ornery and mean
The players are under contract. Part of that contract sets penalties for violation of certain clauses of the contract. It's totally legal.
For instance, let's say I sign a contract for employment with a company. One clause of that contract states that I can be penalized by the company for violating the company code of conduct. Now let's say I embezzle funds from the company and stalk certain female employees. Both of these are criminal offenses, and both would violate company code of conduct.
I could be charged with the applicable crimes and penalized by the company for the contract violations.
?
They have the power of the purse. These guys work for the NFL indirectly and are subject to the rules/punishment of the NFL.
Anonymous
It's not illegal to tell your boss to go F himself, yet you can be fired for it.
Think about that.