Ring 6
PatsFans.com Supporter
PatsFans.com Supporter
2021 Weekly Picks Winner
2022 Weekly Picks Winner
- Joined
- Sep 13, 2004
- Messages
- 63,761
- Reaction score
- 14,113
There's more than one way to skin a cat. Brady can also claim that Goodell is being mean to him and his team in retaliation for Brady being a plaintiff in the prior anti-trust suit against the NFL. That would open the door to discovery of evidence of unfair/inconsistent treatment.
I think there are a number of ways Brady can attack this.
1) He intended to call Goodell as a witness, and asked Goodell to recuse himself because of that. Certainly in an arbitration hearing you are entitled to question the man who oversaw the investigation, gave the parameters to the investigator and no doubt instructed him on what he was hired to do. (Note that there is documentation that the Patriots ask Wells to look into matters involving misdeeds by the league and how they impacted the investigation and Wells says he wasn't hired to do so)
2) Unfair labor practices. Regardless of who is given power to punish and resolve appeals under a CBA there is still the matter that workers, particularly unionized workers are not allowed to be denied the right to work arbitrarily, capriciously or without proof. Brady is a unionized employee, and will have to be treated as such regardless of his stature. Assume Rosey the Riveter was suspended for 3 months (1/4 of a year as Brady is) for something she did not do because her union agreed to a weak set of standards, and then it was upheld by the employer. She would certainly be entitled to her day in court based upon there not being enough proof to deny her right to employment.
3) Perhaps the Brady vs NFL could be an issue showing bias.
4) The severity of the punishment, even if guilty is out of line with other punishments.
5) The league has operated in a bizarre fashion in denying due process. (Leaks, giving wrong data to team, and compelling them to not make it public when they did give the right data, etc)
I am sure there are more than that as well.