It has been nearly six weeks since the appeal hearing for Greg Hardy‘s 10-game suspension ended, and arbitrator Harold Henderson has yet to announce a decision on whether or not the defensive end’s penalty will be upheld. While one report yesterday suggested that the prolonged appeal process was wearing down Hardy, reducing the likelihood of him continuing the legal battle, a source close to the defensive end tells Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk that’s not the case.
“Greg has every intention of taking whatever legal steps are necessary,” the source told Florio. “Nothing has changed on our end.”
Although yesterday’s report from Jason Cole of Bleacher Report indicated that Hardy may accept his suspension if it were reduced by two to four games, Florio’s source suggests that the 26-year-old’s camp intends to take the NFL to court if the ban is for more than two games. As Florio notes, the league’s old personal conduct policy called for a two-game suspension for a domestic incident like Hardy’s, which took place before the NFL beefed up its discipline policy on domestic violence.
If Henderson upholds Hardy’s 10-game suspension, or only reduces it slightly, the NFLPA and Hardy could argue that the league shouldn’t apply its new conduct policy to an incident that occurred when the old policy was in place. Florio’s source also notes that the lengthy delay between the appeal hearing and a ruling could help Hardy, since he could argue that the NFL and Henderson dragged their feet in order to make it harder for the Cowboys pass rusher to get a final ruling from a federal court before the regular season begins.
For now, the wait continues on a decision from Henderson, who has been mulling Hardy’s appeal for 41 days and counting so far.