NFLPA can do, and really no reason for them to exist.
The fact that Brady's not the most beloved guy with the players in the NFLPA doesn't hurt matters in Goodell's eyes either.
Think about it, if the NFL succeeds. If there's no union, the NFL owners can pay whatever they want, suspend whoever they want, and make even more money than what they're making now. If the players are simply considered "At-Will" employees in a majority of "right-to-work" states, this is what would happen.