NEW YORK (AP) – Nearly two dozen engineering and physics professors weighed in Tuesday with a federal appeals court being asked to review New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s four-game suspension for “Deflategate”.
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Brady’s legal team is asking for an “en banc” hearing, which means the appeal would be put before all of the judges on the Second Circuit – ESPN reports that the Supreme Court could again hear the case if their request is rejected.
Brady’s suspension was reinstated by an appeals court in late April after being overturned last September.
The union’s legal team includes former U.S. Solicitor General Theodore Olson, who appeared earlier on Monday on ABC to announce the appeal.
In dissent, Chief Judge Robert Katzmann said Goodell failed to even consider a “highly relevant” alternative penalty.
Monday was the deadline for Brady to submit the petition.
The request would call for all the active judges on the Second Circuit to rehear the case and decide on it.
If the court refuses to hear the case, the only option left to Brady would be to seek a case before the Supreme Court, something which could take several months or years.
But the NFL Players Association appealed the ruling in federal court in 2015 and a district judge overturned the punishment, as Bloomberg previously reported. “This Court should grant rehearing or rehearing en banc”.
“The problem for the commissioner was simple”, NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith told USA TODAY Sports. The panel ruled 2-to-1 in favor or NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell – in that he treated Brady in a fair manner with his procedural rulings. It can affect the Patriots season whether they are going to the playoffs or not.
“Realistically his best chance of getting into those first four games might be to reach some sort of agreement with Commissioner Goodell”, Yen said.
New England starts its schedule with a tough road trip to Arizona before three home games against the Miami Dolphins, Houston Texans and Buffalo Bills.
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The matter has implications for all unionized workers who have bargained for appeal rights as protection, the petition said.
