It was quick, it was simple. It was expedient and efficient. And, perhaps most importantly, there was no litigation or threat of it.
That’s the way it works for on-field player discipline. Two hearing officers are jointly hired and paid by the NFL and the NFL Players Association. One is assigned the case. He hears it quickly, rules on it quickly, and then it’s over.
Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr. surely disagreed with James Thrash’s decision to uphold Beckham’s one-game suspension. But because it’s a fair, independent process, Beckham had no complaints or concerns.
In contrast, the Personal Conduct Policy and the Commissioner’s authority regarding conduct detrimental to the integrity of the game continues to give the league first say -- and last say -- over the process. Although the NFLPA agreed to it (in more recent years, the NFL has refused to surrender the authority), players who find themselves being disciplined under these processes routinely believe that they aren’t receiving just treatment.
More and more media and fans have begun to agree. And yet the NFL continues to refuse to relinquish its power in favor of an independent process that would be embraced, supported, and endorsed by the players.
It’s one of the many reasons people reasonably perceive the league office to be tone deaf on certain matters. The NFL could go a long way toward reversing that perception by using for all matters of players discipline a system like the one that, in the end, gave the NFL exactly what it wanted with respect to Odell Beckham Jr.
