Report: Roger Goodell's Role In Player Discipline Could Change
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- No matter where you stand on any one individual instance of NFL discipline, it's become clear in recent years that commissioner Roger Goodell has a tendency to miss the mark. And now, apparently, change may be coming.
According to The Washington Post's Mark Maske, the NFL and NFLPA have been negotiating a way to "modify" Goodell's role in handing out player discipline. Specifically, Maske reported, Goodell's role in the appeals process is what could change.
You'll remember that last year, it was technically NFL executive VP Troy Vincent who handed out the four-game suspension to Tom Brady, with Goodell "authorizing" the punishment. It was a technicality that allowed Goodell to serve as the arbitrator in Brady's eventual appeal. The NFLPA fought Goodell on that decision, but the commissioner determined that he was fit to serve as the neutral arbitrator. Unsurprisingly, Goodell ruled to uphold the original ruling, only to later get overturned in federal court by Judge Richard Berman, who elected to vacate the suspension.
It was not the first instance of player discipline that ended up getting overturned in court. Ray Rice won his case, as did Adrian Peterson. Two other notable instances of player discipline getting reversed came with the New Orleans Saints in "BountyGate" and Greg Hardy's domestic violence suspension. In the case of the Saints, it was former commissioner Paul Tagliabue who served as arbitrator and elected to vacate the player suspensions. In the case of Hardy, neutral arbitrator Harold Henderson reduced the suspension from 10 games to four games.
The matter has been a point of contention from the NFLPA for some time, as evidenced by NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith's comments following Judge Berman's ruling in "DeflateGate."
"This decision should prove, once and for all, that our Collective Bargaining Agreement does not grant this Commissioner the authority to be unfair, arbitrary and misleading. While the CBA grants the person who occupies the position of Commissioner the ability to judiciously and fairly exercise the designated power of that position, the union did not agree to attempts to unfairly, illegally exercise that power, contrary to what the NFL has repeatedly and wrongfully claimed," Smith said in September. "We are happy for the victory of the rule of law for our players and our fans. This court's decision to overturn the NFL Commissioner again should signal to every NFL owner that collective bargaining is better than legal losses. Collective bargaining is a much better process that will lead to far better results."
Maske reported that there's no timeframe on when an agreement could be reached, but it stands to reason that no change would be taking place before the league's Brady case is heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in March.