The timing is unusual, but they likely fired him because they didn't like his ruling in the Braun case and its likely it didn't have much to do with the NFL. I'd be ecstatic if its the same guy though, because he was smart enough to understand that there was not enough conclusive evidence to prove Braun was guilty. In my opinion, his ruling fell more in line with the way an actually judge and jury would have ruled. In other words, he's the furthest possible thing from Roger Goodell