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Federal court rejects new hearing for Tom Brady ‘Deflategate’ suspension

Brady was asking for the full 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to hear the case.

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The US court system had some bad news for Tom Brady today. After a lengthy process, the courts have decided not to allow an appeal from Tom Brady.

Wednesday’s order rejected Brady’s motion to have the panel or the entire appeals court reconsider the case. Brady’s suspension would not take effect until 4 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 3, the time rosters are trimmed to 53 players.

The team, which recently moved from St. Louis, will play their home games at the Los Angeles Coliseum for the next three seasons while their $2.6-billion stadium in Inglewood is being built. The question is will they be starting their trophy quest with or without Tom Brady is still to be answered, but not looking good.

His four game suspension is likely to be served at the start of the 2016 season.

WSJ also spoke to Howard Wasserman, a sports law and civil procedure scholar at Florida International University College of Law, who, like McCann, noted that the court’s “state of flux” won’t help Brady’s chances. If Brady remains suspended, backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is expected to take his place against the Cardinals, Miami Dolphins, Houston Texans and Buffalo Bills.

The collective bargaining agreement between the National Football League and the players put the power to investigate rule violations in the hands of the Commissioner, along with the authority to impose appropriate sanctions and preside at arbitrations challenging his discipline, the court said in April. He will lose money by being suspended, but O’Neil says Brady is not concerned as much about the paycheck. By adding Olson to their legal team, Brady and the union added a former US Solicitor General who is best known for successfully arguing before the US Supreme Court on behalf of George W. Bush in Bush v. Gore, which resolved the contested 2000 presidential election.

In a close 18-20 triumph, Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos cut the New England Patriots playoff run short early.

Although he seems unwilling to bargain, a meeting with Roger Goodell could be in Brady’s best interest. Given how aggressively Brady, the NFL Players Association and all the lawyers involved have pursued the case, trying to get the Supreme Court to hear it could be the next step. It was reinstated in April by a 2-1 vote of the appeals court judges.

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That left Brady hoping for a new hearing in front of the complete circuit – called “en banc” – or an even more unlikely hearing at the Supreme Court.

Patriots QB Tom Brady has Deflategate appeal denied by 2nd US Circuit Court