The NFLPA is now 0-2 against the NFL on grievance hearings (AP/Getty Images)

In the wake of the Saints bounty scandal that led to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell suspending four players, the NFLPA filed two grievances on behalf of Jonathan Vilma, Will Smith, Anthony Hargrove and Scott Fujita claiming that Goodell didn't have the authority to hand down punishments.

On Monday, arbitrator Stephen Burbank sided with the league and agreed that the commissioner was within in jurisdiction to sanction the players for their involvement in the bounty program. By Friday, arbitrator Shyam Das had also agreed with the NFL; despite the union's argument that the transgressions took place before both sides agreed to the new collective bargaining agreement signed last summer, Goodell was within his rights.


As CBSSports.com's Jason La Canfora notes, the NFLPA is now 0-2 against the NFL on grievance hearings.


And this shouldn't be altogether surprising. CBSSports.com's Clark Judge wrote about exactly these outcomes in early May. Prior to the rulings, the union believed that all appeals should go before Art Shell and Ted Cottrell, who jointly appointed by the NFL and NFLPA to hear appeals for, as the CBA notes, "conduct on the playing field with respect to an opposing player or players."

But Geoffrey Rapp, professor at the University of Toledo's College of Law who accurately predicted last year that the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals would uphold the NFL and bring an end to the lockout, explained to Judge that despite the language in the CBA, Goodell and the NFL were still likely to win the grievances.

"What we're dealing with here," Rapp told Judge in an e-mail last month, "is the legacy of the Chicago 'Black Sox' from nearly a century ago. In the aftermath of that scandal, Major League Baseball -- followed later by each of the prominent American professional leagues -- sought to restore the public's view of the sport by granting the Commissioner the power to make certain decisions in the 'best interests' of the sport, without being subject to any kind of review. The courts have tended to be deferential to this 'best interests' power, taking the view that the league formed voluntarily and that the teams were fully aware of the consequences of handing over this kind of authority ... but chose to do so anyway. …

"The language of the CBA is broad in this grant of authority -- it would apparently allow the Commissioner to impose 'integrity' sanctions whether the conduct is on or off the field and whether or not the conduct occurred before the CBA became effective or even before the player became a professional."

That appears to be exactly what happened this week. And while PFT.com hears that Das' decision can't be appealed, the union will appeal Burbank's decision. Next up: Goodell is scheduled to hear the Saints players' appeal on June 18.

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