Any effort by owners to pressure, influence, or lobby Commissioner Roger Goodell on the Tom Brady appeal undermines Goodell’s independence. Which in turn strengthens Brady’s case in court.
The looming lawsuit (absent a zero-game suspension for Brady) will entail an argument that Goodell wasn’t truly impartial. What better way to prove his “evident partiality” (lawyers) than to demonstrate the true contours of the mine field through which Goodell has been tiptoeing?
And what better way to do that than to march all 32 owners into court for sworn testimony regarding their communications with Goodell and the league office regarding the Brady suspension and appeal?