The mess Goodell created will weaken the NFL, owners and their control over the NFLPA going forward. This will definitely affect the next CBA.
I agree with the sentiment that Goodell is holding firm on the punishment because it will be better for him to have a judge overturn the penalty than caving in to a settlement. If he settles or vacates Brady’s punishment, it would bring the Patriot's team penalties into question. Regardless of how the judge rules the team penalties will still stand. Goodell has caused so much damage to one of the NFL's best franchises. This is not good for the league. The team and fans will not be able to escape the chant of cheaters from across the country. All because Goodell is incapable of ruining a fair and honest operation. It's funny how he touts the would "integrity", he is a disgrace!
I believe that despite having some owners in his back pocket, the problems he’s created will force them to get rid of him.
Two words have jumped off the paper of both briefs, “authority” and “independent”.
Authority: It has been clearly stated that the commissioner has final authority over all matters. It appears that this authority has been in the CBA for a very long time.
The NFL brief states,
“For decades, the CBA has expressly authorized the Commissioner both to define conduct detrimental to the integrity of the game of professional football and to discipline a player, including by suspension, for engaging in such conduct.”
“The NFLPA now asks this Court to upend the procedures that the parties negotiated and agreed to for resolving disputes and to substitute its own judgment for that of the Commissioner, who has long held exclusive authority for protecting the integrity of the game. “
So for decades, the NFL Commissioner has had the exclusive authority to hand out punishment. As well as having authority over the appeal and arbitration processes. I could be wrong, but I couldn’t find any major abuses of power during the Rozelle and Tagliabue regimes. The fact that the abuse of power didn’t appear to exist prior to Goodell is probably the reason it remains in the CBA. I’ve got to believe that this will be a huge issue when the next CBA is discussed. In fact, this might be one of the most important pieces for the union to rip out during negotiations. The NFL had this power uncontested and Goodell just pissed it away. This will obviously weaken the NFL’s position in disputes against the NFLPA in the future.
Independent: The NFL conveniently used this term to try and show their fairness. The comments in the NFL brief stating that the independent part of the NFLPA filings doesn’t matter is admittance that an independent investigation didn’t exist. It seems to be a throw away comment by the NFL, like who cares if it was independent or not. The problem is that not only does it raise questions about previous NFL/NFLPA cases and finding but will cause the NFL problems going forward. Who in their right mind is going to cooperate with any NFL investigation knowing that despite the NFL’s insistence, the investigation is not independent and it certainly won't be fair. Jim Turner, the line coach from the Dolphins talked about being railroaded and deceived by Ted Wells during the bullying investigation. Nobody seemed to care about his rant back then. Going forward, I got to believe this type of thing will get more coverage. In fact, someone on the national level should dig Jim up and stick a microphone in his face., I think he is still out of work due to the "independent" Wells report.
WOW – This guy had a good thing and he royally screwed it up. Any owner with a brain has to see the damage caused by his arrogance.
The NFL brief is total crap. It states that the commissioner has the right to do what they want, period end of story. I’m hopeful that the judge will rip them but I know that crazier things have happened.
If the NFL prevails, the damage to Goodell’s shield has been done and cannot be repaired.
If Brady wins, unfortunately he and the Patriots will still be viewed as cheaters by many. But the damage will be real for the league. They will have less power going forward thanks to Goodell. No one will believe that any NFL investigation is fair which will probably lead to more high profile court cases. They will use Brady’s case as precedent and will challenge the shield’s authority at every turn.
Again, regardless of the result, the mishandling of this case will cause major issues for the owners going forward. For that reason, they have no choice but to dump this turd and make nice with the NFLPA prior to the next CBA.
Just my two cents.
I agree with the sentiment that Goodell is holding firm on the punishment because it will be better for him to have a judge overturn the penalty than caving in to a settlement. If he settles or vacates Brady’s punishment, it would bring the Patriot's team penalties into question. Regardless of how the judge rules the team penalties will still stand. Goodell has caused so much damage to one of the NFL's best franchises. This is not good for the league. The team and fans will not be able to escape the chant of cheaters from across the country. All because Goodell is incapable of ruining a fair and honest operation. It's funny how he touts the would "integrity", he is a disgrace!
I believe that despite having some owners in his back pocket, the problems he’s created will force them to get rid of him.
Two words have jumped off the paper of both briefs, “authority” and “independent”.
Authority: It has been clearly stated that the commissioner has final authority over all matters. It appears that this authority has been in the CBA for a very long time.
The NFL brief states,
“For decades, the CBA has expressly authorized the Commissioner both to define conduct detrimental to the integrity of the game of professional football and to discipline a player, including by suspension, for engaging in such conduct.”
“The NFLPA now asks this Court to upend the procedures that the parties negotiated and agreed to for resolving disputes and to substitute its own judgment for that of the Commissioner, who has long held exclusive authority for protecting the integrity of the game. “
So for decades, the NFL Commissioner has had the exclusive authority to hand out punishment. As well as having authority over the appeal and arbitration processes. I could be wrong, but I couldn’t find any major abuses of power during the Rozelle and Tagliabue regimes. The fact that the abuse of power didn’t appear to exist prior to Goodell is probably the reason it remains in the CBA. I’ve got to believe that this will be a huge issue when the next CBA is discussed. In fact, this might be one of the most important pieces for the union to rip out during negotiations. The NFL had this power uncontested and Goodell just pissed it away. This will obviously weaken the NFL’s position in disputes against the NFLPA in the future.
Independent: The NFL conveniently used this term to try and show their fairness. The comments in the NFL brief stating that the independent part of the NFLPA filings doesn’t matter is admittance that an independent investigation didn’t exist. It seems to be a throw away comment by the NFL, like who cares if it was independent or not. The problem is that not only does it raise questions about previous NFL/NFLPA cases and finding but will cause the NFL problems going forward. Who in their right mind is going to cooperate with any NFL investigation knowing that despite the NFL’s insistence, the investigation is not independent and it certainly won't be fair. Jim Turner, the line coach from the Dolphins talked about being railroaded and deceived by Ted Wells during the bullying investigation. Nobody seemed to care about his rant back then. Going forward, I got to believe this type of thing will get more coverage. In fact, someone on the national level should dig Jim up and stick a microphone in his face., I think he is still out of work due to the "independent" Wells report.
WOW – This guy had a good thing and he royally screwed it up. Any owner with a brain has to see the damage caused by his arrogance.
The NFL brief is total crap. It states that the commissioner has the right to do what they want, period end of story. I’m hopeful that the judge will rip them but I know that crazier things have happened.
If the NFL prevails, the damage to Goodell’s shield has been done and cannot be repaired.
If Brady wins, unfortunately he and the Patriots will still be viewed as cheaters by many. But the damage will be real for the league. They will have less power going forward thanks to Goodell. No one will believe that any NFL investigation is fair which will probably lead to more high profile court cases. They will use Brady’s case as precedent and will challenge the shield’s authority at every turn.
Again, regardless of the result, the mishandling of this case will cause major issues for the owners going forward. For that reason, they have no choice but to dump this turd and make nice with the NFLPA prior to the next CBA.
Just my two cents.
