In hitting Roger Goodell with a blow that shakes his already wobbly legacy, Judge Richard M. Berman summarized pent-up criticism of the N.F.L. commissioner when he said Goodell had administered “his own brand of industrial justice” to a player he felt had crossed a line.
Berman overturned Goodell’s four-game suspension of that player, Tom Brady, on Thursday, ruling that it had been Goodell who had crossed a line with his discipline.
Brady is now free to start the regular season. His defenders are claiming victory. And a little more of Goodell’s power has been reined in.