Brees supports stupidity but certainly knows better.

Meet him and get it over with, and maybe your suspensions will get shortened.

What a bunch of cry babies.

Roger, why should they meet with you to defend themselves when they have not been shown any evidence to defend themselves from?! Even you could not defend yourself against mystery evidence!
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Evidence? All the players have to do is tell the truth. But instead they’ve chosen to “lawyer up” and attempt to circumvent the truth.

So if you raise enough cane the NFL will quit punishing you? If Drew Brees starts calling the NFL dirty names on Letterman they’ll relent on suspensions they’ve justified on moral grounds?? I hope Goodell isn’t raising children because they won’t turn out well.
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In a sense, Goodell’s protecting the money-making ability of the NFL by holding the players to acceptable behaviour is just like raising children. Very spoiled and immature children.

Four months…still no game tape…think about it.

Bottom line, Goodell DOES have this power, and it was given to him by the players. Only the Steelers have a right to complain about Goodell having all this power, because the players AGREED to it (except for the Steelers, who voted against it). Their representatives knew it existed, and they chose to focus on getting concessions on other terms, like practice time.

That’s fine, but that’s negotiation. You compromise in certain areas to get changes in areas that are more important to you. THey could have stood strong on this issue, but they didn’t. NOw they’re looking for a court to alter their collectively bargained agreement because they don’t like some of the results, and that’s just not going to happen.

he’s hedging his bets and building a back door just in case Vilma’s assertion regarding Cerullo’s recantation PROVES to be true. if that cards falls, so does the whole deck and the NFL will really be standing there with its’ pants down.

“For example, if the players can show me that the source of the ‘bounty system’ accusations was an completely unreliable witness who had an axe to grind against the team, or if they can show that the purported ‘bounty ledger’ was inaccurate or perhaps even fabricated, because it alludes to Saints players being paid for opponent ‘cart offs,’ when in fact there were no cart offs in the games in question, except for the cart off of Saints players, then I will consider reducing the suspensions. Oh, wait…”

When accused of a crime, instructing your lawyer to not present a defense or participate in the process of trial gets you convicted.

Even if your lawyer goes on to the courthouse steps and tells the media how unfair the whole process is, how bad the evidence is, and how all the witnesses are all lying.

Not even the courts standard of guilt/innocence operates this way. “I don’t have to participate in a trial/appeal because I said I’m not guilty and I don’t like the judge or the system”.

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He’s teaching them how to lie and accuse people of things you can’t prove

Um…I’m pretty damned sure “facts have been brought to your attention warranting the exercise of that discretion”. What an idiot. Let’s settle this in the courts.

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Well, Goodell’s strategy up until now is to react to public opinion – largely from the media. See his bizzare illegal hit campaign that started in mid-2010. It’s not surprising that some bad publicity on this matter would cause yet another shift in policy.

It also gives them the opportunity to present Goodell with evidence that contradicts the league’s allegations. If they again decline, the NFL can point to the fact the players never formally presented any evidence to support their claims of innocence. As such, Goodell can accurately state that the appeals were denied because the evidence of a bounty program was uncontradicted.

Not making or preserving a record essentially forces the court to rule in favor of your adversary.