The NFLPA officially requested Tuesday commissioner Roger Goodell recuse himself as the arbitrator in Tom Brady's disciplinary appeal. Brady has been suspended four games as part of the Patriots punishment for their role in deflating footballs during the AFC Championship game against the Colts.
The NFLPA stated in a press release:
Given a process that has contained procedural violations of our collective bargaining agreement, the Commissioner's role as a central witness in the appeal hearing and his evident partiality with respect to the Wells report, the Commissioner must designate a neutral party to serve as an arbitrator in this matter. The players also believe that the Commissioner's history of inconsistently issuing discipline against our players makes him ill-suited to hear this appeal in a fair-minded manner.
If the NFL believes the Ted Wells report has credibility because it is independent, then the NFL should embrace our request for an independent review.
Earlier Tuesday, Patriots owner Robert Kraft said he will drop his appeal of the penalties levied as a result of Deflategate, accepting a $1 million fine and the loss of two draft picks.
