News: PFT: NFL: Goodell was aware of Kia Roberts’ opinions

[PA Cowboy Fan]

I believe I've made mine too. I think I will sit out this season and not watch any NFL games. They (like the NBA) disgusts me. I no longer watch NBA and it's possible I will no longer watch the NFL. I think I only watched like five games last year. Zero shouldn't be too hard to do.

More and more people are going to end up doing this the more stuff like this goes on. Season's getting ready to start and nobody is talking about the games.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

Ok. I hear you. But NFL is taking position that it looked at all evidence, and saying the physical evidence and other testimonies drove the DV suspension decision. Which is what Lisa Friel is saying. It may feel like poor use of logic and unreasonable, but I think it will be very difficult to argue for a conspiracy. I believe the 'conspiracy accusation' is the NFLPA's attempt to fight this in public perception, which is a smart move. Don't think it has a chance in court. Lack of a 'fair process' could have a chance in court, but I don't know the exact language in the CBA or legal precedent on that issue.

It's a case of one person's word versus another person's word. Thus the accused and the accuser's credibility is paramount. And Friel is stating that she doesn't find the accuser credible, but it still warrants a 6-game suspension. And Friel just happens to be a diehard NY Giants fan. When Josh Brown *admitted* to badly abusing his wife, the suspension recommendation was...1-game.

Their 'physical evidence' is that Thompson had pictures from the 19th of her having bruisers on her. However, it was Thompson that gave the NFL the meta-data for that and you can forge meta-data for only $0.99. And the person that you are getting that meta-data from is the same person you just said wasn't credible.





YR

 

[PA Cowboy Fan]

What risk is he taking? What does he have to lose? And let's be clear, this is the same guy that was saying that guys with CTE could have gotten it from swimming.

There is absolutely no downside to him lying to the press. If he is caught it doesn't matter. His public opinion is in the toilet already and they don't care about legal costs one bit.

The guy lies about everything with no consequences. He has protection from certain owners. Only reason he's still in power. The fans and the players can't stand him.

 

[roughneck266]

The NFL is lying.

Yeah, they are about as credible as Thompson is..

 

[Doomsday101]

It's a case of one person's word versus another person's word. Thus the accused and the accuser's credibility is paramount. And Friel is stating that she doesn't find the accuser credible, but it still warrants a 6-game suspension. And Friel just happens to be a diehard NY Giants fan. When Josh Brown *admitted* to badly abusing his wife, the suspension recommendation was...1-game.

Their 'physical evidence' is that Thompson had pictures from the 19th of her having bruisers on her. However, it was Thompson that gave the NFL the meta-data for that and you can forge meta-data for only $0.99. And the person that you are getting that meta-data from is the same person you just said wasn't credible.





YR

I agree. The fact police asked if she needed to get medical attention and she said no is a problem. Hospital would have taken photos and given a report of abuse which would have given her claims more credibility yet she choose not to

 

[knightrider94]

I wonder what evidence or facts he may be referring to...:

 

[JackOfNoTrades]

At this point, there is only three conclusions we can draw from what has come to light thus far:

Either there truly is a Cowboys bias in the NFL

or (and more plausible, by the way)

This was a purely political stunt to seize upon the opportunity to right the wrongs of previous sins (Ray Rice / Josh Brown) and take down a high profile player. That's the key, in my opinion. If Zeke were a bubble player, this case would have been dismissed along time ago. In an effort to polish the NFL shield, they needed a high profile player whose case would garner national attention to show the world that they are in fact taking a hard and sensitive stance towards domestic violence.

or (equally plausible, given many of the investigators team allegiances that is now a part of public records, e.g. Lisa Friel reportedly is a Giants fan)

It's a combination of both.

or under article 46 of the CBA, Goodell and the NFL feel as they can do what ever they want, which I believe they're doing in efforts to accomplish your 2nd theory

 

[Bleedblue1111]

I have made no conclusions about Zeke, all I have to go by is that four independent individuals that reviewed all of the evidence concluded by that evidence in a 4-0 decision that Zeke was by a preponderance of the evidence(51% belief) that he hit the woman..that's their conclusion, not mine!! . One investigator believed she wasn't credible and shouldn't be suspended and therefore the NFL is out to get Zeke and it's all a conspiracy???....BURDEN OF PROOF STANDARD in a company policy is minimal. I haven't seen all the evidence but apparently most of this forum has apparently, they've made the conclusion Zeke didn't do it, and that she's a liar, she's a money grabber, she's a stripper, she's this, she's that... that all may be true............
but THIS CASE ISN'T BEFORE A COURT, conflating criminal charges or "guilt" to a company policy is annoying, As many say, Zeke wasn't charged, there's no conviction in a court.....complete different standards in a company policy, or Zeke should sue the league for Slander or libel...or he should sue Thompson, which would only open up a new can of worms, If the appeal is not successful, Zeke will go to court but just remember, the argument in court won't be about Zeke's guilt or innocence of the allegation conclusion by the league, it would be about an injunction so he can play on the basis of a procedure process.. Maybe Zeke wins the appeal and Henderson voids the suspension....Nobody cares about Thompson, she'll be forgotten about in three months, Zeke is a major star in the NFL, playing for the marquee team in the NFL and this notion that there's some conspiracy by the NFL to suspend him because he's a Cowboy and the league is OUT TO GET the Cowboys is laughable, for what would be the reason for that, they only won two play off games in 22 years..

I agree the league has lied for decades in the past, they used to sweep these incidents under the rug but those days are over after the AP, Rice and Brown incidents, no longer can the league ignore these allegations against their players or sweep them under the rug.......

Did the 4 people panel see Roberts report?

 

[diefree666]

article 46 is only valid if the process is fair and equitable. Which is a fundamental foundation stone of the American legal system. If sufficient evidence can be shown that the suspension was the result of a pre determined decision, then article 46 is as dead as the dodo bird.

Those that kept claiming that the CBA allowed the NFL to do whatever it wants have always been wrong.

 

[gmoney112]

Goodell keeping his job was pretty dependent on the strength of his plausible deniability.

This is getting better and better.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

or under article 46 of the CBA, Goodell and the NFL feel as they can do what ever they want, which I believe they're doing in efforts to accomplish your 2nd theory

There have been other personal conduct policy cases litigated in federal court with 46 in place and the NFL lost. Ray Rice would be one. 46 and a clause in the player contract have been around for a long time.

The courts give a lot of latitude when it comes to how the NFL wants to police it's integrity of the game. SCOTUS over the years has been quite clear on that.

This is not the same circumstance. Zeke is being pinned with a crime and it has no bearing on the game itself.

 

[GhostOfPelluer]

Goodell keeping his job was pretty dependent on the strength of his plausible deniability.

This is getting better and better.

Goodell keeping his job is dependent on one thing - the opinion of the owners. Owners who often care little of public opinion. They don't act like a normal business would act.

 

[GhostOfPelluer]

Then why was it not in the report? Why was not the information on the inconsistency memo in the report either?

This also begs the question: what other mitigating evidence did they leave out of the report?

This is my question. I'm guessing there is a bunch more to this than we've seen so far.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

I agree. The fact police asked if she needed to get medical attention and she said no is a problem. Hospital would have taken photos and given a report of abuse which would have given her claims more credibility yet she choose not to

Exactly.

Furthermore, there were 5 eyewitnesses that saw Thompson from the 16th thru the 21st, prior to her fight with the random woman and they all gave sworn affidavits that they saw no bruises on her. Chiedu Bosah also gave a picture of Thompson, EE and himself right before her fight and she had no bruises. All of that was neglected by the NFL.

And the NFL failed to mention the fact they saw the texts of her discussing extorting EE with the sex tape. It wasn't until it had been leaked to the media that we were aware that they had that evidence.






YR

 

[Nightman]

article 46 is only valid if the process is fair and equitable. Which is a fundamental foundation stone of the American legal system. If sufficient evidence can be shown that the suspension was the result of a pre determined decision, then article 46 is as dead as the dodo bird.

Those that kept claiming that the CBA allowed the NFL to do whatever it wants have always been wrong.

That is why "due process'' and "fundamental fairness" were peppered throughout the NFLPA filing

Those are the keywords that makes the Courts angry when dealing with the NFL..... the NFL has repeatedly pushed the limits and this case may result in an official rebuke

 

[Roadtrip635]

I wonder what evidence or facts he may be referring to...:

 

[JackOfNoTrades]

There have been other personal conduct policy cases litigated in federal court with 46 in place and the NFL lost. Ray Rice would be one. 46 and a clause in the player contract have been around for a long time.

The courts give a lot of latitude when it comes to how the NFL wants to police it's integrity of the game. SCOTUS over the years has been quite clear on that.

This is not the same circumstance. Zeke is being pinned with a crime and it has no bearing on the game itself.

good to know. A few of the sports analysts I heard on this topic seem to think although Zeke has a legit case, it will come back to Article 46 and he'll ultimately lose in court. There's the belief Art 46 gives Goodell carte blanche and the PA made it that way.

 

[Cowboys22]

I wonder what evidence or facts he may be referring to...:

I think they have cellphone photos from the time period in question that show Thompson did not have those bruises when she said she did. They showed up after the cat fight.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

good to know. A few of the sports analysts I heard on this topic seem to think although Zeke has a legit case, it will come back to Article 46 and he'll ultimately lose in court. There's the belief Art 46 gives Goodell carte blanche and the PA made it that way.

Sure and the reasoning is invariably shallow. Like I said Rice had his suspension vacated with 46 in place. Supposedly the NFL can punish for whatever reason they want. Except when they cannot.

NFL has been losing in federal court for 50 years. They win once and all of a sudden they are omnipotent. Nevermind that 2 out of the 4 judges who saw Brady voted against the NFL.

 

[Nightman]

Exactly.

Furthermore, there were 5 eyewitnesses that saw Thompson from the 16th thru the 21st, prior to her fight with the random woman and they all gave sworn affidavits that they saw no bruises on her. Chiedu Bosah also gave a picture of Thompson, EE and himself right before her fight and she had no bruises. All of that was neglected by the NFL.

And the NFL failed to mention the fact they saw the texts of her discussing extorting EE with the sex tape. It wasn't until it had been leaked to the media that we were aware that they had that evidence.






YR

I read all the affidavits and they all repeated the same truths

TT got into a serious fistfight with another woman
TT asked her friend to lie about EE pulling her from car
TT loudly threatened to ruin EEs career
EE was never close to TT

The fact that the Police left without even issuing a warning let alone charges show you that the professionals know that this was a case of a disgruntled girlfriend..... EEs mistake was going back to honey well as few times and leading her on.... the same mistake GHardy made....... in private EE told her one thing but in public he dogged her...... that had to make TT crazy