Steelers receiver Emmanuel Sanders, who has been accused of faking an injury three weeks ago against the Bengals, will file a very real appeal.
A source close to Sanders tells PFT that the appeal will be handled by Ted Cottrell or Art Shell, two former coaches who have been jointly been hired by the NFL and NFLPA and who are paid by both groups.
It’s another reminder that Commissioner Roger Goodell’s power isn’t as extensive as believed.
And it’ll be interesting to see whether Sanders claims during the hearing that he simply did what he was told to do when he took a knee and pretended (allegedly) to have a cramp. The NFL has found that there was no coaching of the conduct, but since Sanders simply stuck to his story when meeting with the league he had no occasion to confess that someone else ordered what perhaps could be called a “Code Dead.”
UPDATE 12:59 p.m. ET: The league says that the appeal won’t be handled by Shell or Cottrell but by Commissioner Roger Goodell or his designee. We apologize for the error.