Report: Roger Goodell Rejects NFLPA's Request, Still Plans To Hear Tom Brady's Appeal
BOSTON (CBS) -- Roger Goodell has finally found time to give the NFLPA's written request its "full due consideration."
And Roger has decided to respond with a "Thanks, but no thanks."
The commissioner has rejected the NFLPA's request for him to recuse himself as the arbitrator in Tom Brady's appeal hearing.
ESPN's Adam Schefter first reported the news, followed by NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. NFL spokesman Greg Aiello then said that "no final decision" has been made, and Rapoport updated that such a statement is a mere technicality.
The NFLPA, both in letters to Troy Vincent and to Goodell, noted that it plans to call Goodell as an essential witness to the case, and therefore he would not be able to serve as both judge and witness.
"The players also believe that the Commissioner's history of inconsistently issuing discipline against our players makes him ill-suited to hear this appeal in a fair-minded manner," the letter to Goodell stated. "If the NFL believes the Ted Wells report has credibility because it is independent, then the NFL should embrace our request for an independent review."
A date has not yet been set for Brady's appeal of a four-game suspension, which was issued to him after a months-long, multi-million dollar investigation found that he "was at least generally aware" of illegal football manipulation, which was deemed "more likely than not" to have happened.
That this news broke after 4 p.m. on the Friday of a holiday weekend is, likely, no coincidence. It's a development that does not look great for a league that finds itself fending off more and more claims of a lack of credibility. NFLPA executive director took aim at the commissioner earlier on Friday, one day after The Washington Post's Sally Jenkins described the commissioner as "devious" for his role in "DeflateGate."
Indeed, pointing out the gaping holes in the Wells report and the logical flaws in the discipline process -- once the practice solely of folks in New England -- has spread into the national media.
Considering how sheepishly Goodell avoided any semblance of a tough line of questioning on Wednesday, and considering that he claimed to not have had enough time to read and digest the NFLPA's 119-word letter, it comes as little surprise that this news was released just as most folks in the country hit the road for the weekend.