Goodell to be called as witness in Brady appeal

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is a potential witness in New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady's appeal of a four-game ban, and shouldn't preside over the appeal, the NFL Players Association said Friday. The union filed an appeal on Brady's behalf on Thursday, when their demand for an independent arbitrator was quickly answered by the league with confirmation that Goodell himself would hear the case. If Goodell doesn't reconsider, "the NFLPA and Mr Brady will seek recusal and pursue all available relief to obtain an arbitrator who is not evidently partial," the union wrote in a letter to the league that it made public on Friday. Brady, a four-time Super Bowl champion, was suspended for the first four games of the upcoming season after third-party investigator Ted Wells found the superstar quarterback was likely "at least generally aware" that team equipment personnel deliberately deflated footballs below league minimums before the AFC Championship Game against the Indianapolis Colts in January.

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