Judge grills lawyers in Brady “deflate-gate” lawsuit

Brady and Goodell attended the hearing in the federal courthouse in downtown Manhattan.

The public portion of the first hearing in front of Berman ended after an hour and 20 minutes, with the judge now meeting privately with the NFL commissioner and the league’s lawyers.

Those moments included when Judge Richard Berman said he would “take exception” to an NFL players union lawyer’s assertion that Brady’s life is much different than their own lives. After 17 minutes, that group returned to the courtroom, and Tom Brady, accompanied by eight lawyers and representatives, went into the room. Although rare, court reversals of arbitrators do happen, as witness the federal court reversal of Minnesota Viking Adrian Peterson’s suspension by the NFL for child abuse.

Berman repeatedly asked NFL lawyer Daniel L. Nash for direct evidence linking Brady to the underinflated balls used by the Patriots in the first half of the AFC championship game.

The judge said he was “having trouble finding” evidence that Brady knew of any plan to deflate the footballs, though it “certainly looks like” Patriots employees were involved. He additionally requested them to proceed negotiating previous to the listening to.

Berman’s courtroom (and presumably for the entire Southern District of New York), cameras aren’t allowed. However, McCann notes that Berman calling into question the evidence supposed to detail the quarterback’s guilt is important for Brady’s case.

Each side will meet separately with judge behind closed doors.

“If you’re innocent – and I believe Tom Brady is innocent; he doesn’t have to deflate a football to win a football game – then you don’t (settle)”, the former Chicago Bears coach told ESPN’s Hannah Storm on Wednesday. The league also said there is nothing in the collective bargaining agreement that ensures Brady must have an “independent” investigation.

The league hoped the judge would defer to the arbitration decision of Goodell, but Berman had questions about the Wells report, which provided the underlying basis for Brady’s suspension. There’s certainly enough evidence to suggest Brady ordered that air be taken out of footballs, most notably in the text message exchange between two Patriots employees that is contained in the Wells’ report. Brady is one of the best-known and richest athletes in the United States, with three Super Bowl victories on his resume.

Tom Brady has won not because he proved his innocence, but because he proved the complete incompetence of the men who somehow are in charge of the most successful sports league on Earth. The Patriots’ regular season begins on September 10, also at home, in a nationally televised game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.