According to those inside the New York courtroom at Wednesday’s hearing with Judge Richard Berman, the league again was grilled on a number of topics in relation to its investigation and suspension of the Patriots quarterback for his role in Deflategate.
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Both Brady and Goodell have appeared in court already, but the judge did not require them to attend Wednesday’s hearing, per ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio (h/t Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk). Berman has ordered Brady and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to return to court August. 31 if there is no settlement before then.
After the hearing, Berman met behind closed doors with both sides for more than an hour before the lawyers left court, saying the judge asked them not to discuss the negotiations publicly.
With the NFL season rapidly approaching, Brady would like a decision before the Patriots season-opener versus Pittsburgh on Thursday, September 10.
“He just told me we needed that in a big-time situation”, said Butler, who knows all about that after his clinching interception in the Super Bowl.
The judge said he would meet privately with the lawyers about a settlement later on Wednesday.
Later, Berman asked how Goodell calculated the four-game suspension.
Nash said that there is no text message specifically showing that Brady instructed someone to put a needle in a football.
In 2007, the New England was levied heavy fines and docked draft picks by the NFL, which found the Patriots had improperly videotaped an opponent’s coaches’ signals. Berman also explained that he will continue to work on the legal aspect of the case.
Brady may now be willing to accept some form of punishment or suspension.
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. The NFL seems confident it has the law on its side and that Goodell simply exercised his power in the collective bargaining agreement to rule as the arbitrator in the Brady case.
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Ted Wells, a lawyer hired by the NFL to probe how the footballs were inflated below league standards, placed the blame on two Patriots employees but said Brady was “at least generally aware” of what happened.
