Poll: Predictions for outcome of Brady's appeal to Goodell

[QuantumMechanic]

Here's a poll for your predictions of the appeal to Goodell-bot only, not considering any future court case.

I admit to being somewhat up in the air on this. When the 4 games was announced I figured it was designed to be cut to two. But now with Brady reported as being (rightfully!) balls-to-the-wall to get it completely lifted, including going to court, I think Goodell will leave it at four.

Why?

Because if Brady is going to go to court for any non-zero suspension, what is Goodell-bot's incentive to lower but not reduce the suspension? So now I think he'll either leave it unchanged (to show how loud and in charge he is) or eliminate it (to make the lawsuit go away). No middle ground. And of those two choices, since Goodell-bot is a power-hungry vain idiot, I think he leaves it unchanged.

 

[Ross12]

I voted for 1 game for lack of cooperation, as a pleading last effort by Goodell to entice Brady to keep it out of court while still being able to say "I served justice." Brady will go to court anyway, though.

 

[FirstAndGoal]

I think Goodell doesn't budge. This is going to the mats.

 

[JMC00]

Don't expect anything for at least a month.

Greg Hardy's appeal was May 28th and there has been no ruling.

 

[RelocatedPatFan]

If Goodell (and his team of advisers) have any sense, they'll want this to stay out of court.

 

[JMC00]

Also if Goodell continues with the non-cooperation stuff that's actually a victory for Brady. No player has ever been suspended for non-cooperation.. Favre refused to hand over his phone and he was fined only $50k

 

[resdubwhite]

See you in court Rodge. You ****ing hack

 

[Kdo5]

Nothing more than a reduction to two games.

 

[goheels22002]

Under Tom Brady's withering gaze, Goodell will fold like a cheap Jets tailgate chair.

 

[varjao]

If Goodell decides to reduce the suspension to 2 games and Brady refuses, going to court, then if he loses in court, he would serve 2 or 4 games? My question is can Goodell play with some take it or leave it deal? Because once he decided the punishment of 2 games is reasonable and offered that, enforcing 4 afterwards would be a testament of his dictatorship.

 

[NashuaPats]

Full exoneration of Brady
Full exoneration of the team
All penalties removed
An apology to Brady and Kraft
Goodell and Wells in cages outside Gillette stadium with barrels full of rotten fruit for fans to pelt them.

I may be aiming high.

 

[hambone1818]

I voted for 1 game for lack of cooperation, as a pleading last effort by Goodell to entice Brady to keep it out of court while still being able to say "I served justice." Brady will go to court anyway, though.

Yeah I'm with you, though even this doesn't make logical sense for Goodell. He really has no good recourse (aww, poor Rog): leave it at 4 and get hammered in court; reduce the suspension--admitting faulty logic used the first time around--to 1 or 2 games, but without full exoneration Brady still takes it to court and he gets hammered; eliminate suspension thereby admitting complete incompetence on his and Wells' part, then people start questioning the logic of the Patriots penalties and once they realize the arbitrary nature of the original penalties that points the microscope back on Goodell, the media start asking questions about Mort's report, the letter to the Patriots, etc etc. Goodell doesn't want that either.

No good recourse for Goodell here. I HOPE he keeps it at 4 games--hard-headed buffoon that he is--though I really think he'll try to appease Brady with a reduction to 1 game. And then we all have to hope that Brady will tell him to pound sand, file a defamation suit (very hard to prove but that Mort report looks mighty injurious and after months it still wasn't corrected) and drag the NFL through court proceedings where they, Wells and Exponent will look like fools.

 

[The Gr8est]

Full exoneration of Brady
Full exoneration of the team
All penalties removed
An apology to Brady and Kraft
Goodell and Wells in cages outside Gillette stadium with barrels full of rotten fruit for fans to pelt them.

I may be aiming high.

You are aiming low, what about the overblown Spygate penalties?

 

[jah]

If you think the appeal is going to result in anything positive for the New England Patriots (sans ownership), you clearly haven't been following this whole affair.

First it was: "This is stupid, it will either blow over and be forgotten or we'll get a small fine." Cue the Wells Report.

Next: "At least the Wells Report will exonerate us after a full investigation; after all, this is stupid in the first place." Oops.

Then, it was: "There's no proof at all in this Wells Report and it proves that if anyone did anything, it was Brady. Therefore, a team punishment would make no sense." 1st rounder, 4th rounder, $1,000,000.

Then, it was: "At least Kraft will put up a good fight because he's done taking Goodell's ****." -suicide emoji-

Then, it was: "Maybe the appeal will work out; Brady's clearly in the right and any neutral entity would recognize that." Of course Goodell takes on the appeal.

The suspension is here to stay. Goodell made his decision months ago.

 

[DarrylS]

He will not go lower than 1 game, and even if he did, Brady would not accept unless it gave him full exoneration.. which will never happen as Rogah has to save face and justify the Wells Study..

This will wind up in the legal system, where Brady will prevail and there will be implications for due process in similar matters in all future NFLPA matters..

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Now that push has come to shove, IMO it's either zero or four.

It all comes down to which of a bad set of options Goodell has decided will make it most likely that he holds onto his job. We have to remember that this no longer has anything to do with the merits of the case but is only a matter of how Goodell thinks he is most likely to hold onto his job.

Why zero? Goodell recognizes that this is the only way to keep this from going to Court, which will result in a proceeding that will cost him his job when the entire process is exposed as a fraud, including through a deposition process that will require Kensil and Colts/Ravens officials to turn over their phone and email records and testify under oath. He decides that he can weather the storm from the owners after he announces his decision.

Why four? Goodell concludes that he's more likely to hold onto his job by seeing this all the way through to the end than by by admitting that he wasted $5 million of the Owners' money on a report that has more holes in it than a screen door and that the League started with a verdict and then used the report as "proof." He decides that he is better off explaining a defeat in the courts to the owners than "capitulation" to Brady and the NFLPA.

Why nothing "in between?" The worst of both worlds for Goodell: he ends up in court and still looks wishy-washy to the owners. Brady and the NFLPA have sent more signals than a catcher in the bottom of the ninth of the seventh game of a World Series that they are going to court unless Brady is completely exonerated. They started sending those signals by hiring Jeffrey Kessler, by the obvious leaks through Curran and Palantonio and by helping orchestrate the AEI report and numerous articles in respected media outlets.

OK. Where do I come down?
i can see this going either way, but I'm going with Zero. Goodell decides that another major loss in court will get him fired.

 

[Nunchucks]

I am pretty sure this is going to court. Goodell will not exonerate Brady, so away we go.

 

[FreeTedWilliams]

The problem here for Goodell is that either way, he is going to look like a smuck, it only depends how long he wishes to drag this on.

If he drops it down to one game, it will mean that they will open the NFL with this stupid Framegate as the major talking point of the opening night, not good for the NFL.

If he keeps it in place, Brady will surely sue, and this drags on forever and once again, he gets whipped in court.

If he drops the suspension all together, then he again looks like a smuck for choosing and paying Wells 5 million.

If I'm Kraft, I want Brady to take this to court and get exonerated, then I can go back and attack the punishment from the league. Man everytime, I think about how Kraft laid down for this, it just pisses me off more and more.

My bet is that everytime, we think something positive is going to come out of this, it turns out to be exactly the opposite. I hope I'm wrong, but I think the suspension is going to get dropped to two games and Kraft is going to convince Brady to eat it and the Pats will forever be tarnished as cheaters.

 

[Gronkowski123]

the suspension stays...goodell is a cretin.
brady's going to have to go to court over air in a football.

 

[The Gr8est]

Don't expect anything for at least a month.

Greg Hardy's appeal was May 28th and there has been no ruling.

Not only that, but since there are no good options for the Omissioner, I would expect him to drag it out as long as possible.

Can Brady get a provisional court injunction delaying the imposition of the penalty based on a potential court case that is being delayed because Goodell is taking so long to give a ruling?