Judge puts NFL on hot seat as he belittles ‘Deflategate’

“We had [settlement] discussions prior to this”, Goodell told reporters.

Still skeptical of a settlement. She said it is always challenging sketching someone who is famous or good-looking: “It was a big composition and Tom Brady was a tiny little head in that composition”.

“Obviously I apologize to Tom Brady for not making him as good-looking as he is”, she tells the New York Times, explaining that she’s “under a lot of pressure to work very quickly” and that she works on a “short deadline”.

She somehow managed to make the New England Patriots’ Golden Boy look homely in her drawing from his Deflategate hearing and launched many Internet memes. Both side had attended lengthy settlement talks a day earlier following a court hearing before New York U.S. District Judge Berman, who thrown tough questions at a lawyer for the NFL. Lessening the suspension now would seem to indicate concern about what would happen if someone truly independent looked at the case for the first time.

In court documents, the union’s lawyers said the suspension was unfair and violates the labour contract and complained that it would cause irreparable harm to Brady by forcing him to miss games. Of the 68 cases over that time, only two were denied confirmation.

On Wednesday, Berman called it “ironic or not” that Brady’s statistics were better in the second half of the AFC championship game, after the balls were re-inflated.

During the hearing hand-drawn portraits of Brady were released.

The public accessed one period of the settlement conference. So when the whole world is criticizing me, I might just kill myself.

Brady was in court on Wednesday over Deflategate, which has now become a federal matter. The Patriots won the game 49-19. The players’ union countersued, asking him to nullify the suspension.

Married to supermodel Gisele Bundchen, Brady is known for his movie star good looks – something that many felt the sketch failed to capture.

“You might say he got no competitive advantage”.

NFLPA attorney Jeffrey Kessler contended that the NFL had insufficient evidence to punish Brady, and that the league’s collective bargaining agreement does not specify that a player can be suspended for what amounts to an equipment violation.

The Patriots’ victory in that game enabled the team to advance to the Super Bowl, where they beat the defending champion Seattle Seahawks 28-24.

Berman spoke before letting a lawyer for each side state their arguments.