U.S. Appeals Court: Roger Goodell is basically a dictator, so Tom Brady's suspension is back on

Biggest railroad job ever upheld

, --April 26, 2016

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It apparently doesn't matter that the "evidence" Tom Brady cheated is as thin as a wafer, nor does it matter that Roger Goodell provided no real due process in deciding to suspend him for four games. In fact, according to the U.S. Court of Appeals, that's the whole point. As they read the NFL's collective barganing agreement with the NFL Players Association, Goodell can pretty much do whatever he wants. Thus, Brady's suspension for supposedly having footballs deflated prior to the 2015 AFC Championship Game is back on:
In a 33-page decision, the second circuit court's decision can be boiled down to the following statement: "We hold that the commissioner properly exercised his broad discretion under the collective bargaining agreement and that his procedural rulings were properly grounded in that agreement and did not deprive Brady of fundamental fairness. Accordingly, we reverse the judgement of the district court and remand with instructions to confirm the award." NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell talked about the personal importance of this appeal during his annual address at the Super Bowl back in February. His comments seemed to foreshadow Monday's ruling, which puts New England in a difficult position as they approach the NFL Draft. The team already lost a first-round pick due to the deflated football incident. "This is not an individual player issue, this is about the rights that we negotiated in our collective bargaining agreement," Goodell said at the time. "We think they're very clear. We think they're important to the league going forward and we disagree with the district judge decision. We are appealing that -- which is part of the legal process -- I am not focused on that right now."
I'm not entirely sure what Goodell meant when he claimed not to be focused on it. Sounds to me like he was singularly obsessed with it, mainly because it's all about everyone respecting his authoritah. During the 2014 season, Goodell ran wild with player suspensions, which ran the gamut depending on Goodell's whim and what he perceived the mood of the public to be. First he gave Ray Rice of the Ravens a mere two-game suspension for clocking his wife in an elevator, prompting a massive public backlash that saw the Ravens somewhat bail Goodell out by releasing Rice. Then he swung way in the other direction and suspended Adrian Peterson of the Vikings for, well, until Roger Goodell was good and ready to let him come back. This arose from a police report that Peterson had disciplined his young son very harshly with a switch, resulting in a police investigation in Texas. It was an ugly situation, but there was no precedent for Goodell to just tell a player he couldn't come back until meeting a constantly moving series of requirements. Goodell was making it up as he went along because the public mood was angrily against Peterson, and Goodell was stung by the criticism he'd been too light on Ray Rice. (Disclosure: Yes, I'm a Vikings fan and it irritated me that my team lost its best player for almost an entire season. Not gonna lie. If you want to try to use that as a defense of Goodell's actions, go ahead.) By the time the Indianapolis Colts claimed a football they intercepted felt soft, prompting a setup "investigation" by a plant named Ted Wells, Goodell was obsessed with the PR of each and every situation that arose. The media gleefully built the narrative that Brady and the Patriots were "cheaters," and even after they beat the Seahawks in the Super Bowl under such public scrutiny that they couldn't possibly have cheated, it didn't matter. Goodell was going to do what Goodell wanted to do, and he gave the mob their pound of flesh because he was convinced that as commissioner he could do whatever he wanted.
And apparently, according to the Court of Appeals, he can. It must be good to be king. That said, Brady did outmaneuver him somewhat by restructuring his contract so that his base salary for the 2016 season is "only" $1 million. As such, the suspension without pay for four games won't cost him nearly as much as it would have in 2015, and he'll make up the rest on bonuses and other non-guaranteed money he'll still get. By the way, the Patriots open the season with a tough road game at Arizona, followed by three home games against the Dolphins, Texans and Bills. They might have lost the Arizona game even with Brady, and my guess is they beat the Bills even without him. How they do in the other two games will determine whether the Brady suspension really hurts them all that much. The Patriots are a better team than the Dolphins, but that didn't stop them from losing to them late last season. And the Texans are a very schizo team that once again has a new quarterback - this time Brock Osweiler - who may or may not be as good as his Broncos teammates made him look when he filled in last year for Peyton Manning. If I had to guess, I'd say the Patriots come out of the Brady suspension 3-1, with backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo playing well enough to take the home games until Brady returns. I would relish the prospect of the Patriots once again winning the Super Bowl and embarrassing the dictator Goodell, but of course I can't do that because this is the year Teddy Bridgewater takes the Vikings to Valhalla. I'll have to be satisfied watching Goodell wince as he hands the MVP award to Adrian Peterson. And oh yes, I will.

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Dan Calabrese——

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