Private settlement talks aimed at resolving the court battle over the NFL’s four-game suspension of New England quarterback Tom Brady stretched into mid-afternoon after a public hearing ended. Goodell said there were no directly comparable cases to Brady’s in the past.
Advertisement
The NFL Players Association has challenged the ban in court, but there has been no indication with regard to whether the suspension may be dropped or reduced. Brady “seemed to be on his cellphone most of the time, looking down at his phone for most of the day”.
Goodell and Brady, along with their lawyers, met separately with the judge before the start of their hearing.
He said at the start of the hearing in federal court that he has not determined in his own mind who will prevail.
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. Labor-law cases of this nature are ultimately judged on the process and, in this case, whether Goodell followed the CBA in hitting Brady with an over-the-top suspension.
On Tuesday, Berman asked Goodell and Brady, along with lawyers, to appear before him privately a half hour before a public court session. 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. “You might say [Brady] got no better advantage from the underinflation”, he said. The league conceded it hadn’t produced such a “smoking gun”, but NFL lawyer Daniel Nash said there was “considerable evidence” that Brady knew about the deflating of the footballs. He says similar cases are usually resolved by a judge if they are not settled. 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”. The NFL commissioned him to conduct a fact-finding report, which the league used as basis for Brady’s discipline. Brady is not expected to play. Berman reminded the parties that settlements could help avoid the “adverse publicity” and “poisoning [of] the wells” that comes with protracted litigation, and he then tore into both parties with pointed questions.
At a news conference in Illinois, Goodell said the league plans to cooperate fully with Berman. Brady’s exchange with a childhood friend last November was contained in documents released as part of the NFLPA’s lawsuit on behalf of Brady to overturn his suspension.
Both sides had asked the judge to rule before the Patriots’ September 10 season opener.
The NFL walked into the court room with Brady and the Patriots, and they might regret that decision when it is all said and done. A few minutes after Brady hit the road, Goodell got into another black SUV with lawyers Jeff Pash and Gregg Levy and was off into the night. Both men went through a security sweep like everyone else going to court.
Advertisement
About 100 people waited outside the courthouse, including journalists-some with lawn chairs-and onlookers just getting off work.
