National Football League union lawyers who want New England quarterback Tom Brady to put “Deflategate” behind him for good are ready to make their pitch to a NY court.
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From that perspective, in theory, the three-judge panel could believe that Brady and the Patriots were involved in no wrongdoing whatsoever but still rule that Goodell acted properly in his role, all while basically rubber-stamping the four-game suspension he essentially approved, although, ostensibly it was handed down by Troy Vincent.
The NFL filed an appeal, which was shelved through the season, as Brady did not miss a game.
Kessler in particular received pointed questions from the judges, and Judge Chin said evidence of ball tampering was “compelling, if not overwhelming”.
The appeals court did not immediately rule, but it seemed to lean heavily at times against the union’s arguments.
“An adjudicator looking at these facts, it seems to me, might conclude that the cellphone had incriminating information on it and that, in the teeth of an investigation, it was deliberately destroyed”, Judge Barrington D. Parker said (via the Associated Press). “But Judge Chin was certainly tough on Jeffrey Kessler, and my sense was it’s a 2-1 loss for Brady”.
The Second Circuit judges bombarded Tom Brady’s lawyer with questions about whether the destruction of Brady’s cellphone ahead of a hearing should have kept the New England Patriots quarterback suspended. However, one also must remember that Judge Berman peppered the National Football League with questions about its procedures and handling of the investigation, the Wells Report, and the decision to levy out the four-game ban on Brady. Clement said Goodell chose the penalty because purposely deflating footballs amounted to an effort to gain a competitive advantage.
“Deflated balls are closer to stickum than steroids”, Katzmann said in reference to asking why Brady’s punishment was harsher than punishment given out to players who used the substance previously.
“It would be an terrible shame if we have this issue hanging over the league for another season”, Clement said.
Many people in New England have already become afraid that the decision by Judge Berman to nullify Brady’s suspension could get overturned, but right now it is way too early to tell.
Free to play, Brady starred for the Patriots as they again reached the AFC Championship game, where they lost to Denver.
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Neither Goodell nor Brady will be in court Thursday. Arbitration is an arrangement in which parties who are going to be working or doing business together decide ahead of time that if disputes arise that could otherwise end up in court, they’ll instead have those disputes determined by one or more arbitrators outside of the “official” court system.
