Court debate may lead to suspension for Tom Brady

But before we jump in to analyze why, let's quickly recap why Deflategate is now in front of a second circuit federal appeals court: after the NFL suspended Tom Brady for his alleged role in Deflategate and did not alter the punishment after a hearing in front of arbitrator/NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, the league counsel sought legal action to confirm Goodell's decision. A decision is expected no later than early June, but it is not certain Brady's four-game suspension would be reinstated immediately if the league succeeds on appeal. 

Today at the second U.S. circuit court of appeals in Manhattan, it appears as though the Golden Boy might end up having to serve the suspension after all, with judges giving the player's union attorney a very hard time in the courtroom. It may not have been a good day for Tom Brady or the New England Patriots, but the National Football League could be feeling giddy right now. "Brady's explanation of this made no sense whatsoever". But Kessler was cut off. The judges presiding over the appeal are Chief Judge Robert A. Katzmann, Judge Barrington D. Parker, and Judge Denny Chin. 

The judges quizzed Kessler about Brady's destruction of his cellphone, with Parker saying "the cellphone issue raised the stakes... from air in a football to compromising the integrity of the proceeding". So most experts think they're going to rule against Brady and reinstate the four-game suspension. "The evidence of the ball tampering here is compelling if not overwhelming". Kessler called the NFL's argumentation misdirecting and the notion of the destroyed cell phone an attempt at misleading. 

The judges were concerned with the actions of Brady while he knew he was being investigated. At one point, Kessler seemed to grow frustrated with the judges' intense line of questioning. In overturning the four-game suspension handed down by Goodell, Berman had questioned the independence of investigators who found Brady was probably "generally aware" that Patriots employees had purposely deflated the balls - making them easier to grip, grab and throw. Apparently, two out of three judges seem to be on the NFL's side, which means Brady could be facing some type of suspension. The judges also asked several pointed questions of Clement, including why Goodell likened his decision to suspend Brady for as long as a steroid offender. While Berman's ruling is the central issue, the three judges spent most of the hour exploring the facts of the case to determine whether Goodell's ruling was based on the essence of the CBA. 

Clement was up first and the judges at least allowed him to get in a few sentences before the inquisition started, with the questioning centered on whether footballs that have been deflated really have an impact on the game and why Goodell deemed the punishment for deflating footballs to be like that of failing a steroids test rather than the fine that comes with being caught using stickum. This is about the rights we negotiated in our collective bargaining agreement. State of the State Ks http://stateofthestateks.com/2016/03/07/court-debate-may-lead-to-suspension-for-tom-brady/


Link : http://stateofthestateks.com/2016/03/07/court-debate-may-lead-to-suspension-for-tom-brady/