Tom Brady

Why the NFL had no choice with Brady

Chris McGlynn Football, NFL , , ,

The NFL is a joke these days. The fact that you can sit there and think to yourself, well what are you referring to here is some indication of how much so. It could be the laughable attempts to improve player safety, the failure to address domestic violence or the continued drug related suspensions. In this case, I’m actually referring to none of those though and I’m focusing on the NFL time and time again reducing or repealing player suspensions.

It has been a long six months for Tom Brady. Usually, the Super Bowl champion would get at least a little time to relax and savor his victory. Instead, he has spent his offseason in the midst of a private investigation regarding the deflation of footballs in the AFC Title Game against the Colts. Brady was subjected to questioning first by the league then later by independent investigators under Ted Wells. The whole story was poked and prodded as much as possible and the media (yes myself included) had a field day with it. It was a supposed stain on the legacy of Brady and the Pats Super Bowl win.

Tom_BradyYet as time has gone on, no real hard evidence has surfaced. The Wells report indicates that Brady “more likely than not” was aware of the situation. Brady once again refuted the claims but the league imposed a four-game ban on the New England quarterback for the start of next season.

That didn’t settle anything though as the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) and Brady went on to appeal the suspension. That to weeks of trials and further investigations into the situation. What surfaced most recently definitely puts Brady in some hot water. It turns out he had destroyed his cell phone and sim card while the NFL was trying to acquire them as evidence. He claims it was a normal procedure for him as he was replacing his old phone. I can bet Brady wouldn’t want his own personal information, messages or photos falling into the wrong hands and winding up online. It makes sense to destroy. Unfortunately, he just picked a really bad time to do it.

The phone destruction doesn’t necessarily prove anything but it certainly makes Brady look guilty and that was enough for the NFL to vote to uphold the suspension. Brady and the NFLPA are now appealing that decision because apparently you can appeal everything in the NFL. Maybe Brady has a point that the NFL doesn’t have enough hard evidence but that’s not why they are making an example of him.

As I have made clear the NFL is a joke with reducing and repealing suspensions. So it should come as no surprise that the league feels it is pressured to uphold Brady’s suspension to save face. The NFL can attempt to be as harsh as it wants but it has previously set precedents that the NFLPA will often use as a way to negotiate down a suspension. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to the length of some of them either (see Ray Rice, domestic violence). In short, the NFL has looked weak and it seems like the NFLPA has just been pushing them around.

Tom BradyThe league has no desire to look weak obviously. Already this summer Greg Hardy and LeVeon Bell had suspensions reduced after appealing the decision. The league needed to make a stand and show that it is capable of dishing out a suspension then upholding it. The NFL gave itself no choice but to uphold the suspension. Brady just seems to be caught in the crossfire. Now I can’t tell you if Tom Brady is innocent or not. That much has not been clear. What is clear is the overall lack of cohesion between the NFL and the NFLPA and the amount of leeway Commissioner Roger Goodell has with suspensions.

The NFL was in many ways forced to implement a system that established standard sentences regarding domestic violence punishments. The league also has a system in place for violations of the substance abuse policy. However, outside of those two categories, there is a lot left open for interpretation. That is where Goodell simply seem to slap an arbitrary number of weeks on the table and say it is final. The league needs to find a way to avoid that at all costs. That sort of uncertainty surrounding the suspension allows it to be appealed. Brady’s situation is unique but that does not mean that Goodell should choose what he feels is warranted. It is more than clear that Goodell’s judgement is questionable at best.

The easiest thing for the league to do is arrange an outside board that collaborates with the NFLPA to assign suspensions that fall outside the realm of domestic violence or substance abuse. That was not everything is being appealed before it even hits the table and Goodell is removed from the equation.

As for Brady, there is only one way that the league will relent on his four-game suspension, if he admits that he was involved or had knowledge of the situation. Even then, it would only cut his suspension in half. I don’t see Brady going this far only to back off and say he knew. Whether he did or not. I think Brady is just going to have to bite the bullet and sit out the four games. No one seems capable of coming to his rescue. Not even the NFLPA. The NFL is determined to make up for past weaknesses.  It is at war. And it seems determined to win.

The Tale of Two Scandals

Chris McGlynn Football, NFL , ,

Tom_BradyThe sports world is outraged at the moment. It could be directed at a number of different people. It could be Patriots fans enraged at the two locker room assistants for deflating footballs for the AFC Championship game. It could be those same fans again furious at Roger Goodell for suspending quarterback Tom Brady for four games when the evidence does not definitively point to Brady’s involvement. It might be on the other side of that as an NFL fan because while the evidence isn’t damning, it has some logical implications, Brady probably cheated and the league is not punishing him enough. Still others are shocked that Brady received a four-game ban when Ray Rice was only dealt half of that after beating his wife.

This whole Deflategate scandal has blown even more than before, if that is possible. The Patriots are looking at losing two draft picks, one of them being a first rounder, in the next two seasons and missing their future Hall of Fame quarterback for the first quarter of the season. All of that is on top of an NFL-record fine of $1 million. Brady is set to appeal the suspension, which he will likely win, and have it reduced if not altogether wiped out. New England owner, Robert Kraft, is demanding an explanation from the league as to where the precedent for these sanctions lie. The whole fiasco seems very 2012, when the NFL had to deal with a different violation of public policy. The fallout that ensued has been all the same.

Gregg_WilliamsBack in 2009, Gregg Williams joined the New Orleans Saints as their defensive coordinator. Shortly after his arrival, Williams arranged a bounty system that rewarded players for big hits and injuries caused. This was clearly against league rules but did not really give the Saints a competitive advantage over their opponents. It did however, put both player safety and NFL integrity on the line. Coincidentally, New Orleans made a Super Bowl run, just as New England did, and walked away with a Lombardi Trophy. The whole bounty system was uncovered almost two full years later and the implications began to rain down on the Saints organization.

Williams was suspended indefinitely. Head Coach Sean Payton and General Manager Mickey Loomis received long suspensions, one year and eight games respectively. The Saints also forfeited a second round draft pick and paid a $500,000 fine. Several Saints players found themselves punished as well, including Jonathan Vilma, who received a full season suspension. Like Brady, Vilma denied being an active part of the program. The difference was that it was clear he was aware of it. Vilma appealed the suspension and actually went as far as attacking Goodell by filing a defamation of character suit against the commissioner. The NFL was in utter chaos as the scandal continued to unfold. It got even uglier from there as arbitrators and suspension appeals dragged on.

The Saints were obviously frustrated with the league’s decisions to suspend coaches and management as well as stripping them of a draft pick. However, the Saints moved on and dealt with the consequences. Eventually, Peyton returned and New Orleans simply put the scandal behind them. It doesn’t seem like the Patriots are willing to do that. Despite there being a lot of the “who said what” kind of stuff going on, the league upheld its decisions on the loss of draft pick and fine. However, Goodell reduced some of the suspensions and eventually they were all voided. The precedent is there for Brady to have his suspension at the very least reduced if not completely dismissed.

The NFL certainly made a statement with these punishments that it will not tolerate violation of the rules when it compromises the integrity of the game. It was a bit of a recovery move by Goodell, after botching so many other recent scandals. The important thing is that the Patriots might have had a competitive advantage, but its effect on the game was about as important to the win as a cash incentive to hit opposing players harder. The Patriots might have broken the rules and deserve to be punished for it. However, it does not tarnish their title. If it does, then the Saints title is tainted as well. The two scandals had the same impact on the outcome of games and, overall, had similar penalties.

I will not remember this as something New England did to beat Indianapolis. I will remember this as a minor scandal that both the league and the team drastically blew out of proportion with the harsh penalty and the unprofessional reaction of both Brady’s agent and Kraft. The Pats certainly deserve the penalty, but not to be remembered as a tainted champion.