Brady Open to Taking Suspension

The Deflategate controversy started when the New England Patriots were accused of using 11 underinflated footballs to gain a competitive advantage in the Patriots’ AFC championship victory over the Indianapolis Colts on January 18.

Brady had been reported to be planning to attend Wednesday’s court hearing before Judge Richard Berman, but with the settlement talks at a standstill that may not be the case.

Tom Brady v/s the NFL will continue on Wednesday in the US federal court as both sides are persistent not to settle the dispute themselves.

Ted Wells, a lawyer hired by the NFL to investigate the incident, placed the blame on two Patriots employees, but found that Brady was “generally aware” of what happened.

Berman has urged the league and the union to reach a settlement of the NFLPA’s challenge of Brady’s four-game DeflateGate suspension, which was upheld on appeal by Goodell.

Butler took advantage of the no-Brady day, almost picking off a pass during 11-on-11 walk-through drills.

After indicating earlier on Tuesday that Brady planned to attend Wednesday’s session, a person with knowledge of the situation told USA TODAY Sports that Brady changed his mind and won’t be at the hearing.

Representatives from both sides are expected to appear in U.S District Court in Manhattan today.

Jeffrey Kessler led the charge for Tom Brady and the NFLPA in the courtroom on Wednesday. There is no way Brady will allow the league to have the satisfaction.

The NFL claims its collective bargaining agreement with the players’ union gives Goodell the final say over Brady’s punishment.

This time, Berman went farther than he did in the initial hearing, questioning the “basic fairness” of how the NFL went about suspending Brady.

While private discussions in Judge Berman’s robing room haven’t yielded a settlement, there are still tools he can use to push both sides to a middle ground. Or, in an entirely different case, Judge Berman could have just been playing straight when he told the NFL that arbitration cases have been overturned for less bias than what the NFL’s shown.