Even if Berman ultimately sides with Brady, the embattled Goodell and the NFL are still sitting pretty for at least three reasons: the benefit of time, much deeper pockets than Brady or the union and, most of all, the achingly slow wheels of the federal court system. The players union countersued, asking him to nullify the suspension. Lawyers will file more briefs by Friday.
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NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell speaks at a news conference at the league’s owners meetings at the Hyatt Regency hotel, Tuesday, August 11, 2015, in Schaumburg, Ill.
On Tuesday, Berman asked Goodell and Brady, along with lawyers, to appear before him privately a half hour before a public court session.
“There is no direct evidence that ties Brady to specifically conspiring or having something to do with deflating these footballs”, says ABC 6 Legal Analyst Ken Schreiber. But if Berman really is going to dive deep into the Wells Report, then Brady, the Patriots and the NFLPA should be elated, especially since Nash called the investigation’s independence a “red herring” in court Wednesday. Roger Goodell has no evidence to go off, he has lied blatantly multiple times, and he has completely overstepped his boundaries with that four game suspension. Brady insists he knew nothing about it.
At the hearing’s start, Berman said he found “varying strengths to both sides here” and had not made up his mind as to how he might rule if the sides do not settle.
Another important date is September 10.
NFL players aren’t seeing eye-to-eye with their commissioner when it comes to Tom Brady and his role in Deflategate. Brady is one of the best-known and richest athletes in the United States, with three Super Bowl victories on his resume. Goodell was greeted by a smattering of boos as he walked inside.
Also on Wednesday, the full transcript of a July 23 appeals hearing was unsealed.
“Turns out, Mr. Brady did better with higher inflated balls than the underinflated balls”, the judge said, reported ESPN.
With the ruling by Goodell, Brady is slated to miss the Patriots’ first four regular-season games: the Sept. 10 home opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sept. 20 at the Buffalo Bills and Sept. 27 at home against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Asked about Brady’s lack of cooperation, Kessler admitted Brady “could have handled it a different way”, but added that the matter of Brady allegedly destroying his phone and his text messages was “the most overblown issue” he’d seen in 40 years of practicing law. Another example of Goodell’s questionable decisions is the fact that Brady has as long a suspension as Cowboys DE Greg Hardy.
The Patriots were punished, too.
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The NFL has already fined the Patriots $1m and stripped the team of its first-round draft pick in 2016 and fourth-round selection in 2017.
