‘Deflategate’ Judge Could Throw Out Brady Suspension

He ordered Brady and Goodell, neither of whom was in court on Wednesday, to appear at that next hearing.

BERMAN: “Why doesn’t it say that?”

A former member of the New England Patriots, and current NFL Network employee, has taken to the airwaves to absolutely hammer Roger Goodell and the NFL Headquarters investigation of Tom Brady and DeflateGate. From the start, it has been an idea so dumb you’re still surprised anybody ever brought it into the light.

“You could put whichever ground first, because we’d win on any of them”, NFLPA lead counsel Jeffrey Kessler said when Berman asked if the grounds were listed in order of importance. He’s absolutely right.

Michael Waltrip’s rocky nine-year effort to build a successful race team was on the verge of collapse as the organization said it will not run any cars full-time next season and released Clint Bowyer from his contract to pursue a new job for 2016.

“(Tom) Brady could be in his 40s and retired from the NFL by the time the litigation actually ends”, wrote McCann in his latest analysis of the Deflategate case. Berman said that Goodell’s refusal to allow questioning of Pash raised question about “some basic procedures for fairness” in the process of suspending Brady. Regardless, the overall tone from Berman was clear: There are issues with the way the NFL handled the investigation and ruling.

The other version suggests that Brady got so angry with what he saw in court on Tuesday he simply left, and is not willing to give any sort of guilt admission, even if it means a reduced sentence.

John Samora/AP Well, this now seems awkward.

Berman has been trying to move the sides toward a settlement of the dispute over deflated footballs that has morphed into never-ending offseason scandal. But by now he has to know that turf wars such as this one rarely are rational or logical, and usually about saving face when they make it as far as this one has, all the way to him. The Manhattan judge said both would be required to attend an August. 31 hearing.

You just wonder how. And Brady possibly will be playing until it lands in highest court in the land.

The judge also expressed befuddlement that Goodell had compared Brady’s alleged offense to the use of steroids and a “masking agent” to cover them up. Goodell later denied Brady’s appeal to have the suspension lifted, and the NFL filed suit in the Southern District in New York to have the decision affirmed.

The NFL and NFL Players Association had its second settlement hearing in court on Wednesday, and it sounds like it went horribly for the NFL.

Specifically, Berman has the power to overturn the decision made by the arbitrator of the suspension – Roger Goodell in this instance.