So...
Berman then asked, "So the next time someone tampers with a ball but cooperates, what would he get?"
Nash, after a roundabout explanation, finally settled on: "The amount of discipline would be based on the sound judgment of the commissioner."
This strikes to me at the core of the problem here. What good is the CBA and the NFL rule book if the punishments in place....are irrelevant?
From the rulebook:
“Once the balls have left the locker room, no one, including players, equipment managers, ball boys, and coaches, is allowed to alter the footballs in any way. If any individual alters the footballs, or if a non-approved ball is used in the game, the person responsible and, if appropriate, the head coach or other club personnel will be subject to discipline, including but not limited to, a fine of $25,000.”
I know we've been over this before. But the punishment for altering footballs is $25,000, but it's not limited to that. So what does that mean, really? If the fine for littering includes, but is not limited to, $100, is it really ok for a judge to punish a guy who tosses a Snicker's wrapper on the ground by fining him $1 million and throwing him in jail for five years? I mean, technically, he's following the letter of the law, right? The penalty was "not limited" to $100, after all.
Those penalties in the rulebook are there to tell us the degree of seriousness of various infractions. The penalty for excessive swearing is $20,000. Just $5,000 less than altering footballs.
Could you imagine a guy dropping a series of F-bombs, and Goodell suspends him 4 games?
Nash's response above simply means, Goodell can issue whatever penalty he wants. Period.
If the NFL wins this case, that will be the big takeaway. That the judge will have concluded that the CBA allows Goodell to issue any penalty he wants for any infraction - real or imagined - he thinks took place. And it matters not whether (1) any infraction actually occurred, (2) that there is any historical precedent for such a penalty, or (3) what the rule book actually says.
In other words, if Berman rules in favor of the NFL, it means Goodell is truly able to do whatever he wants, whenever he wants, to anyone in the league he wants. I mean, cripes, he's literally made stuff up here, lied all the way through, provided NO actual evidence, been completely one-sided and biased, and he just might win.