So what is the downside to the NFLPA saying, "The reports of settlement negotiations are false. We made our appeal and are awaiting the ruling of the Commissioner before deciding which Federal Court to take this to".
Okay, so that last part is tongue in cheek, but what is the downside to saying they are not in settlement talks? Unless they are :shrug: ? They certainly can't be afraid of the league getting caught in yet another lie.
The NFLPA has been on-****ing-point this entire time.
Why say anything? Why get in a war of words with the league? The NFLPA doesn't have two cable networks to report everything they say as absolute fact. Let the league do what it's going to do, and stay out of it. There's nothing the NFLPA can say or do that will actually help anything at this point.
The point is, even if the NFLPA
is in negotiation with the NFL, which I don't truly believe they are, due to the way the appeal went down (if you remember back, the NFLPA went on offense and asked Goodell to recuse himself as arbitrator, and also said that they formally requested as much, and the NFL came back with a massive response, including a statement from Goodell himself saying "No, **** off" essentially. This was the whole, "This is Troy Vincent's punishment, this is my punishment, this is Troy Vincent's punishment" thing.), the last thing they're going to do is go to the media with it, because it would really weaken their position.
This is now, what, the fourth different report of "negotiations" in the last 3 days or so, and they all say the
exact same thing, with the only variation being what the league's "position" is.
It's nothing more than Goodell and his legal team sticking his finger in the air to determine which way public opinion is blowing.
This is also why, while I'm gratified that the media appears to be coming around a bit, I almost wish that there were more blowback demanding the suspension stay in place.
One more thing, Goodell's got two options. Keep the suspension in place, or vacate it completely. Any reduction makes Brady's case in court all that much stronger, and you have to believe the NFL
knows that by now. At least, you'd hope so.