Please point me to the NFL rule prohibiting smacking your fiancé unconscious. How about the one for listening in to the opponents calls (as the Saints GM was doing).
Didn't the NFLPA, acting on behalf of the players (including Brady, Rice, Peterson, et al) agree to the current CBA which lays out Goodell's powers to take action in disciplining players, and precisely in the manner in which he has done so? There is a better chance that you share a beachside bungalow with Bruce Pearl than this wins on appeal. And you know it.
Actually the chances the NFL wins on appeal are pretty much nil. This wasn't just about Goddell's ability to punish, it was about the process of the investigation and punishment. The NFL refusing the NFLPA's request to interview Jeff Pash and have access to the league's investigative notes was enough to vacate the award.
Really; the feedback I get from Patriots fans is that it is about total vindication for the Patriots; they were proven to have not deflated footballs.
The CBA allows the commissioner to take action in the absence of evidence? Pretty sure it doesn't work that way.
