Tom Brady and Roger Goodell in court for ‘Deflategate’

A federal judge looking to broker a settlement between suspended Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and the NFL cast doubt on the league’s findings by questioning whether it had any direct evidence linking Brady to the deliberate underinflation of footballs used in the first half of the AFC Championship Game on January 18. However, the artist who sketched Brady, Jane Rosenberg, apparently never saw the quarterback in her entire life, as the rendering was absolutely terrifying. Brady insists he knew nothing about it.

And the internet keeps spinning.

Berman is expected to continue discussions with both sides, but if no settlement is reached by next week another hearing will be held next Wednesday.

But Brady says he has done nothing wrong.

Kessler said the union doesn’t concede that the balls were deflated at all, but he ventured that a team employee might have done it because he believed it would be “good for his quarterback”.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and the league’s lawyers met with Berman on Wednesday morning for about 15 minutes before the start of a scheduled court hearing in Manhattan.

The league is asking U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman to declare it followed its players’ contract properly when it punished Brady.

Berman adjourned the proceedings after almost 11/2 hours, and then began meeting separately with both sides to try and find some common ground that might lead to a settlement.

Brady’s lawyer, Jeffrey Kessler, said the debate over the PSI of footballs as “the most overblown issue” of his legal career. Four minutes later, Brady arrived flanked by four security guards. The NFL says Brady must have known footballs were under-inflated in a playoff game.

If they can’t work it out, their next court date will be August. 19. Both men went through a security sweep like everyone else going to court.

On July 28, Goodell upheld a four-game suspension for Brady’s alleged role in using underinflated footballs during the AFC Championship Game.

Dozens of followers and journalists waited for 2 of the NFL’s most well-known faces on the entrance entrance of the courthouse, together with some sporting deflated soccer hats they have been hoping to promote.

Trevor Schramn, 20, was wearing a “Free Tom Brady” T-shirt and said he had come to “support our boy”.