When Kessler was explaining that Brady has his cell phones destroyed because of his celebrity, which he noted is a world neither he nor the judge live in, Berman quipped, “I take exception to that”, meaning he, too, is so popular he needs to destroy his phone.
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Police needed to use barricades to separate the entry to the courthouse from the crowds.
It all started when WCVB sports director Scott Isaacs tweeted the image and wrote, “We’ve just gotten the first sketches from federal court – there’s Goodell on the left, Brady to the right #wcvb”.
Jane Rosenberg’s drawings of the New England Patriots quarterback on Wednesday were compared with everything from Lurch’ in The Addams Family to the figure in Edvard Munch’s The Scream.
She told The Boston Globe: “I don’t tend to flatter people and make them look attractive”.
Married to supermodel Gisele Bundchen, Brady is known for his movie star good looks – something that many felt the sketch failed to capture.
Maybe Brady would rather take his chance on having to serve all four games than give the appearance he gave up the fight.
The NFL Players Association, on behalf of Brady, believes that Goodell should not be able to hand down the penalty and then hear the appeal.
“Oh, it’s much different”, Garoppolo said.
The courtroom artist says she was “bombarded with calls and emails” on Wednesday after creating what one critic on Twitter called “the worst sketch of Tom Brady ever created”.
Berman repeatedly hammered that point as he questioned Nash on the league’s position that Brady knew two team employees were deflating game balls so the quarterback could get a better grip on the ball. When Berman asked why Brady didn’t cooperate more with investigator Ted Wells by providing his text messages, attorney Jeffrey Kessler acknowledged the quarterback could have cooperated more.
Brady sat and waited with five lawyers at a long table, then went in to meet with Berman after Goodell was finished.
Tom Brady was in court today in New York for a hearing in his case against the NFL and the 4-game suspension handed down as a result of the Deflategate investigation.
That private meeting will come ahead of a previously scheduled court hearing that Berman has instructed both Brady, a 38-year-old four-time Super Bowl champion, and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to attend.
Berman asked the NFL whether it had clear, direct evidence for finding, in the Wells Report, that Brady was “generally aware” of the alleged scheme to deflate footballs. He says similar cases are usually resolved by a judge if they are not settled.
It’s always possible the sides could settle before sending it back to U.S. District Judge Richard Berman to pick a victor during oral arguments next Wednesday.
The NFL commissioned him to conduct a fact-finding report, which the league used as basis for Brady’s discipline. The NFLPA is arguing that the punishment is unfair under the CBA and that Goodell is acting arbitrarily.
We didn’t need a federal judge to inform us that Tom Brady’s four-game suspension, along with the drawn-out Deflategate morass, is ludicrous.
Berman is expected to continue discussions with both sides, but if no settlement is reached by next week another hearing will be held next Wednesday.
Fans were outside the courthouse when Brady and Goodell arrived separately to the federal building.
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In a recent ESPN poll of more than 100 players, a large majority of respondents disagreed with Roger Goodell’s decision to suspend Brady for four games. He increased the pressure on both men by ordering them to appear in court in person to discuss a possible deal.
