Edelman Suspension Appeal

[moosekill]

The league office is run by the teams. The teams are the ones who sit across the bargaining table from the union and create these rules. The teams pay Roger Goodell. I'm uncertain why there's a belief that the teams aren't getting exactly what they want.

I think Goodell's job is probably like herding cats. Trying to get all the owners to agree on things must be very tough. Although they may want him to flounder around and look like an idiot and take the pressure off them. I assume they just don't care and are happy making money, until they start making less money.

 

[Bill Lee]

Yeah, except that Brady didn't request that footballs be under-inflated.

Of course he didn't, but that's not the point of the post, the point is that the punishments the NFL hand out are absurd. Here we have a case of admitted sexual assault from a player with a past and it's just 3 games. We have a case of an out-and-out wife beater and it's one game. We have the case where even if true would be at best an equipment violation and instead it's four games. We have a guy smoking weed (yes, repeatedly, but still it's just weed) and its sixteen games. How does any of this make any sense?

 

[Tunescribe]

Of course he didn't, but that's not the point of the post, the point is that the punishments the NFL hand out are absurd. Here we have a case of admitted sexual assault from a player with a past and it's just 3 games. We have a case of an out-and-out wife beater and it's one game. We have the case where even if true would be at best an equipment violation and instead it's four games. We have a guy smoking weed (yes, repeatedly, but still it's just weed) and its sixteen games. How does any of this make any sense?

I know and I agree. My comment was aimed at Smith, not you.

 

[Joker]

The league office is run by the teams. The teams are the ones who sit across the bargaining table from the union and create these rules. The teams pay Roger Goodell. I'm uncertain why there's a belief that the teams aren't getting exactly what they want.

The Patriots TEAM got exactly what they want since this ****face Goodell took over in 2006? Seriously, do you follow the Patriots at all?

 

[Bill Lee]

I know and I agree. My comment was aimed at Smith, not you.

Thanks for making that clear. It really is an absurd situation the league has put itself in. Also Pats Nation is representing strongly on replies to Smith's twitter post, it's great to see!

 

[primetime]

The Patriots TEAM got exactly what they want since this ****face Goodell took over in 2006? Seriously, do you follow the Patriots at all?

With a net worth of $4.8 billion, I think Bob Kraft has gotten exactly what he wants. Fans don't own the team, and success on the field is purely second order concern for any owner in the league. The #brand doesn't give a **** about you.

 

[maust]

The teams pay Roger Goodell. I'm uncertain why there's a belief that the majority of teams aren't getting exactly what they want most of the time.

With just a slight edit there you have it. Most owners are perfectly content to watch the other guy get shived the same way most are fine with not going the extra mile to win. The small handful of owners who prioritize winning or who are willing to push back some still aren't about to go all Jerry Jones when things break against them because at the end of the day bu$ine$$ is bu$ine$$ and if you are 1 of the chosen 32 bu$ine$$ is very good indeed.

 

[LaterGator]

I think Goodell's job is probably like herding cats. Trying to get all the owners to agree on things must be very tough. Although they may want him to flounder around and look like an idiot and take the pressure off them. I assume they just don't care and are happy making money, until they start making less money.

More like he gets herded where most of the cats are going. Few know how to kiss @$$ as well as Roger.

 

[cmasspatsfan]

His job should include punishing players from different teams fairly. His inconsistency is what makes him and the league look like clowns.

 

[LaterGator]

His job should include punishing players from different teams fairly. His inconsistency is what makes him and the league look like clowns.

But his job IS to please a majority of the owners. Who by enlarge are an egotistical, petty group.

 

[primetime]

In the end, just remember Tom Brady is Robert Kraft's employee, not his friend. He's a transcendent talent that Kraft, sitting in a box, getting sloppy drunk, will happily bleed dry for billions to Brady's millions while Brady, Edelman, and the rest take the punishment and make the plays.

Goodell is the will of the owners made manifest, and the disciplinary procedures that are bargained are done so with the active consent of every owner.

 

[primetime]

I think Goodell's job is probably like herding cats. Trying to get all the owners to agree on things must be very tough. Although they may want him to flounder around and look like an idiot and take the pressure off them. I assume they just don't care and are happy making money, until they start making less money.

I suspect a lot of this kind of thing, like the substance abuse policy and that sort of thing, aren't really active concerns of management. It's a congealed groupthink that, yes, this is what must be done, and the more capriciously punitive we are on this, the more we impose our wills on labor.

 

[Deus Irae]

The league office is run by the teams. The teams are the ones who sit across the bargaining table from the union and create these rules. The teams pay Roger Goodell. I'm uncertain why there's a belief that the teams aren't getting exactly what they want.

It's probably because the teams are obviously not getting exactly what they want. There's a huge difference between getting enough of what you want to be happy, and getting everything. Goodell's a two edged sword, but he's been good with TV contracts, so they've kept him.

 

[SammyBlueCat]

I think Goodell's job is probably like herding cats. Trying to get all the owners to agree on things must be very tough. Although they may want him to flounder around and look like an idiot and take the pressure off them. I assume they just don't care and are happy making money, until they start making less money.

Believe me when I tell you herding cats requires a special touch.

 

[RayClay]

2. Does this "unknown substance" simply mean there was a spike in the chart that can't be attributed to any particular chemical they tested for, but that something was resident in Edelman's blood that isn't normal for humans to have?

Most likely, yes. A chromatogram such as below would have been generated. The people evaluating the data would try to identify what each peak corresponds to. Probably, a significant peak did not match any known substance.





3. And if so, could the unknown substance be something that's not illegal?

Yes, it could be. They also might suspect that it is a close family member of a known drug that is illegal, based upon where it appears in the spectrum above and based upon its molecular weight (the material is shunted to a mass spectrometer as each peak comes off the column.

4. And if so, wouldn't this circumstance already have been experienced and adjudicated by the NFL process, given that thousands of these tests have been done by now?

Yes, One would think that it would be extremely odd that Jules would have a substance in his blood or urine that had never shown up for any other player.

Could it be Kryptonite?

 

[fnordcircle]

Of course he didn't, but that's not the point of the post, the point is that the punishments the NFL hand out are absurd. Here we have a case of admitted sexual assault from a player with a past and it's just 3 games. We have a case of an out-and-out wife beater and it's one game. We have the case where even if true would be at best an equipment violation and instead it's four games. We have a guy smoking weed (yes, repeatedly, but still it's just weed) and its sixteen games. How does any of this make any sense?

Yeah I actually read it as that the idea of suspensions for that, even if you word it THAT way, is absurd.

 

[Mack Herron]

 

[Joey007]

********. At least tell us what he was suspended for. This reeks of another set up.

 

[LaterGator]

********. At least tell us what he was suspended for. This reeks of another set up.

The appeal and drug testing are handled by an independent mutually agreed upon board. Whatever the reason, they felt it was on the up and up.

 

[fnordcircle]

I won't lie, part of me wouldn't mind if this ended up linking back to Yoko Guerrero.

I know that would be bad for Tom but it sure would be a convenient way to solve this whole schism.