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Leagues and Governing Bodies

NFL Appeals Peterson Decision; Result To Sway Goodell's Authority Over Player Discipline

Vikings RB Adrian Peterson "finally got a legal victory Thursday with a federal judge’s reinstatement order" following his child abuse case, but the ruling "was swiftly appealed by the NFL," according to Rochelle Olson of the Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE. A daylong "burst of legal activity" left Peterson's status with the Vikings "virtually unchanged." The team "released a two-sentence statement saying Peterson’s status is in the hands of the league, the players’ union and the legal system." The day began with U.S. District Judge David Doty "siding with Peterson" and the NFLPA. Doty said that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell "lacked authority to suspend the running back for more than two games." NFLPA Exec Dir DeMaurice Smith called the ruling “a victory for the rule of law, due process and fairness.” Olson notes Doty’s order "sided squarely with the NFLPA’s arguments, giving no traction to the NFL’s position on anything." In response, the NFL "did two things: It put Peterson back on the commissioner’s exempt list ... and filed notice of an appeal to the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court, based in St. Louis." The league in a statement said, “We believe strongly that Judge Doty’s order is incorrect and fundamentally at odds with well-established legal precedent governing the district court’s role in reviewing arbitration decisions" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 2/27). Eighth U.S. Circuit Court clerk Michael Gans said that the appeal "will be heard by a three-judge panel at the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis." Gans said, "We could conceivably hear this maybe as early as the May court session, but June most likely." In St. Paul, Brian Murphy in a front-page piece notes Doty's ruling "echoed a decision by U.S. District Judge Barbara Jones, who as an arbitrator overturned Ray Rice's indefinite suspension for domestic violence" (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 2/27).

SETTING A PRECEDENT: THE MMQB's Greg Bedard notes this is a "big precedent case for the NFL, so it’s not surprising that it appealed." If Doty’s ruling stands, it "basically ties the NFL’s hands when it comes to disciplining players for bad acts that happened prior to Goodell strengthening the personal conduct policy" after the Rice case. To those "in and around the NFL, this is another blow against Goodell’s power and decision making." Both previous landmark cases "appealed during his tenure" -- the Saints’ bounty scandal and Rice -- have "been struck down or amended by a neutral arbitrator." Bedard: "You’d hope, at some point, Goodell would wise up and realize if he doesn’t come up with a uniform enforcement policy, he’s going to continue to be on the losing end of these decisions" (MMQB.SI.com, 2/27). USA TODAY's Jarrett Bell writes the case underscores "the need for the NFL and its players union to find some middle ground in implementing the new personal conduct policy that was instituted in December" (USA TODAY, 2/27). In Boston, Ron Borges calls the case "another judicial rejection of Goodell’s frontier justice." The "next time he or one of his handpicked henchmen overturns his rulings would be the first time." Borges: "You can’t punish someone with a law that didn’t exist at the time of his transgression" (BOSTON HERALD, 2/27). SI.com's Michael McCann noted if Doty’s order stands, it would "serve as a significant legal victory" for Peterson, but "arguably even more significant for the NFLPA, which gains a favorable legal precedent on the limits of Goodell’s ability to suspend players." The NFL reinstating Peterson "would be tantamount to Goodell admitting he was wrong," which could "lead to more questions about his job security" (SI.com, 2/26).

GUT REACTIONS: In St. Paul, Tom Powers writes the NFL eventually "will throw in the towel on this case and resume extorting money from various communities for stadiums and improvements while also grubbing for every loose dollar on the American landscape" (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 2/27). Meanwhile, ESPN.com’s Andrew Brandt said, “I’m told from people around the NFL they don’t like this opinion in terms of it legalities. Overturning an arbitrator requires a very high standard. They think Judge Doty inserted his own opinion here and they stand by someone beating a child and what they gave as punishment for that” (“OTL,” ESPN, 2/26). ESPN’s Trey Wingo said, “This is becoming less and less about Adrian Peterson and more about the NFL finding that judges, on a consistent basis, are saying, ‘You can’t do just whatever you want with these players?’” The net’s Jeff Saturday said the “biggest point … is about the due process. Is the player being treated fairly? Whether you like it or you don’t like it, at least it’s consistent.” ESPN’s Mark Schlereth said the league cannot “circumvent the rules that were collectively bargained” (“NFL Live,” ESPN, 2/26). Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio: “The only fair way to do it is have a truly neutral person involved who makes the decisions, and the fact that the NFL keeps losing when a neutral party is involved suggests that maybe the NFL isn’t making the best decisions” (“PFT,” NBCSN, 2/26).
 
PLAYERS GONNA PLAY? In Minneapolis, Matt Vensel writes with Peterson "bottled up again, the Vikings, who maintain publicly that they will welcome him back when they officially can, must keep playing the waiting game." Under his vacated suspension, Peterson "would have been eligible for reinstatement April 15." He is "no longer suspended but still in limbo, and it could take months for the NFL’s appeal of Doty’s decision to be heard." With the start of the league year less than two weeks away, it "seems inevitable that the Vikings will have to start doing their business with Peterson’s situation unsettled" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 2/27). Meanwhile, in Charlotte, Joseph Person notes Doty’s decision "wasn’t just a victory for Peterson, but a win" for Panthers DE Greg Hardy. A source said that Hardy, who is on the commissioner's exempt list, will "seek immediate reinstatement based on Doty’s ruling." Hardy has been on the list since September, "stemming from a domestic violence arrest last spring." Hardy’s legal team "already had started working on the process for reinstatement and views Doty’s decision as a huge coup." But NFL VP/Communications Brian McCarthy said Doty’s ruling was “irrelevant” to Hardy’s situation. Person notes the Peterson ruling "seemingly sets the precedent that Hardy should be punished under the old policy -- and he presumably would be looking at a two-game suspension instead of six" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 2/27).

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