In the end, 'Deflategate' was about Goodell's power, not Brady's balls

Five hundred and forty-four days.

That's the amount of time it took Tom Brady to finally wave the white flag, accept his four-game suspension, and put "Deflategate" in his rearview mirror.

But that doesn't mean we've seen the last of this scandal. Far from it.

While many associate "Deflategate" with the ideal gas law, endless and confusing legal appeals, and Brady's smashed cell phone, the fight between the NFL and the NFL Players Association has become much more than that.

It has evolved into a battle to set the precedent for any future player discipline proceedings, with commissioner Roger Goodell looking to cement the authority given to him during the last collective bargaining agreement, and the NFLPA hoping to score a major victory that can be used when the two parties sit down to hammer out the next CBA.

The NFLPA hoped to knock Goodell from his seat as the league's judge, jury, and executioner in 2011, but ultimately caved to pressure with the season looming.

But it appears the union won't stand for another 10 years of Goodell's power, as they've hinted they might take Brady's case to the U.S Supreme Court, despite the quarterback stepping aside.

Initially, why they would do so might appear confusing, as Brady will have served his suspension by then, but their insistence that the legal fight isn't over shows the NFLPA understands the impact the loss will have over future negotiations about Goodell's power.

It might be a hard sell to the NFL, however, as Goodell has always prided himself on taking on player discipline head on.

And that's the root of the NFLPA's desire to lessen his role. Goodell's obsession to tackle player misconduct has led to there being a frighteningly little amount of outside oversight for the discipline he enforces.

Goodell not only sets the punishments for players - which appear to have little consistency in terms of sentencing - but he's also the one the players are forced to appeal to.

Goodell handed Brady a four-game suspension, and then was the one to uphold the punishment on appeal. Does that sound like a logical process to you?

While this is an issue that the NFLPA forced upon itself by accepting the "broken system" during the last CBA, it has been clear during the never-ending "Deflategate" saga that the league must alter the way it handles player discipline to avoid another scandal of this nature.

However, the NFL won't be forced to do so if the players' option to take their cases to court is slammed shut by the Brady decision, meaning the NFLPA's leverage to enforce neutral arbitration during player discipline could be lost.

So while it appears "Deflategate" is over, the war for power between Goodell and the NFLPA could just be beginning.