Suspension of Dallas Cowboys’ Greg Hardy reduced to four games

A few might scoff at such a notion, but the truth is Hardy was handed a 10-game suspension, and it was recently reduced to 4-games.

Dallas Cowboys defensive end Greg Hardy’s suspension was officially reduced from 10 games to four, Brian McCarthy of National Football League public relations tweeted on Friday. Although the league has backed off of suspensions like Hardy’s (and Ben Roethlisberger’s in 2010), it isn’t a safe bet it will happen every time an appeal is heard.

With the ruling on Greg Hardy’s decreased suspension, Steelers RB Le’Veon Bell’s appeal should be next on the docket for the league office.

Henderson is the same person who upheld the commissioner’s punishment on Minnesota running back Adrian Peterson last season, a case that eventually wound up in court before Peterson was reinstated by the league.

Hardy, a two-time Pro Bowl defensive end with the Carolina Panthers, signed a one-year, $11.3 million contract with the Dallas Cowboys in the offseason.

A judge did find Hardy guilty of domestic violence in July of 2014 and gave him 18 months probation after suspending a 60-day jail sentence. For what it’s worth, Kessler also represented Tom Brady in his recent Deflategate suspension appeal. The former policy of two games without pay was changed after public outcry over handling of the Ray Rice domestic violence incident in 2014. Early indications, as indicated by multiple reports, are that Hardy, along with his agent Drew Rosenhaus, will meet with the NFLPA to decide what course of action to take. He registered 15 sacks for the Panthers the last time he played a complete year in 2013.