Tom Brady and Greg Hardy Suspensions are Incomparable.

How can NFL Golden Boy, Tom Brady, be facing the same suspension for deflating balls, as Greg Hardy is facing for domestic abuse? Here’s how…

The buzz around the NFL this past week has been all about Tom Brady. After receiving a 4-game suspension for his role in Deflategate, Tom Brady predictably appealed the ruling. Following an extremely long deliberation, NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell, upheld the ruling.

The aftermath of the ruling has brought on comparisons to Greg Hardy’s 4-game suspension. Greg Hardy was originally suspended 10-games for a brutal incident with his then-girlfriend, Nicole Holder. Unlike Tom Brady’s suspension, Hardy’s was reduced citing the domestic abuse policy at the time of the incident.

Now both players face the same punishment for vastly different offenses. What’s the deal with that?

While it’s a natural reaction, comparing Tom Brady’s and Greg Hardy’s offense is impossible since they are so different in every single way. Forget for a moment there is no smoking gun proving Tom Brady’s guilt. And forget (forever) that the case against Greg Hardy was thrown out upon appeal.

With Tom Brady, the circumstantial evidence and uncooperative behavior (destruction of evidence) were enough for the league to punish. For Greg Hardy the physical evidence and testimony (and original conviction beyond a reasonable doubt) were enough for the league to punish.

Right or wrong, the league has different standards for punishment and the NFLPA has enabled and empowered them to do so. Whichever side of the issue you’re on, let’s just say these men are guilty enough to face NFL punishment, because the reality is – they are.

While most people see guilt in both Brady and Hardy, the outrage revolves around both offenders receiving the same severity of punishment, for very different offenses. The “which is worse” rhetorical argument soon follows. Obviously no one actually thinks cheating is even remotely on the same level as domestic abuse, but there is a reason they are facing the same punishment.

A couple things to consider with these offenses, and why they are so incomparable:

Hardy’s case was a crime against society. Brady’s offense was a crime against the NFL. Consequently, the judicial system is primarily responsible for punishing Hardy, while the NFL is solely responsible for punishing Brady.
The NFL is operating under the NFL Players Association’s agreed upon guidelines in the most recent Collective Bargaining Agreement. The NFL outlines offenses and to what extent those offenses can be punished. In other words, even if the NFL wanted to give Greg Hardy a lifetime ban, they couldn’t have because that is not the written and approved punishment.

Under the rules at the time of Greg Hardy’s offence, the NFL was only authorized to suspend for 2 games (Note: since then, the NFL has changed the first-time offense to 6 games). Greg Hardy may have deserved more, given the heinous nature of his incident, but that’s not within the policy at the time.

As I said leading up to Roger Goodell’s original ruling:

"“Goodell is going to throw the book at Hardy and give him a long suspension, even though he knows it will be overturned, per the rules at the time of the offense. That way Goodell can look tough on domestic abuse, and have clean hands when the arbitrator inevitably overturns the ruling.”"

That’s axactly what happened. The arbitrator agreed with everything said by Goodell about Hardy, but had to reduce the penalty per the policy. The policy at the time stated only 2 games, but another 2 games were presumably tacked on because firearms were involved as well.

Tom Brady’s crime was solely against the league. The NFL found him guilty of deflating balls (The NFL doesn’t consider it a one-time offence either) and gaining a competitive advantage over his opponents.

By cheating he violated the integrity of the game. With the institution of the salary cap, parity has narrowed the delta between the teams. One play, one call, one little thing, can make all the difference in today’s NFL. If you don’t think it’s a big deal, go talk to other quarterbacks, better yet, talk to Las Vegas.

Tom Brady’s offence is especially troubling to the NFL, given the financial consequences of a fan base that senses cheating and corruption. If NFL fans feel something underhanded is going on, tipping the balance unfairly, the NFL stands to lose substantially. Integrity of the game is key in the NFL.

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Tom Brady and Greg Hardy Situations are Incomparable. So Stop.

By Reid Hanson | Aug 3, 2015

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