The NFLPA filed its appeal of Patriots quarterback Tom Brady's four-game suspension last week, and in the appeal it made it clear that it would ask NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to testify as a witness.
On Tuesday the players association officially requested that Goodell recuse himself as the arbitrator in the case.
The announcement comes on the heels of the decision by Robert Kraft not to appeal the punishment handed to the Patriots as a result of Deflategate. (The NFLPA, soon after Kraft finished his statement, made it clear that the Patriots decision would not affect Brady's appeal process.)
Here is the statement released by the NFLPA on Tuesday afternoon:
The NFLPA has formally requested that Commissioner Roger Goodell recuse himself as the arbitrator in Tom Brady's disciplinary appeal. Given a process that has contained procedural violations of our collective bargaining agreement, the Commissioner's role as a central witness in the appeal hearing and his evident partiality with respect to the Wells report, the Commissioner must designate a neutral party to serve as an arbitrator in this matter. The players also believe that the Commissioner's history of inconsistently issuing discipline against our players makes him ill-suited to hear this appeal in a fair-minded manner.
If the NFL believes the Ted Wells report has credibility because it is independent, then the NFL should embrace our request for an independent review.