DeflateGate: NFLPA Moves To Recuse Roger Goodell as Arbitrator in Tom Brady's Appeal

While Patriots owner Robert Kraft told the world today that he would "reluctantly accept" the NFL's penalties in the wake of the Deflategate scandal/farce, the team's second fight - Tom Brady and the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) vs. the NFL - is far from over.

Today, the NFLPA moved to recuse league commissioner Roger Goodell from serving as an arbitrator during Brady appealing his four game suspension.

The Players Association's official release reads as follows:

NFLPA MOVES TO RECUSE ROGER GOODELL AS ARBITRATOR IN TOM BRADY APPEAL

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.