Berman asked NFL lawyer Dan Nash why the penalty for knowing about a scheme to deflate footballs below the NFL standard was equivalent to the penalty for a player using performance enhancing drugs.
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None of the lawyers talked to the media as they left court Wednesday.
Brady planned Wednesday to be at Patriots practice in West Virginia, where New England is preparing with New Orleans Saints players for a exhibition game Saturday night.
I was just told any reports are false suggesting Brady is getting ready to accept a suspension.
[Sketch artist deluged with offers for odd Brady portrait].
“Mr. McNally went into the bathroom to lower PSI one- or two-tenths”, Kessler said in court, according to Curran.
Additionally, it’s very likely that Schefter’s source came from within Brady’s camp because it portrays the NFLPA as willing to negotiate, while the NFL is sticking to their “all four games and accept the report findings!” line in the sand. The science behind ball inflation and the impact of outside conditions has flummoxed Ted Wells and the NFL since the earliest days of the DeflateGate investigation, undercutting the validity of their case.
Berman was also critical of the NFL for comparing alleged ball tampering to steroid use.
In court papers, the league has said there was “ample support” in evidence for the commissioner to conclude Brady was involved in efforts by the Patriots equipment personnel to deflate footballs.
Berman again encouraged the two sides to continue talking. However, on Wednesday a federal judge said no settlement had been reached, and warned the league it can erase the suspension if it refuses to negotiate a deal in the case.
Some within the sport have expressed the view that a settlement, potentially including a shortened suspension, is possible as the season draws closer.
If the suspension remains in place, Brady would not return until October 18 when the Patriots visit the Colts.
Berman also noted (via Sports Business Journal) that the NFL’s refusal to allow general counsel Jeff Pash to be questioned by union attorneys during a June appeal hearing is the kind of move that has been grounds for dismissal in other cases.
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Brady missed the Patriots’ practice Tuesday and was in New York to participate in settlement talks.
