Felger: Reduction Of Hardy's Suspension Another Sign Of Goodell's Incompetence
BOSTON (CBS) -- The NFL reduced Greg Hardy's suspension from 10 games to four games on Friday, a move that has many scratching their heads.
Hardy is accused of assaulting his ex-girlfriend by throwing her onto a bed full of loaded guns and then smashing her head against a bathtub. Roger Goodell saw it fit to suspend the Cowboys defensive end for 10 games back just six weeks ago.
But now, Harold Henderson, appointed by Roger Goodell to hear Hardy's appeal, has cut it down to just four games.
Michael Felger said such a large reduction by the NFL is laughable.
"What I find outrageous is how is it 10 games one day and then four the next? Doesn't that shake your confidence, if it wasn't already, in [the NFL's] judgement. In this case, what changed between the initial finding and the appeal? How do you go from 10 to four when nothing happened?
"How? He chucked his girlfriend on a [bed] full of loaded [guns]. You read the thing and it's awful, just ridiculous of what the guy did. He was never charged, so maybe 10 games was too much. Maybe four games is too much. I'm not arguing that. He still threw her on a bed full of loaded guns and smashed her head against a tub. None of that changed. In [April] that's worth 10 games, but in July it's worth four? How?
"It's absurd. They have no idea what they're doing. They have no earthly idea what they're doing," Felger said of the league. "How is he sentenced to death one day, and out on parole the next?"
Felger next took aim at the commish.
"This is another piece of evidence that Goodell has no clue of what he's doing. He's incompetent," said Felger, frustrated in Robert Kraft's support in Goodell. "This guy is incompetent, and has no idea what he's doing. He's bad for the league."
Is this good news for Tom Brady, who awaits word from Goodell on his appeal of his four-game DeflateGate suspension?
"This is a bad guy doing bad stuff," Jim Murray said of Hardy. "I think we're going to see one game for Brady."
Felger agrees.
"I think it's very good news for Brady. I think it does set a precedent that the NFL is willing to drastically alter course," said Felger. "That is excellent news for Brady."