Under the current CBA, player discipline is determined by an independent disciplinary officer. That was Robinson, in the Watson case. The NFL and the NFLPA each can appeal that officer's ruling, which the NFL has now done.
This is where things go to shit, because the CBA states that the appeal goes to Goodell (or his designate) and the ruling on that appeal will be totally binding. Meaning that the officer's ruling is just a suggestion that can be thrown out and replaced by the NFL at will.
And the delicious part of this is that Robinson looked to precedent when suspending Watson for only six games. The NFL and the NFLPA agreed that the previous method for enforcing personal conduct policy wasn't working, so they came up with a new system, only to watch as the first goddamn case through that new system was judged on precedent set by the decisions made under the old, supposedly inferior system.
And now Goodell gets to decide, and if he decides to do what the league wants (AND WHY OH WHY WOULD HE EVER WANT TO DO THAT), he will be saying that the judge fucked up by lending too much merit to every single decision on player discipline he's ever made in the past.
Fuck the NFL with a deflated football.
