The suspension was originally lifted in the first court case, meaning Brady didn’t have to serve it in 2015, but the appeals court sided with the National Football League instead of Brady and put it back in place for 2016.
Advertisement
The legal team for Patriots quarterback Tom Brady formally asked a federal appeals court on Monday for a new hearing on his Deflategate suspension.
But the NFL Players Association appealed the ruling in federal court in 2015 and a district judge overturned the punishment, as Bloomberg previously reported.
Last month, more than 15 months after the Colts game took place, Brady’s ban was reactivated by circuit judges Barrington Parker Jr and Denny Chin, despite previous decisions made by the Supreme Court and other appeals courts.
The filing came a day after lawyers for Brady and the NFL Players Association asked the appeals court to reconsider the ruling by a three-judge panel that found the NFL acted properly in suspending Brady a year ago.
Brady has added lawyer Ted Olson to his legal council.
Should the court deny the appeal, the next recourse for Brady and the union might be the Supreme Court.
Rehearing petitions are rarely granted, especially en banc petitions in this particular appeals court; the Second Circuit that traditionally awards the fewest among nation’s dozen appellate courts.
Brady asked for a re-hearing by the entire circuit on Monday, saying in a filing last month that the case had “serious consequences for each of the NFLPA’s over 1,600 members” and labor law issues that could have “far-reaching consequences for all employees subject to collective bargaining agreements”.
DeMaurice Smith, executive director of the NFLPA, argued in a statement that Brady “was not afforded fundamental fairness and due process as guaranteed by the collective bargaining agreement and case law”. “And today we’re filing a brief because the commissioner chose to be a bully when it came to the fair hearing of a player”.
Brady played in all 16 regular-season games in 2015, leading the Patriots to a 12-4 record and another AFC title game appearance.
The panel ruled that Goodell “properly exercised his broad discretion” in suspending Brady for his alleged role in Deflategate.
The league argued that it was fair for Goodell to severely penalize Brady after he concluded the prize quarterback tarnished the game by impeding the NFL’s investigation by destroying a cellphone containing almost 10,000 messages. It can affect the Patriots season whether they are going to the playoffs or not.
Advertisement
The portion of the NFL union contract that lets the commissioner either serve as arbitrator or appoint one, has been a mainstay since the beginning of professional sports, said George Atallah, spokesman for the NFL Players Association.
