If I were to sue my employer its consider voluntary termination. If I were to win the suit then I'd get my job back with back pay. If I lost the suit than I'd still be terminated. Not sure why the NFL would be any different.

But what I really don't understand is why don't professional athletes put me on million dollar retainer to write apologies? I could have put this all in the past two weeks before the SB. "At some time in the past I may have inferred that I like my footballs on the soft side. It was never my intention that those footballs be deflated below the legal limit. I'd like to apologize to the NFL, Kraft, Patriot fans and most of all to the equipment staff over this misunderstanding and want to ensure that all future footballs meet league standards."

It really isn't that difficult.