The Power Of The NFL

At this point, Franz Kafka ought to be writing about Tom Brady’s suspension. It no longer seems it has anything to do with any unproved infractions from DeflateGate but about the power of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to impose discipline, then arbitrate it.

That’s really all the courts have been deciding and the U.S. Second Court of Appeals decided that again. It turned down a rehearing of Brady’s case, leaving him an appeal to the Supreme Court – unlikely to do him much good – or to accept his four-game ban related years ago to whether he knew or should have known that footballs may or may not have been properly inflated.

The bigger issue is commissioner discipline. The court doesn’t want to get involved in arbitration issues between parties that have a labor agreement. Even one with parts that seem preposterous.

“Despite today’s result, the track record of this League office when it comes to matters of player discipline is bad for our business and bad for our game. We have a broken system that must be fixed,” the NFL Players Association said in a statement.

But the players rarely stand up to the league on this issue when they bargain. Splitting revenues, pensions, medical plans – all important – take precedence, while commissioner discipline and the almost-unchecked power of the commissioner rarely move the needle.

Oddly, the NFL and the NFLPA are both right here. Whether Goodell exceeded some unwritten norm in banning Brady is almost beside the point. He has that right under the collective bargaining agreement, exercised it in May of 2015 and has continued to stand up for it. But the NFLPA is right in that so much authority – judge and jury – should not be concentrated solely in one person’s hands. If the Supreme Court doesn’t step in, Brady won’t play until Oct. 9.

Let’s see if the union bears that in mind when the next labor agreement comes due. Let’s see if it puts fairness as its first issue on the table. The current deal, negotiated in 2011, runs for 10 years.

Strangely enough, the team owner who made a deal happen to end the NFL lockout in 2011 was Robert Kraft – of the New England Patriots.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman