Federal appeals court judges seemed likely to restore New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s four-game suspension for the scandal known as Deflategate after spending time Thursday shredding some of his union’s favorite arguments for dismissal.
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The evidence of ball tampering is compelling if not overwhelming.
The Patriots defeated the Indianapolis Colts 45-7 in the AFC Championship game and eventually went on to win the Super Bowl XLIX against the Seattle Seahawks. Here, the NFLPA will essentially be defending Berman and not Brady with lead attorney Jeffrey Kessler arguing that Goodell was so heavy-handed and unfair toward Brady that the judge was compelled to vacate Goodell’s arbitration decision.
The NFL’s response in both district and appellate courts was that the collective bargaining agreement gives Goodell wide-ranging powers to punish players who threaten the “integrity of the game”, and that the courts have no basis to overturn Goodell’s punishment as long as it is reasonably based in the CBA.
To speak in football terms, the Patriots’ quarterback entered the appeal hearing up by a field goal, courtesy of Judge Berman’s ruling. Kessler, for the first time, said Brady refused to turn over his phone due to privacy and stalking issues. That means numerous most consequential decisions are made by intermediate courts such as the Second Circuit.
Fantasy Impact: This appeal has likely been the most important Deflategate development so far, especially with the federal judges taking the NFL’s side on this one.
“An adjudicator looking at these facts, it seems to me, might conclude that the cellphone had incriminating information on it and that, in the teeth of an investigation, it was deliberately destroyed”, Parker said.
If the National Football League once again loses, it could file for another appeal, which would reportedly go to the US Supreme Court.
Judge Barrington Parker attacked Brady’s handling of evidence critical to his case – the destruction of his cell phone.
Brady’s lawyers wanted to focus on how they didn’t have equal access to the NFL’s investigatory materials and weren’t able to question Jeff Pash, co-author of the Wells Report. So most experts think they’re going to rule against Brady and reinstate the four-game suspension.
And Parker suggested that the Commissioner could have suspended Brady for the destruction of the cell phone alone.
Its image took a hit when it was beaten in court by Brady over the summer.
In order to reinstate Brady’s suspension or reverse Berman’s decision, the three judges must disagree with those three rulings.
The NFL is not just trying to suspend Brady, but they’re also trying to set a precedent with this hearing.
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But the judges seemed hardest on Brady’s side. He added: “We appreciate the opportunity to present our arguments to the 2nd Circuit today and look forward to their decision”. In all honesty, I thought this whole DeflateGate thing was over. At least one of the judges from Thursday’s hearing disagrees.
