FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Tom Brady's lawyers demanded that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell recuse himself from the Super Bowl MVP's "Deflategate" appeal and threatened to go to court unless the four-game suspension is overturned.
Laying out the grounds for dismissing the penalty and setting the stage for a potential federal court battle, the NFL Players Association said in a letter released Friday that Goodell can't hear the appeal because he will be called as a witness.
"The NFLPA believes that neither Commissioner Goodell nor anyone with close ties to the NFL can serve as arbitrator in Mr. Brady's appeal," the letter said.