Freeman: Goodell will Hear Brady's Appeal

Rob0729 said:

I don't get this move by Goodell. It only guarantees this is going to court. It only makes Brady's case stronger when he does go to court. It seems like a major misstep to gain a short term win of PR until the courts make him look foolish.

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Yes, legally it seems it's a very foolish move.

His other option was allowing the Wells report to be argued in front of an independent arbitrator.

Oh, wait....maybe this is the better option.

What happens after Goodell keeps the suspension and Brady takes him to court? Can Brady still play until the courts heara the case and makes a decesion?

Smart move by Goodell. An idependent arbitrator may have seen the holes in the wells report and reverse the decision. There is no way in hell that will happen now.

PugBrady said:

Yes, legally it seems it's a very foolish move.

His other option was allowing the Wells report to be argued in front of an independent arbitrator.

Oh, wait....maybe this is the better option.

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No he could have given it to his flunky Harold Henderson and give the appearance of looking like it isn't a kangaroo court.

BTW, I think the last time Goodell heard an appeal was against the Bountygate players which of course his ruling was thrown out in court and the judge forced him to select a new independent arbitrator (Tagliabue) who rescinded all of the suspensions.

They are totally confident that Brady is going to turtle and not fight this; they think he did it and doesn't want to risk court.

Rob0729 said:

Yeah, I am no lawyer, but this move seems to all but guarantee Brady will lose his appeal, but strengthen any legal case against the League.

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Yep. Goodell upholds it, Doty overturns it. Goodell looks good in the eyes of Pats haters and people that think Brady should have got suspended

Only thing is it may ultimately be his downfall, as this may infuriate Kraft even more after he upholds the suspension. Goodell must think he has the votes from the owners.

Would be hilarious if he thought he had the votes and then just before the season there is a No Confidence Vote that goes against him.

The no confidence vote could come next week

The more ferocious this gets with the NFL Commissioner, the better it will be for Tom's legacy.

We all know Roger will one day be disgraced and run out of the league. If Tom Brady has a high profile war against him over false allegations, that's going to just play great 20 years from now. The narrative will shift over time from "the cheating Patriots" to "Tom was so ****ing awesome, the league was conspiring to drop him down a notch out of jealousy and a rivals hatred."

Bring on the battle.

When I look back on my life, I'll truly be embarrassed of how big a fan of this "league" I used to be.

If the Patriots story is true, as I believe it is, then Goodell would be wise to resign over this, and if not, he should be fired and the NFL offices that partook in the sting and biased investigation should be fired.

Tunescribe said:

Poor Troy Vincent. *****-slapped by Brady on the field, then by his boss and again by Brady off the field. He might come out of this feeling quite "used."

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Vincent is an interesting guy. He was president of the NFLPA for awhile and now he works for the league. So basically he was a big pro Union guy who got bought out. Regardless of what people might think of unions it's interesting to me that he basically tossed his principles aside for a pay raise. I suppose a lot of people would do that, but Troy Vincent isn't a lot of people. He's a league official and in the public eye.

@Mark Herron

JMC00 said:

Jeff Kessler is not brought in if you want to reduce a suspension. He is brought in when you are looking to get it completely overturned.

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Not sure why that post deserved a dislike.

voluntarysaftey said:

If the Patriots story is true, as I believe it is, then Goodell would be wise to resign over this, and if not, he should be fired and the NFL offices that partook in the sting and biased investigation should be fired.

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Goodell has about 20M reasons per year not to resign over anything.

The NFLPA will probably seek an injunction tomorrow from the NLRB against Goodell from hearing the appeal on the grounds that he can't be an objective arbitrator. The NLRB will determine if he can hear appeals.

Unfortunately, the chairman of the board of the NLRB is a lawyer named Mark Gaston Pearce from Buffalo! http://www.nlrb.gov/who-we-are/board/mark-gaston-pearce

Ruh-Roh!

The NLRB will rule for Goodell, who will uphold the ruling. Brady will sit.

Brady2Moss said:

Goodell rips off his mask during the hearing and is actually Ernie Adams, revealing himself as belichicks deepest mole in the NFL front offices, completely lifting the suspension and giving us 3 first round picks

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Mission Improbable.

Deep Threat ‏@DeeepThreat 36m36 minutes ago
Roger Goodell presiding over Tom Brady's appeal hearing is like my ex-mother-in-law presiding over my divorce settlement

I lol'd

Brady2Moss said:

When I look back on my life, I'll truly be embarrassed of how big a fan of this "league" I used to be.

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I feel like I'm there already...

I may be wrong, but Goodell is giving Brady an unfair labor practice suit which would allow him to sue without turning over his cell phone (which many in the media think is keeping him from suing). He would only have to do it in a defamation case.

I personally don't the cell phone is the issue that the media makes it. I think Brady didn't trust giving it to Wells because he knew Wells would twist the texts. I don't know if would be as unwilling if his lawyers could limit the scope and what can be brought into a case and how the texts are portrayed under the supervision of a federal judge.

Sfpat said:

The no confidence vote could come next week

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Perhaps. Kraft will certainly have an opportunity to talk to i=other owners, and lay Kraft's options on the table.

PATS16N0 said:

Goodell has about 20M reasons per year not to resign over anything.

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I'm pretty sure it's almost twice that amount, climbing in the high 30's.

For what it's worth, I've also read that Kraft is one of only three owners who determine his salary every year, although I haven't been able to confirm this anywhere else yet.

I get the feeling that Roger Goodell doesn't really want to suspend Brady. That is why he: distanced himself from the punishment; waited for the Patriots to point out holes in Ted Wells report; assigned himself to hear Brady's appeal;

I think Brady's suspension will be lifted and he will be slapped with a fine for not providing his cell phone. Goodall needs to appear tough in front of other owners and fans, but he also needs to appear that he is: fair in the appeal process; willing to make improvement to procedure carried out by the league; does want to be one to destroy the legacy of the greatest QB ever to play the game.