“I’m lucky enough people realized it was Tom Brady”. He appealed all the way to federal court, and that’s where he was on Wednesday when his teammates were at Gillette Stadium before their final walkthrough. “This was a day where the judge, Judge Berman, took the discussion in a direction that I don’t think either side predicted, and that was essentially fact-finding”.
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The examiners said he verified that Brady most likely thought about the claimed plan to a great extent on the premise of instant messages between the workers that suggested the quarterback was mindful of the arrangement to empty the footballs. Goodell said there were no directly comparable cases to Brady’s in the past. He also asked them to continue negotiating prior to the hearing. The story of Brady allegedly throwing intentionally under inflated footballs broke seven months ago following the AFC title game between New England and Indianapolis in January. The NFL, the players’ union and superstar quarterback Tom Brady are at odds about a four game suspension he received for using underinflated footballs. He said both sides have strengths and weaknesses to their argument.
The league sued the union to confirm Goodell’s decision and the union countersued to reverse it.
“I don’t know what that means”, Berman said at one point, referring to the phrase “general awareness”.
If today’s hearing serves as an indicator, Berman might lean towards the case presented by Brady and the NFLPA.
Goodell and Brady, along with their lawyers, met separately with the judge before the hearing started.
Article 46 is in regards to player conduct policy, and it allows commissioner Roger Goodell to punish players for any conduct that he deems detrimental to the league.
Brady won’t play in Minnesota this year. In the afternoon, the judge questioned lawyers for both sides in open court. So much so, The New York Times reached out to the artist, Jane Rosenberg, who said, “I apologize to Tom Brady for not making him as good-looking as he is”. He’ll be the one steering the settlement conversations, and asking both sides questions with the intent to reach a common ground. Goodell was greeted by scattered boos. Four minutes later, Brady arrived.
Wednesday’s conference was the next step in an expedited schedule after both parties agreed it “would be in everyone’s best interest” to resolve the legal process before September 4.
Kravtiz said that most Colts fans are more focused on their own team’s issues rather than the latest DeflateGate drama.
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A federal judge put the NFL on the defensive, demanding to know what evidence directly links Brady to deflating footballs and belittling the drama of the controversy.
