He also questioned Brady about destroying his cell phone. Oh, he’ll still be plenty angry, but now he might be angry in defeat instead of concession, with a judge declaring that Deflategate was real and that Brady must serve his time. Tainting the legacy of the season, a league investigation found it “more probable than not that Tom Brady was at least generally aware” of ball tampering. Its regular season begins at home on September 10, in a nationally televised game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
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During the hearing, the judge asked the lead attorney on Brady’s side why two Patriots employees would deflate balls without Brady’s knowledge.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady arrived at the federal courthouse in New York on Wednesday morning to meet with the judge hearing the Deflategate lawsuit.
A federal judge put the NFL on the defensive over its four-game suspension of Patriots quarterback Tom Brady on Wednesday, demanding to know what evidence directly links the Super Bowl MVP to deflating footballs and belittling the drama of the controversy.
Berman also noted that Brady had no competitive edge in the game, since the Patriots actually did better in the second half of a 45-7 blowout win over the Indianapolis Colts at Gillette Stadium.
ESPN’s Chris Mortensen later reported that Brady would need to “accept” the Ted Wells report to get a settlement done. Berman, he of white hair and quick wit, was nothing short of hysterical during Wednesday’s settlement conference, which amounted to a 45-minute question-and-answer between the judge and the representation for both Brady and the NFL.
The NFLPA and Brady, meanwhile, are arguing that the court should vacate Brady’s suspension on the grounds that he didn’t have notice of the policies and penalties he was subjected to, and that the discipline in his case was the product of a “fundamentally unfair arbitration proceeding”, in which Goodell was an “evidently partial” arbitrator.
Berman spoke before letting a lawyer for each side state their arguments.
“No, there is no such direct evidence”, NFL attorney Daniel Nash said. Berman asked Dan Nash, the lawyer for the league. He says similar cases are usually resolved by a judge if they are not settled. His approach was surely designed to motivate Brady and Goodell to compromise by giving them each something to fear.
This is what it’s come to in this never-ending national nightmare: Brady and Goodell can’t stand the sight of each other. Sean Payton, the Saints, and many other players all agree: Roger Goodell shouldn’t be deciding punishments.
Brady’s presence drew a throng of reporters and photographers outside the courthouse in downtown Manhattan, as well as a handful of fans wearing copies of the player’s jersey.
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Asked about Brady’s lack of cooperation, Kessler admitted Brady “could have handled it a different way”, but added that the matter of Brady allegedly destroying his phone and his text messages was “the most overblown issue” he’d seen in 40 years of practicing law. The two sides will reconvene with the judge next week. Goodell was greeted by a smattering of boos as he walked inside. Of the respondents, 78% thought that Brady’s four-game ban was too long. He increased the pressure on both men by ordering them to appear in court in person to discuss a possible deal.
