The NFL and its commissioner Roger Goodell will hear the appeal of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady Tuesday, The Associated Press reports.
Brady was suspended four games after investigators found that all 11 footballs in the AFC Championship game against the Colts on Jan. 18 were underinflated. The Patriots organization was also fined $1 million and docked two draft picks in the upcoming NFL draft.
Patriots owner Robert Kraft was a strong opponent of the punishment, issued Monday. “Despite our conviction that there was no tampering with footballs, it was our intention to accept any discipline levied by the league. Today’s punishment, however, far exceeded any reasonable expectation. It was based completely on circumstantial rather than hard or conclusive evidence.” (RELATED: Donald Trump: ‘If I Was Tom Brady, I’d Sue The Hell Out Of The NFL’)
Troy Vincent, the NFL’s executive vice president of Football Operations, was authorized by Roger Goodell to impose the punishment.
The NFL Player’s Association quickly fired back at Vincent citing Article 46 of the league’s collective bargaining agreement: “You have no authority to impose discipline on Mr. Brady under the CBA, and such discipline must therefore be set aside,” union attorney Tom DePaso wrote to Vincent on May 14. “The CBA grants the Commissioner — and only the Commissioner — the authority to impose conduct detrimental discipline on players.”
Goodell defended the judgement, writing that he “did not delegate my disciplinary authority to Mr. Vincent; I concurred in his recommendation” and “authorized him to communicate to Mr. Brady the discipline imposed under my authority as Commissioner.”