The NFL Players Association, which filed an appeal of the league’s four-game suspension of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady for his role in Deflategate, plans to call NFL commissioner Roger Goodell as a witness in the hearing.
The NFLPA released the letter Friday that general counsel Tom DePaso sent to NFL executive vice president Troy Vincent on Thursday.
DePaso informed Vincent in the letter that the NFLPA plans to call both Vincent and Goodell to testify in the appeal hearing regarding “the circumstances surrounding the purported delegation of disciplinary authority.”
The league confirmed Thursday night that Goodell has elected to preside over the appeal of Brady’s suspension, rejecting the NFLPA’s request that an independent arbitrator hear the case.
“Commissioner Goodell will hear the appeal of Tom Brady’s suspension in accordance with the process agreed upon with the NFL Players Association in the 2011 collective bargaining agreement,” NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said in a statement.
Brady was suspended for his role as the alleged ringleader of team equipment managers who intentionally lowered the air pressure in footballs. Brady did not fully cooperate with the NFL’s third-party investigation led by Ted Wells, according to a 243-page report outlining the offenses.
In the Wells report released May 6, investigators said it was “more probable than not” that Brady “was at least generally aware” that team employees were instructed to prepare the game balls to his liking. They inflated the footballs below the league minimum of 12.5 pounds per square inch.
In the NFLPA letter sent to Vincent, DePaso outlined several points that will be raised during the process — starting with the argument that Vincent has no authority to impose discipline under the collective bargaining agreement and that any attempt by Goodell to delegate the imposition of discipline is a violation of the CBA.
Goodell authorized the resolutions, even though the league said the Brady suspension as well as the discipline imposed on the Patriots organization were decided by Vincent.
“We reached these decisions after extensive discussion with Troy Vincent and many others,” Goodell said in a statement. “We relied on the critical importance of protecting the integrity of the game and thoroughness and independence of the Wells Report.”
DePaso said in the letter that because the NFLPA intends to seek the testimony of Goodell and Vincent, the NFLPA argues “that neither Commissioner Goodell nor anyone with close ties to the NFL can serve as arbitrator in Mr. Brady’s appeal under governing legal standards.”
However, Goodell is “very unlikely” to recuse himself from presiding over the appeal, ESPN’s Ed Werder reported Friday, based on a source.
Werder also reported Goodell was likely to interview Patriots equipment assistant John Jastremski and officials locker room attendant Jim McNally as witnesses and that the commissioner wanted to hear Brady’s side of the story.
“Given the NFL’s history of inconsistency and arbitrary decisions in disciplinary matters, it is only fair that a neutral arbitrator hear this appeal,” the union said in a statement Thursday afternoon. “If Ted Wells and the NFL believe, as their public comments stated, that the evidence in their report is ‘direct’ and ‘inculpatory,’ then they should be confident enough to present their case before someone who is truly independent.”
The Patriots have not indicated whether they plan to appeal a $1 million fine and the loss of a first-round draft pick next year and a fourth-rounder in 2017, although they issued an online rebuttal to the Wells report on Thursday.
The Patriots have until May 21 to file an appeal of their penalties.