FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The Kansas City Chiefs lost their appeal to commissioner Roger Goodell in a tampering case with receiver Jeremy Maclin, serving as a reminder of the longshot odds for teams in the appeal process, such as the New England Patriots with Deflategate.
The Chiefs were stripped of a 2016 third-round draft choice and 2017 sixth-round draft pick while the team was fined $250,000 and head coach Andy Reid was fined $75,000. As part of the appeal, which was heard by Goodell, the team's fine was reduced to $200,000 and Reid's fine was lessened to $60,000.
That wasn't the ruling the Chiefs hoped for but they acknowledged that there is nothing they can do, with chairman Clark Hunt saying, "Having exhausted our options under the appeal process, we are turning the page on this issue and look forward to continuing our preparations for the 2016 season."
Because of the way the NFL gives Goodell the power to both issue punishment and hear the appeal of said punishment, teams that appeal penalties have little chance of getting the desired result.
Patriots owner Robert Kraft could have taken the same appeal-based approach with Deflategate, and has taken heat from some for not doing so. The optics looked bad, but Kraft assessed his chances of winning the appeal as extremely unlikely, instead feeling that the best path to "victory" was by taking a more conciliatory approach.
He later said that he was wrong to put his faith in the league.
These are tough spots for owners like Hunt and Kraft, because when you're appealing to the commissioner who imposed the initial penalty, it's simply not a fair fight.