There have been "no substantive discussions" on altering the way NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell handles discipline and the appeals process for off-field matters, and the NFLPA "is still awaiting a league response to its proposal," according to sources cited by Jason La Canfora of CBSSPORTS.com. Sources said that the union "submitted a proposal on a new appeals process, one that would no longer involve Goodell as the figure in full authority." Under the proposal, the commissioner "would no longer handle the appeal himself ... or choose someone else." The NFLPA proposal "called for the creation of a new appeal position, to be held by one person and not a panel of appeals officers, as some opine the process might ultimately go." The proposal "did not specify who that person would be [and/or] mandate control over selecting him or her." Sources said that the NFL "has not responded formally to their proposal and has yet to submit one of its own." At this point there is "no firm timetable as to when this personal conduct policy grievance will be resolved" (CBSSPORTS.com, 9/20).
SAVING FACE: In Boston, Ben Volin wrote Steelers President Art Rooney II "can talk all he wants about not feeling any urgency to change the system, but the reality is the owners need this a lot more than the players do." It is the NFL and Goodell "taking a beating in public perception over the league’s discipline process, and the NFL and Goodell losing in court time and again." This is "one of the rare occasions when the NFLPA has the upper hand at the negotiating table, and it should tread carefully about any proposal to extend the CBA." The NFLPA "should call the NFL’s bluff and let the league keep taking the heat for the off-field image problems." Volin: "Let’s see how the owners feel the next time Ted Wells’ investigative services are needed" (BOSTON GLOBE, 9/20).
