Mike Florio breaks down the news that The NFL has suspended Texans LB Azeez Al-Shaair for three games for his hit on quarterback Trevor Lawrence and the actions that followed.
PFT Live with Mike Florio
Breaking News: Azeez Al-Shaair suspended for three games
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The Texans don't play this weekend, so there's more time to work out the appeal. And under the collective bargaining agreement, the NFL issues the suspension. John Runyon is the executive responsible for that. And then there is an appeal process where there are now four individuals. There used to be two. There are now four. Derek Brooks, Ramon Foster, Kevin Muay, and Jordy Nelson. Four former players who are jointly hired and paid by the league in the union who decide whether to what extent the punishment will be upheld. And I'd like to say there's a rhyme or reason to how this works. If there's precedent, it's not in the classic legal sense. I feel like every case is handled on its own. And there aren't a lot of bright, clear, guiding principles to say, okay, in this situation, the person got this many games. So in that situation, this is the number of games that should be imposed. And I say that because when I look at the announcement from the league, I'm not quite sure whether he's being suspended three games for the hit or two games for the hit and one game for the altercation that happened right afterward or his history is one of the reasons why there's another game being added to it. I would just prefer something more formulaic, something more predictable. The NFL doesn't like that because the NFL typically likes to do whatever it wants under any and all circumstances, not bound by the things it did in the past. A lot of companies like to operate that way. You don't want to have your hands tied in the future because of the way you did that. Because of the way you did things in the past. And a lot of this plays out in the appeal process that isn't open for us to scrutinize. But I would want to know, because I'm looking at the announcement. First paragraph focuses on the hit to Trevor Lawrence. Second paragraph focuses on the brawl, which you escalated when you pulled an opponent down to the ground by his face mask. Then it mentions after he was disqualified, you removed your helmet, re-engaged with your opponent while walking down and across the field, which started another physical confrontation near the end zone. And it also mentions his history. It doesn't go into detail, but it does mention in the announcement from the league that he has multiple offenses for personal files and sportsmanship related rules violations in recent seasons. So how much of that is a factor? So we've got his history. We've got the hit. We've got the first fight. We've got the second fight. Where does the three games come from? And at the end of the day, it doesn't matter in the big picture. But for those of us who are interested in predictability and accountability and, you know, hoping that the league will be fully transparent and won't maybe exercise a bias for one player and another player gets a benefit of that. It all should be. And I know that it's impossible for it to be exactly specific and identical and never changing because circumstances change. It just seems a little fuzzy to me. How did they come up with three games? And if I'm handling the appeal on behalf of the Z's Al Shire, that's one of the arguments I'm making. And I'm delving into the history of punishments that have been imposed. I feel like the NFL is setting it up to move the goalposts. They want their three games. And if it's not this, it's that. If it's not that, it's this. And all things told, it's three games. We'll see how it plays out. We've seen punishments issued by the league get overturned in the past. Devin and I talked earlier today about the fact that there's kind of a political element. We may have talked about this on the air or off air, but there's kind of a political element to this, a PR where sometimes the league will go easy on a guy because it doesn't want to lose the appeal. Sometimes it will go harder on a guy, not caring if it loses the appeal because it wants to send a message to the world that they take these things seriously. And I think this is something we were discussing during a break, the possibility of a suspension for the rest of the season. Even if you lose, even if it's reduced to two games or three games or whatever, it's a strong statement from the league that we don't tolerate this. The problem though is, this is my last point on it because we just did two hours of PFT live and we'd breakfast. The problem is because the NFL issues the suspension, when the suspension is overturned, the average fan doesn't understand that that's a separate process that overturns it. It creates the perception, no matter how hard the NFL tries to get people to understand it, it creates the perception that the league is wishy-washy. Oh, Al Shirey was suspended three games. Well, now it's one game. Well, the league can't make up its mind. Well, no, that's not how it works. There was a fine recently that was rescinded. Well, it was rescinded on appeal as a result of the appeal process. So you lose. And this happens all the time. We hear about the fines. We don't hear about the outcome unless somebody decides they're going to publicize it. But it's not the league changing its mind. It's the process playing out. That's what will happen next. The process will play out. And there is some time factored into this because the Texans are off this week. I suspect at some point by Friday at five o'clock Eastern we'll have a final decision so the Texans know going into next week whether or not they'll have Aziz Al Shire. I assume they won't. At best, it's going to be reduced even if it is reduced. I'm surprised the league didn't ask for more to send a message to the world that it doesn't tolerate this. The bottom line is three is the number and we'll see if that number holds up on appeal. Give sport with gifts from Nike from the retro Romero 5 sneaker designed with zoom air cushioning to fleece engineered with lightweight warmth and next level comfort. We have the perfect gift for any athlete on your list. Shop now at your nearest Nike store. Hey Fidelity. What's it cost to invest with the Fidelity app? Start with as little as $1 with no account fees or trade commissions on US stocks and ETFs. Hmm, that's music to my ears. I can only talk. Investing involves risk including risk of loss. 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