ChiefsPlanet - NFL's player suspensions legal standings

An article with info about the legal aspects of the suspensions.

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It may not matter. Even the shrewdest of lawyers would run into the reality that Goodell is only exercising the authority the NFL Players Association granted him under the latest collective-bargaining agreement. The union and a six-player NFL Advisory Committee signed off on it in part to stem the tide of bad publicity.

The empowering language in the CBA exposes the commissioner's actions to scrutiny more than sound legal challenges. The NFL made itself uniquely immune to such lawsuits because all appeals on disciplinary decisions go back to the commissioner unlike other sports leagues that use an outside arbitrator, according to Rick Karcher, Director of the Center for Law and Sports at Florida Coastal School of Law.

"How can anyone say the commissioner exceeded his authority when the head of the union and the committee of six players supposedly signed off on a new policy that contains no limits whatsoever on his authority?" Karcher asked.

Goodell possesses the right to define what constitutes misconduct, determine the appropriate sanction, impose discipline retroactive to the implementation of the new policy and hear appeals. It makes him potentially the most powerful commissioner in sports.

"If Johnson or any other player challenged the new policy in court, most judges would dismiss the case because it's a collective-bargaining issue and the union and league agreed that a player's only recourse is to appeal to the commissioner," Karcher said.