Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has chose to appeal the recent decision regarding DeflateGate, in which a court re-instated his four-game suspension.
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Now Brady is asking the 13 active judges on the 2nd Circuit to hear the case, en banc – the term for when all judges on a court, rather than a selected panel, hear and decide a case.
Olson, attorney for the NFL Players Association, told “Good Morning America ” that the appeal would be filed later Monday.
According to the filing, Brady’s legal team, led by former U.S. Solicitor General Ted Olson, petitioned for a panel rehearing or a rehearing en banc.
Unless the case is expedited, it’s unlikely that Brady’s case would be heard by the Second Circuit before the season starts. The suspension was based, in part, on the findings of a league-bankrolled report that found Brady was at least “generally aware” that balls had been deflated.
But Yen said that Brady and his lawyers can not necessarily count on being granted a stay. The suspension had been rejected by a lower court judge last September, but the 2nd Circuit panel reversed that ruling.
Olson said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell fumbled the case, adding that he “completely ignored the schedule of penalties for equipment-related violations”, which could have resulted in nothing more than a fine.
Goodell suspended Brady after an investigation into claims that the Patriots quarterback knew about improperly inflated footballs during the 2015 AFC Championship Game against the Indianapolis Colts.
But in April, the U.S. Court of Appeals reinstated Brady’s suspension – and as a result, endorsed Goodell’s wide-ranging disciplinary powers. It is four games. It can affect the Patriots season whether they are going to the playoffs or not.
“As a union that believes in its obligation to fight for its members, it’s an easy call to fight on this”, NFL Players Association Executive Director DeMaurice Smith told The Associated Press.
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The matter has implications for all unionized workers who have bargained for appeal rights as protection, the petition said. “Games routinely are played with footballs that fall below the league’s minimum pressure requirement”. Many might argue that it would make more sense for the National Football League to just give up if the ruling is overturned by the 2nd Circuit, but at this point, Goodell and the National Football League have dug themselves so deep that there is no turning back.
