The NFL should have had terms of reference for the judge that explicitly asked her to decide the suspension while disregarding precedent with the intention of creating a new precedent based on the decision made by an independent adjudicator. By basing her decision on previous suspensions, the judge didn’t actually do the job she should have done. By having to appeal, they’ve undermined the new process and are back at square one.
The NFL has a problem with appropriate and consistent punishments and this isn’t going to get them out of it. However, they do need to make sure that justice is served in this case and 6 games just isn’t right.
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