The NFLPA will not only appeal the NFL's 10-game suspension of Cowboys DE Greg Hardy, but is "also considering filing suit against the league," according to a source cited by Clarence Hill Jr. of the FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM. At issue for the union is that the NFL "didn’t mention domestic violence at all in its reprimand of Hardy nor seemingly apply the penalties already in" the CBA. It also "cited Hardy for multiple incidents rather than one incident." If the appeal "doesn’t work," the NFLPA "feels good about taking legal action as it did" with Vikings RB Adrian Peterson (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 4/24). Meanwhile, NFL Exec VP/Labor & General Counsel Jeff Pash said Commissioner Roger Goodell made the final decision to give Hardy the 10-game ban “based on a voluminous record.” Pash said, “Everyone is focused on Greg Hardy getting a 10-game suspension, but the more important point is the process that was followed here. This suspension was imposed after a lengthy and detailed independent investigation of the kind that we really haven’t done before. We said last September and throughout the fall and in the personal conduct policy that we were not going to simply defer to the criminal justice system and rely on law enforcement, and that’s exactly what happened here” (“OTL,” ESPN, 4/23).
WINNING THE PR BATTLE THIS TIME: ESPN’s Chris Mortensen noted no one is "complaining about this particular punishment ... from a public relations perspective" (“NFL Insiders,” ESPN, 4/23). ESPN’s Michael Smith said the 10-game suspension was “as much, if not more, about PR then principle.” Goodell could not "go wrong going long” (“His & Hers,” ESPN2, 4/23). Dallas Morning News columnist Tim Cowlishaw said the NFL “got it right" with a 10-game ban, as league officials "know how these things played out" with free agent RB Ray Rice and Peterson ("Around The Horn," ESPN, 4/23). ESPN’s Dan Le Batard said due to the "details of the crimes alleged" in the Hardy case, any punishment from the NFL, "even banned for life, ... would have been met with the majority applause." Le Batard: "So you go 10 games and everyone’s like, ‘More punish, more punish.’” Le Batard: “Roger Goodell now has more power than he has ever had. Why? Because he used it so incorrectly on the Ray Rice thing that he’s now allowed to hit this guy with an unprecedented penalty” ("Highly Questionable," ESPN, 4/23).
