What a mess. IMO, he deserved significant punishment for what he did and, regardless of whether he "desperately wanted to play," nine weeks of what was essentially a paid vacation doesn't come close. Without also imposing a financial penalty, there was no punishment. I expected that he would be immediately reinstated, but retroactively docked a certain number of game checks. If that wasn't possible, I guess this was the only solution. All that being said, it's hard not to agree with the NFLPA that Goodell seems to be making it all up as he goes.