Goodell is allowed to suspend Brown. More accurately, for once he stuck to the spirit of the agreement for once rather than exploiting a loophole that voids the section right next to it, which is supposed to be reserved for extraordinary cases.
I am with you. I fully expect Brown to be put on the Exempt List and essentially suspended after the league talks to the accuser, followed by a 6 game suspension. I just hope the investigation concludes quickly so this will make him available for the remainder of the season.
Goodell will likely jump at this opportunity to suspend Brown. All he needs to do is say he believes the accuser, and the public already hates Brown and wants to see him punished for a variety of reasons. He’ll score big points with everyone. The only chance Brown has is if Goodell decides to use this an opportunity to extend an olive branch to the NFLPA and pretend like he isn’t a backstabbing sack of **** by honoring the spirit of the CBA and the way previous NFL commissioners and other sports commissioners would honor their agreements rather than exploiting every loophole. This is only a possibility because the timing of this, with both sides hoping to avoid a work stoppage.
You’re right: if anyone thinks this has anything to do with Brown’s accuser’s credibility, they haven’t been paying attention to Goodell.