NFL suspensions that have been overturned or reduced in the Goodell era

Roger Goodell doesn’t have an impeccable track record getting his suspensions upheld on appeal. AP Photo/Jason DeCrow

By Jack Andrade

May 12, 2015

2 minutes to read

Roger Goodell is the judge and jury in NFL disciplinary cases, but his track record on appealed suspensions is a promising sign for Tom Brady.

Facing a four game ban to start the 2015 season, Brady plans to appeal his sentence and has until Thursday at 5 p.m. to formally file the paperwork to appeal.

Since 2010, on Goodell’s watch, two indefinite suspensions have been overruled, a pair of one-game bans have been eliminated, two multi-game suspensions have been reduced, and all the players disciplined in the Bountygate scandal were able to overturn their suspensions.

That started with Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, suspended for six games in 2010 after being accused of sexual assault. Roethlisberger was never charged in the case, and Goodell reduced his suspension to four games.

The Bountygate scandal involving the New Orleans Saints led to suspensions for four defensive players. Goodell suspended linebacker Jonathan Vilma for the full 2012 season, defensive ends Anthony Hargrove and Will Smith for eight and four games, respectively, and linebacker Scott Fujita for three games. Goodell hired his predecessor, former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue, to handle the player appeals, and Tagliabue overturned all the suspensions.

The 2013 season saw the NFL get tougher on helmet to helmet hits, but Goodell’s suspensions didn’t always hold up. Buccaneers safety Dashon Goldson had a one game appealed down to a $100,000 fine, and Brandon Meriweather had his two game ban (as a repeat offender) reduced to one game on appeal in October.

Goodell came under fire throughout the 2014 season after a woefully lenient two game ban was imposed on Ray Rice for abusing his then-fiance. Goodell admitted his mistake and suspended Rice indefinitely, but an independent arbiter ruled in Rice’s favor in November, overturning the indefinite suspension. Rice was reinstated, but has not received much interest from NFL teams.

Adrian Peterson was also suspended indefinitely by Goodell for an off field incident in 2014, and his case, too, was overruled in court, leading to his reinstatement in April. Additionally, Detroit Lions star Ndamukong Suh was set to be suspended for his team’s Wild Card round playoff game for stepping on the ankle of Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers in Week 17, but that suspension was appealed down to a $70,000 fine.