ESPN reported earlier Wednesday that Brady is willing to accept some form of suspension tied to a lack of cooperation with the NFL’s investigation, adding that the quarterback remains unwilling to agree to accept the conclusions of NFL investigator Ted Wells’s report.
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Brady and NFL commissioner Goodell reportedly met for lengthy talks in New York on Tuesday about a possible settlement. Both federal court hearings heard by U.S. Judge Richard Berman have seemingly gone in Brady and the union’s favor.
And if that ruling entails a second hearing conducted with a neutral arbitrator followed by further proceedings before Judge Berman to enforce or vacate the outcome, Brady could play most if not all of the season until the case ends.
Brady originally had planned to miss another day of practice and attend Wednesday’s hearing.
Judge Berman also questioned Goodell on how he decided on handing down a four-game suspension, and if all of it was because of the allegations or how Brady was seemingly “uncooperative”. The Patriots advanced to the Super Bowl and won.
Sherman doesn’t seem too concerned with whether Brady had anything to do with deflating footballs, but the Seahawks corner is highly concerned with a system that he believes is unjust toward players. Brady appealed, and Goodell upheld the suspension.
The Deflategate controversy started when the New England Patriots were accused of using 11 underinflated footballs to gain a competitive advantage in the Patriots’ AFC championship victory over the Indianapolis Colts on January 18. He repeated that “arbitration must be fair”, and doesn’t view it as such in this matter.
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“The key reason is the NFL’s process for disciplining Tom Brady, and punishing and reviewing the punishment had a number of problems”, said McCann. Berman said, via CSN New England. It’s very likely that the NFL Players Association offered some deal that included a suspension during settlement negotiation, and that’s what Schefter was reporting. If there’s no ruling, then his suspension begins on September 5, five days before the Patriots season opener. Berman suggested Wednesday that he could have grounds to drop Brady’s suspension altogether should he decide to do so, citing concerns about the league’s issues with “fundamental fairness and evident impartiality”.
