In an interview with ESPN’s Outside the Lines, NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith said Friday that the union has yet to hear from Roger Goodell in response to its request for the commissioner to recuse himself from Tom Brady’s deflate-gate suspension appeal hearing.
The NFLPA said in its request that Goodell “must designate a neutral party to serve as an arbitrator in this matter” and that the entire process “contained procedural violations” of the collective bargaining agreement. Smith reiterated this stance while taking issue with the Wells Report, the NFL-sanctioned investigation into the New England Patriots’ alleged efforts to deflate footballs for a competitive advantage.