The “word in league circles" is that the NFLPA believes Patriots QB Tom Brady’s appeal of his Deflategate suspension is “the perfect player and this is the perfect flimsy case to go big-game hunting on commissioner discipline,” according to Greg Bedard of The MMQB. The NFLPA could be “hoping to get to the point in federal court” that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is “battered enough that he agrees to cut a deal out of the mess by ceding final authority on off-field and on-field discipline.” However, Bedard wrote, “Good luck with that." Goodell is as "stubborn and hardheaded as a Wishbone dive back,” and Brady is “angry and wants to clear his name, no matter what.” Patriots Owner Robert Kraft “was in the same spot and stood down,” and he and Brady are “usually of similar mindset on this kind of stuff” (MMQB.SI.com, 5/24). Meanwhile, NFLPA Exec Dir DeMaurice Smith in an interview with ESPN's Bob Ley said the union’s duty is “to protect the rights of the player and to insist on a fair process." In a case "where we believe that the commissioner or any employee” at the NFL is a “necessary witness for a fair process, like we do here, we also necessarily believe that he can’t both be a witness and then an arbitrator on his own credibility.” Ley said the Deflategate controversy is a “very political issue” for the NFL and asked Smith, “What extent do you think the commissioner needed to show 31 other partners in the league that the Patriots were not the fair-haired boys and that whatever whispers there might have been in other executive suites that the Pats could be disciplined?” Smith deflected the question, saying, “Because I’m not invited to the owners’ meeting, little ol' me is not in a position to question or guess what Roger Goodell needed to say or what the owners needed to hear” (“OTL,” ESPN, 5/22).
NO-WIN SITUATION: The N.Y. Times’ William Rhoden said Goodell has "lost a lot of credibility in the last couple years," but "no matter what he does, it’s kind of wrong." Goodell had to penalize Kraft and "really hit him hard on the wrist." ESPN's Israel Gutierrez said if Goodell "does lessen the fine, then all of a sudden it’s going to become, 'Well, here he is making a little deal with Mr. Kraft and now the Golden Boy, Mr. Tom Brady, gets a little bit less of a punishment.'" Gutierrez: "He can’t win in this situation, and I think he’s pretty much gotten used to that.” The N.Y. Daily News' Frank Isola: "He knew he had to do something, because the rest of the league would look at it and say, 'Well, you take it easy on Tom Brady.' It's impossible to compare what Tom Brady did with Adrian Peterson or what Ray Rice did, but the commissioner to me has to show some discipline here" (“The Sports Reporters,” ESPN, 5/24).
