Certain types of NFL disciplinary appeals apply a firm deadline for reaching a decision. The Personal Conduct Policy does not.
Conducted under Rule 46 of the labor deal, the hearing officer is required to issue a written decision "[a]s soon as practicable” after the completion of the hearing.
In the case of Cowboys defensive end Greg Hardy, the hearing on his 10-game suspension ended 17 days ago. In theory, a ruling could come at any time.
From Hardy’s perspective, the sooner arbitrator Harold Henderson issues a ruling, the better. If Hardy chooses to go to court to challenge the outcome, the more time Hardy has before the start of the regular season, the better chance he’ll have to get a ruling from federal court.
As it stands, Hardy currently is due to be reinstated three days before a Thanksgiving game against his former team, the Panthers.
Hardy and the NFL Players Association claim that the NFL applied the post-Ray Rice Personal Conduct Policy retroactively to things Hardy allegedly did under the prior Personal Conduct Policy. Hardy and the NFLPA contend that, during the hearing, the NFL failed to specify which version of the policy was used, and that Henderson failed to force them to do so.