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Roger Goodell remains '100 percent certain' Tom Brady suspension is just
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell quintupled down on his suspension of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, telling the “Today” show he’s “100 percent certain” he got deflate-gate right.
Goodell and NBC’s Matt Lauer had this exchange in a pre-taped interview for Wednesday’s show:
Lauer: “Can you look me in the eye and tell me as the commissioner of the NFL that you feel 100 percent certain that you got this right?”
Goodell: “Yes, because we went through a very exhausting process with this. We had an independent investigation. We had a federal judge who ruled against it. It went to appellate court. The appellate court at that point in time said, listen, there’s compelling if not overwhelming evidence here. There’s absolutely no question that the destruction of evidence should be considered by the commissioner in the context of this and the process was properly followed. We collectively bargained the process for discipline, we went through that, and I can’t think of an issue that’s been more litigated by the way.”
Let’s break that statement down for a moment, shall we? Because 100 percent certainty is difficult on anything, let alone deflate-gate, which has included science that seemingly contradicts the NFL’s own conclusions, all while Brady has maintained his innocence in the face of his four-game suspension.
Yes, the NFL “went through a very exhausting process” with deflate-gate, so Goodell was off to a good start. However, that part about an independent investigation? Not so much. NFL general counsel Jeff Pash participated in and reviewed the investigation led by Ted Wells, also a lawyer for the league.
And while a federal judge ruled against the league’s suspension of Brady, as Goodell said, the appellate court did not cite the NFL’s evidence as either “compelling” or “overwhelming” upon overturning the federal judge’s decision. In fact, the ruling had nothing to do with the evidence at all; instead, the panel ruled on Goodell’s absolute power when it came to enacting the suspension.
“Our role is not to determine for ourselves whether Brady participated in a scheme to deflate footballs or whether the suspension imposed by the Commissioner should have been for three games or five games or none at all,” the Second Circuit judges announced in their ruling this past April. “Nor is it our role to second-guess the arbitrator’s procedural rulings. Our obligation is limited to determining whether the arbitration proceedings and award met the minimum legal standards established by the Labor Management Relations Act.”
There is no doubt Brady’s destruction of his cell phone raised a red flag – despite compelling and overwhelming evidence he should never have trusted the NFL with private information, such as emails, which were made public during court proceedings – but there’s a big difference between a piece of evidence raising suspicions and someone drawing a 100 percent certain conclusion from it.
Perhaps Goodell has not seen HBO’s “The Night Of” quite yet.
In the end, though, the commissioner is correct that the NFL and its players’ association collectively bargained his absolute power, and the issue was litigated beyond belief, so we’ll just have to take him at his word when Goodell essentially says he’s completely convinced a gaggle of scientists are dead wrong on that silly Ideal Gas Law thing and all but claims Brady is a damn liar. The process was properly followed, though, right down to the false pressure gauge information that was leaked.
I wonder how Goodell feels about evolution vs. creationism. Maybe Lauer will grill him on that, too.
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is a contributor for Ball Don’t Lie and Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach
