If they didn’t already know, Tom Brady and Roger Goodell found out Wednesday that U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman isn’t going to put up with any nonsense from either side during the Deflategate hearings.
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See raw footage of Patriots quarterback Tom Brady arriving at a Manhattan courthouse for a hearing on the ongoing saga over deflated footballs.
On more than one occasion Berman asked Daniel L. Nash, the attorney for the NFL, for “direct evidence that implicates Mr. Brady“.
NFLPA lawyer Jeffrey Kessler said that if balls were intentionally deflated, it could have been because two Patriots employees implicated in the report, John Jastremski and Jim McNally, thought it would help their quarterback.
Brady has denied knowing about the deflated footballs or any scheme by Patriots employees to carry it out. Without excusing what Enemkpali did, Ryan called the player “a good teammate” and said he believes the linebacker can learn from his mistake.
The judge has encouraged the two sides to come to a settlement. The Patriots’ regular season begins on September 10, also at home, in a nationally televised game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
He said at the start of the hearing in federal court that he has not determined in his own mind who will prevail.
Both Brady and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who imposed the suspension, attended the 90-minute hearing.
When Brady made the same walk 31 minutes later Wednesday morning after Berman met with him and his legal team, he didn’t even bother moving his eyes toward Goodell.
Brady was in court over the deflate-gate saga that has dominated NFL headlines ahead of the new season. He increased the pressure on both men by ordering them to appear in court in person to discuss a possible deal. Goodell is confident in his role as the disciplinarian in the NFL, while Albert Breer of NFL Media reports that things were hung up on “Brady’s refusal to admit guilt” in the situation.
Kessler admitted, however, that Brady could have done a better job of cooperating with Wells’ investigation by not directing his assistant to destroy the cellphone he had used from November 2014 until early March.
The two sides later went into Berman’s chambers for private talks. Berman said he doesn’t yet know whose side he favors in the arguments. Labor-law cases of this nature are ultimately judged on the process and, in this case, whether Goodell followed the CBA in hitting Brady with an over-the-top suspension.
The NFL Players Association has challenged the ban in court, but there has been no indication with regard to whether the suspension may be dropped or reduced. Goodell said there were no directly comparable cases to Brady’s in the past.
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About 100 people waited outside the courthouse, including journalists-some with lawn chairs-and onlookers just getting off work.
