Image courtesy of Keith Allison/Flickr.
There are parades in the streets of New England!
Historians are saying Thursday September 3, 2015 will be comparable to the announcement of America winning the Revolution in Boston. Tom Brady is free from the oppression of Rodger Goodell and the KGB like ways of the NFL!
Okay, okay, okay. Everything I wrote up there is a severe over exaggeration, but it seems that way in New England. Since January, Bostonian’s haven’t been able to watch the news, read a paper, or listen to a sports radio show without “Deflategate” dominating said news sources. At the end of the day, it was tiring for the hardcore fans who just wanted to talk football this offseason and could not.
So it should be needless for me to say the New England Patriots and their fans are ready for football as this sham of a suspension is now corrected. With the NFL season one week away the Patriots can legitimately begin Superbowl preparation as they will win this season for Brady. It is the second step of Tom Brady going down as the best skilled and smartest player to ever play in the NFL. As I wrote back on July 30.
Anyone with half a brain can see there hasn’t been this big of a hunt in the country since the Salem Witch Trials in the 1600s. It was a reach of power on the part of commissioner Goodell, who was constantly referencing the CBA agreed on by the NFL and the NFLPA. Between the Brady suspension being overturned and prominent legal experts now taking a closer look at said CBA, this could be the beginning of the end for Goodell. Not only will Brady never serve a single second of the suspension, his case might be the one that starts the stripping of power from the mighty commish.
As I have taken a look back at cases the NFL has had in federal court in the last few years, I realize how power hungry Rodger Goodell is and how in a true legal system his far reaching power is imaginary. Once NFL suspensions are appealed in federal court, they DO NOT stand. In three years not one suspension has been upheld. Whether it is reduced for a player or totally over turned the NFL cannot seem to make a punishment fit a violation correctly.
So who’s to blame? The judge, jury, and executioner of course. That would be one man. Rodger Goodell.
An anonymous group of owners have released a statement saying they need to “reconsider” the disciplinary system of the league. Just the first sign of disapproval within a few hours of the Brady news breaking from some of the men who have done nothing but support the power grab of Goodell. Roger Goodell has never been a “man of the people” as his predecessor Paul Tagliabue was. Nor is Goodell popular with the players as some commissioners in the past have been. Nope, he has kept that high-paying job by winning arguments for the league against the NFLPA.
The biggest win (in the eyes of the team owners) in Goodell’s tenure as commissioner of the league was the current CBA under which the players have agreed on. Among other things favorable to the league, it grants Goodell the power to oversee any and all appeals on player suspensions and fines. So in other words, if he handed down a suspension and the player appealed, he could then appoint himself overseer of the players appeal. Basically, the biggest conflict of interest ever agreed on between a union and the company they work for. An almost perfect way for the NFL front office to govern and police players. Perfect only if your’re smart and not Roger Goodell.
This ruling handed down by Judge Berman does not prove the innocence of Tom Brady, but it does prove his right to due process was not given or cared for by the NFL. He was not made aware of that he would be suspended for not cooperating, as no one in the NFL ever has been. Like players in the New Orleans Saints during “Bountygate”, or when Brett Favre refused to hand his phone over to the league in the midst of his sexting scandal. Also, ridiculously, the deflation of the footballs was compared to taking performance enhancing drugs by the NFL. Even if you believe Brady was involved, the two offenses are incomparable and the Judge hopped all those facts. Ultimately, that’s what made him nullify Brady’s suspension. Marking the first win of many that will come from this for Brady and the NFLPA.
With yet another case being overturned in federal court the owners have to be looking for other options. Within an hour of the Brady news being released Dallas Cowboys’ DE, Greg Hardy, said he might appeal his four-game suspension (already reduced from 10 games) for domestic violence in federal court. Another piece of bad press for the NFL front office. After an abysmal year last year with the handling of Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson‘s punishments, they seem to be picking up right where they left off.
Brady’s trial and process mistreatment will end up being known as the catalyst that set fourth the eventual downfall and termination of Rodger Goodell. Also, it will change the apparatus in which players are disciplined. This ruling means more against the NFL and it’s current commissioner than it does against the guilt or innocence of Brady. It’s much deeper than that. This is the beginning of a change.
So, to keep the extreme over exaggeration going…
Tom Brady is a liberated political prisoner held down by an oppressive leader. Newly freed, he will take down the power that tried to bring him down! Brady will reign supreme in February!
Viva New England!
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