Settlement discussions in NFL ‘Deflategate’ case continue

Brady and Goodell each stood up and introduced themselves to the judge in open court, while their lawyers also introduced themselves.

Two weeks ago, the NFL asked Berman to declare that its punishment of Brady was properly carried out. The players union, which is fighting the suspension, maintains there is no proof balls were deflated. I’m sure it’s disgusting.

“Turns out, Mr. Brady did better with higher inflated balls than underinflated balls”, the judge said, via ESPN.com.

“I don’t know what the big deal is”, she said.

Judge Richard Berman urged the NFL, its players union and Brady to reach a settlement as quickly as possible before drilling down to the finer points of the dispute.

“I think the questions were clearly designed to create fear on both sides (they could lose the case)”, Feldman said.

Brady recently got dragged into the Ben Affleck ex-nanny scandal, when 28-year-old Chrisitine Ouzounian was photographed wearing his four Super Bowl rings while on a private jet with him and Affleck en route to Las Vegas. Kessler claimed that the quarterback got rid of the phone on the advice of his agent to protect his privacy but had otherwise cooperated with the inquiry. Kessler acknowledged Brady didn’t cooperate out of privacy concerns and said Brady “should have conducted himself differently with Wells”.

Goodell was greeted by a smattering of boos as he walked inside. He increased the pressure on both men by ordering them to appear in court in person to discuss a possible deal.

Brady is in court to appeal a four-game suspension stemming from the star’s purported involvement in the alleged deflation of one or more footballs used in last season’s AFC Championship Game.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell upheld Brady’s suspension on July 28. Brady insists he knew nothing about it.

With the start of the football season around the corner, everyone must be ready to be done with this controversy.

“I don’t know what to make” of the report that concluded Brady was “at least generally aware of the inappropriate activities” of Patriots’ employees involved in letting the air out of the footballs, Berman said.

No one is leaving these court proceedings looking well.