I still can't really fathom why anyone would think it a good idea to listen to anything I think or say or write ever, much less think it has any redeeming qualities, nor want to give me a platform to signal boost the things I think and say out to a broader audience - for instance, everyone who listens to the Howard Simon Show on WGR550. BUT PEOPLE DO AND I AM AN EXPERT HUMBLEBRAGGER AS WELL AS LEGAL THINKER ta-daaaaaaaaaaa. Here we are.
Yesterday, Tom Brady's suspension was upheld by the hearing officer that heard his appeal under Article 46, Section 2 of the NFL/NFLPA Collective Bargaining Agreement, the document that generally defines the exclusive process by which a player may substantively appeal discipline assessed by the league. The hearing officer, as is obvious from everything you've already seen on the webs, was Commissioner Roger Goodell, esteemed douchebag and villain of any and all things. A man so entirely deplorable that a part of me wanted Donald Trump to buy the Bills - I KNOW! A means to an end, solely - so he could start throwing non-stop, outrageous, totally offensive and gratifying shade at Goodell's smug fucking face and give us Bills fans something to cheer for past Week 6, picking up the slack since we don't write here much anymore and thus aren't throwing as much of that shade as we ought. Goodell served as hearing officer, in his discretion, through the authority to do so under the CBA.
What was more awesome about what went down yesterday was that we learned Tom Brady, after having notice of the NFL's desire to inspect his cell phone and/or certain contents of the phone to the extent they were related to the NFL's request for communications concerning ball pressure and the like, destroyed his phone. Like, either the day he was interviewed by Ted Wells or the day before. I mean, Tom didn't actually do it. He had an assistant carry out his bidding as millionaires are want to do. He said he always destroyed his phones when he got a new one, which was pretty often because reasons and also the reality of his relationship with consumer goods closely resembling my relationship with hamburgers - the faster you blow through one, the faster you can feel good about getting a new one.
Except, nope. The phone BEFORE this one that he destroyed in March? He didn't destroy that. Because, errrr, shut up, Richard. I mean, he's totes being honest, guys, I mean look at his smile and his spiral and that wife. She is pretty and stuff.
No one is disputing that this is what went down. No one.
The NFL thought it mighty suspicious of him to destroy the phone on the day of the Wells interview, and then to come up with an excuse belied by the fact that he clearly didn't always destroy his phones, not always. Of course, when the NFL found it suspicious, I mean Goodell, a guy who couldn't love Brady more even if Tommy was made exclusively of the tears of Junior Seau's family. A guy who couldn't love the owner of Brady's football club more even if Robert Kraft was made exclusively of the kinetic energy created by the sanctimony of billionaires chastising what grown men do in between seasons of consistent head traumas. What I'm saying is that Goodell loves Junior Seau's family's tears and he LOVES billionaire sanctimony, but he loves Brady and Kraft more. These guys are bae, or something.
Dammit. I'm so white.
Anyway, this happened, an internet full of hot takes arose, and I couldn't help but enter the mix. I have a problem with entering the mix and not, you know, refraining. I also know a little something about something, certainly more than I can learn from a Jay Z song - though that didn't stop me from paraphrasing '99 Problems' on the NY Bar Exam's essay section - so I tweeted a bunch, like self-important members of the Buffalo Bloggerati are want to do. I hit some nerves, some people DM'd me calling me a fag (true story, there was one guy), and some people liked it. I don't get it either. My twitter feed is here. Some of the good bits are below.
If you destroy evidence, you're signaling to Court that you didn't want even a private review of evidence. You're conceding it's damning.
— The Barrister (@theycallmedubs) July 28, 2015
"I'm sorry, Mr. Brady. You may be right. But you waived that argument when you chose to destroy the phone." - a Judge, three weeks from now
— The Barrister (@theycallmedubs) July 28, 2015
"What was he supposed to do?" Refuse. Say no. Say he does not concede their right to phone or contents. Fight within bounds of law.
— The Barrister (@theycallmedubs) July 28, 2015
What he did? Destroyed it, claimed he "always destroyed his phones." He didn't fight the argument. He didn't challenge NFL power. He ran.
— The Barrister (@theycallmedubs) July 28, 2015
What's happening today is an internet full of well-meaning people are coming up with all the arguments Brady should have made and didn't.
— The Barrister (@theycallmedubs) July 28, 2015
You don't get to make these arguments and destroy evidence. These arguments are for people who don't simultaneously attempt to subvert law.
— The Barrister (@theycallmedubs) July 28, 2015
Anyway, Jeremy White, the co-host of WGR's Howard Simon Show, was kind enough to give my tweets a signal boost via RTs and nice words and whatnot. Jeremy and I don't always get along or agree - on Colin Cowhered this week, for instance, or infamously on the NHL Lockout a few years back (relevant context here, here and a podcast he graciously joined here) - but the guy is generally a good advocate for what we try to do here, and what WNY sports blogs do generally. So, when I joked about being available for a call this morning on the air, I suppose I should have known he would have taken me seriously. Again, this is a weird opportunity to have fallen on my lap, but one I'd be be stupid to say wasn't pretty fucking cool.
So the audio is below. Hit up 25:00 in the player. If you haven't listened yet, it would be rad if you did. I am equally proud of my points as I am my apparent ability to not swear or make dick jokes for a few minutes in a row. Small miracles. For my next act, I will be deconstructing John Wawrow being fucking outrageous and creepy and super super weird, so if you're looking for me to re-establish the equilibrium of DGWU Sports in some definitive way, stay tuned. Or, you know, just read the first section of this post again. You should be all set.
Go Bills.