Roger Goodell’s willingness to overstep any bound of precedent of punishment has been revealed by his recent run of losses in court.
But now, his hand-picked arbitrator admits the commissioner went too far in suspending Cowboys defensive end Greg Hardy for 10 games.
“After consideration of all the record evidence and arguments, I conclude that the Commissioner acted within his authority and properly exercised his discretion in finding that Hardy violated the NFL Personal Conduct Policy,” Henderson said. “I find that the conduct of Hardy clearly violates the letter and spirit of any version of the PCP since its inception, and of the NFL Constitution and Bylaws long before then. The egregious conduct exhibited here is indefensible in the NFL.
“However, 10 games is simply too much, in my view, of an increase over prior cases without notice such as was done last year, when the ‘baseline’ for discipline in domestic violence or sexual assault cases was announced as a six-game suspension. Therefore, the discipline of Mr. Hardy hereby is modified to a suspension of four games; all other terms of the discipline letter remain in place.”
Whether Hardy’s side decides to fight the four-game punishment remains to be seen, but Henderson’s backtracking on this one makes it clear the league prefers the appearance of being tough on crime to actually being tough on crime.
