The NFL Players Association has formally asked Roger Goodell to recuse himself from Tom Brady's appeal hearing.
Shortly after filing the appeal last week, the NFLPA made it clear they would likely call Goodell as a witness during the hearing, therefore making it impossible for the NFL Commissioner to fairly adjudicate the matter.
Nonetheless, Goodell appointed himself as the arbitrator in the case, mentioning that he's eager to hear Brady's side of the story as he determines whether or not to shorten or retract the four game suspension that was levied by NFL executive Troy Vincent.
Today's statement from the NFLPA:
"The NFLPA has formally requested that Commissioner Roger Goodell recuse himself as the arbitrator in Tom Brady's disciplinary appeal. 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."
