DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Brady's Suspension Upheld

He did not Thanks for the info. It'll be fun to watch Brady walk free.

The funny thing is the only rule that seems to have been broken is that the Colts actually had a ballboy check the readings of the intercepted football with a guage , and that's a violation of the rules. teams are not allowed to have gauging or pumping equipment on the sidelines during a game.

NFLPA, NFL make arguments known ahead of Tom Brady settlement conference

All that talk from the NFL earlier this year about Ted Wells conducting an “independent” investigation into the Patriots’ deflated football matter?

Never mind that.

The NFL and the NFL Players Association both filed briefs late Friday evening, laying out their arguments as the sides head to court over Tom Brady’s four-game suspension for his role in Deflategate.

And one of the NFL’s main arguments throws water on the notion that Wells’s investigation was “independent,” as Roger Goodell and the NFL have maintained since Wells’s law firm — Paul/Weiss — was hired to investigate the matter in January.

The collective bargaining agreement “does not require an ‘independent’ investigator prior to the imposition of discipline, and indeed it is commonplace for NFL personnel other than the commissioner to investigate the problematic conduct,” the NFL’s attorneys wrote. “The debate about the independence of the investigation has no bearing on whether the NFLPA had an adequate opportunity to present evidence at the hearing, which is all that the CBA and fundamental fairness require.”

The NFLPA argued in its lawsuit that Brady’s appeal hearing June 23 was fundamentally unfair in part because Paul/Weiss attorneys acted as the NFL’s defense counsel, and that Goodell publicly lauded the Wells Report before the discipline was announced. The NFL’s in-house counsel, Jeff Pash, also edited and provided comments to the Wells Report before it was released to the public.

But the NFL’s attorneys called that contention “irrelevant,” arguing that the CBA doesn’t state anything about players having a right to an “independent” investigation.

In making its argument, the NFL pointed out that the NFLPA uses a similar process to discipline agents, which are certified by the union.

“The NFLPA itself appoints the arbitrator for any disputes involving union discipline of player agents,” the NFL wrote, “and has successfully [and correctly] rejected challenges that this unilateral appointment right is unfair or renders the arbitrator evidently partial.”

The parties are scheduled to appear in New York federal court Wednesday morning for a settlement hearing in front of Judge Richard Berman, and hope to have the lawsuit settled by Sept. 4, six days before the Patriots’ regular-season opener. Berman is requiring Brady and Goodell to be in attendance at Wednesday’s hearing, as well as one scheduled for Aug. 19.

Berman has strongly encouraged both sides to reach a settlement, but Saturday at the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Goodell told the Canton (Ohio) Repository that he doesn’t intend to lower Brady’s suspension.

“The integrity of the game is something we will always protect. The rules apply to everybody,” Goodell said. “Listen, he’s a great player and he’s a great young man. We issued the decision just last week. We’re in the midst of litigation to . . . ensure that that’s enforced the way we ruled on that, after a long process that is established in our collective bargaining agreement. That’s something we’ll play through.”

After a review of both briefs, the key dispute appears to be whether the NFL suspended Brady for an “integrity of the game” violation, as the league contends, or an “equipment violation,” which the NFLPA contends.

The NFL argued that tampering with footballs after they have been approved by game officials “plainly” constitutes conduct detrimental to the game, with Goodell well within his rights to issue a suspension. The NFLPA argued that Brady should have been punished under Player Policies, in which the penalty for an equipment violation is a fine.

The NFLPA’s main arguments for vacating the suspension are well established:

1. That Brady received no notice of the consequences and potential punishments of his actions — particularly that being “generally aware” of wrongdoing can lead to a suspension.

2. That the punishment wasn’t fair and consistent based on precedent.

3. That Brady’s appeal hearing June 23 “defied fundamental fairness.”

4. That Goodell was “evidentially partial,” or inherently biased, in hearing the appeal and upholding the decision.

The NFL’s motion, though, laid out the league’s arguments for the first time.

The league’s primary defense, which it stressed several times in the brief, is that federal courts are bound to respect processes that are collectively bargained. The NFLPA agreed to give Goodell the power to oversee arbitration hearings in Article 46 of the CBA, and the NFL wrote that the courts should not supersede the CBA.

“Judicial review of labor arbitration awards is thus subject to a highly deferential standard that is among the ‘narrowest known to the law,’ ” the league wrote.

The NFL argued that because the NFLPA agreed to permit Goodell to serve as arbitrator, it waived its right to complain about Goodell’s partiality.

“In agreeing that the Commissioner may serve as arbitrator ‘at his discretion,’ the NFLPA ‘waived’ any challenge to the Award based on the Commissioner’s alleged ‘evident partiality,’ ” the NFL wrote. “But the union offers no ‘evidence;’ instead it merely speculates that the commissioner must be biased because he affirmed the suspension.”

The NFL also argued that even if Goodell committed serious error in interpreting the CBA, that wouldn’t be enough to overturn the suspension.

“The award could not be vacated so long as the arbitrator was ‘even arguably construing or applying the [CBA] and acting within the scope of his authority,’ ” the NFL wrote. “The award easily satisfies this extraordinarily deferential standard of review.”

And the NFL argued that Brady wasn’t suspended for being “generally aware,” as Wells originally ruled in his report. Goodell strengthened the language against Brady in his 20-page ruling upholding the suspension.

“As the award makes clear, the commissioner suspended Brady for having ‘approved of, consented to, and provided inducements in support of’ a scheme to tamper with the game balls,” the NFL wrote. “And for having ‘willfully obstructed the subsequent investigation.’ ”

The NFL countered that the NFLPA’s argument about consistent and fair punishment doesn’t apply, because Deflategate is a situation that never before has been addressed. And the NFL argued that Brady’s appeal was procedurally fair, given that he was given every right under Article 46 — the right to choose his counsel; to receive exhibits on which the NFL intends to rely; to attend all hearings and present testimony; and he is entitled to a written decision that is final and binding.

“Brady exercises all of these collectively bargained rights and more,” the NFL wrote, noting that “the commissioner issued a reasoned, written, final decision.”

http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/0...ELCK/story.html

I am almost willing to bet that they wind up cutting his suspension to 2 or 3 games, and then Brady drops his lawsuit.

The artist's sketch of Tom Brady at the court hearing of Brady vs NFL ...




... and the inevitable internet memes making fun of it ...









... and my courtroom sketch of Tom Brady ...

...And speaking of Tom Brady and the Patriots (I always try to use existing threads!):

'Peyton Manning takes extreme precautions when he's in the Patriots' visiting locker room because he thinks it's bugged'

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/peyton-manning-takes-extreme-precautions-154328475.html

Business Insider By Cork Gaines
1 hour ago

It is no secret that Peyton Manning is insanely competitive, so it should not come as a surprise how he reacted when conversations with ex-Patriots players led him to believe that the Patriots' visitors' locker room was bugged.
In short, Manning assumed it was true and went out of his way to make sure the Patriots couldn't hear anything important he had to discuss with his coaching staff.

Peter King first strongly hinted at the story in 2010 as something of a rumor in a column leading up to a matchup between Manning's Indianapolis Colts and the Patriots at Gillette Stadium (via Yahoo Sports):

"I've always heard, reliably, that the Colts never trusted that they were totally alone in the Colts' locker room in Foxboro, and that when Manning had something of strategic significance to say to offensive coordinator Tom Moore, they both stepped outside into the concourse outside the locker room."

Oh? Was this just Manning being paranoid and overreacting to Spygate, which happened in 2007 when the Patriots were caught videotaping an opposing team's signals during a game?

Well, Manning's coach in Indianapolis, Tony Dungy, was a guest on "The Dan Patrick Show" and confirmed this report and says there was a little more to it than that.

Dungy was asked if Manning did step out into the hallway to discuss strategy with his coach because he thought the locker room was bugged.

"That is very true," Dungy said with a chuckle. "As Peyton talked to guys who played for the Patriots and some of the guys who came over [to the Colts], whether it is true or not, he treated it as true and we didn't have a lot of strategy discussed inside the locker room [at Gillette Stadium]."

This doesn't necessarily mean that the locker room was bugged or even that the players told Manning it was bugged. It could simply be a case where Manning grilled ex-Patriots players on what they knew about the Colts and Manning was suspicious about how they knew so much.

But at the same time, in light of Spygate, the Deflategate saga, and mysterious happenings such as accusations of opposing team's communications going down at critical points in games at Gillette Stadium, this certainly raises some eyebrows.

Or maybe Peyton is just paranoid.



(end)

Wow...

Most people say something like that, I'd take it with a grain of salt. Now... when Peyton says something like that, you kinda believe it. Besides, New England is dirty so I don't have a hard time believing it.

Joe Thomas rips Deflategate probe, Roger Goodell's 'ridiculous witch hunts'

BEREA, Ohio -- Joe Thomas does not think the punishment fits the crime in the Deflategate saga.

"I would equate what [Tom Brady] did to driving 66 [mph] in a 65 speed zone, and getting the death penalty," Thomas said Sunday after the Cleveland Browns' training camp practice.


The Pro Bowl left tackle said Brady does not even deserve to be fined, but added that what Goodell is doing is "brilliant."

"I'm not sure if he realizes what he's doing is brilliant, but what he's doing is brilliant because he's made the NFL relevant 365 [days] by having these outrageous, ridiculous witch hunts," Thomas said. "It's made the game more popular than ever and it's become so much more of an entertainment business and it's making so much money.

"That's why I'm sure there's plenty of people saying this is embarrassing for the league. But it's an entertainment business when it comes right down to it. When the game gets eyeballs in newspapers and on TV, that's what in the end is the goal for everyone. And that's what this controversy is giving them."

In an interview with ESPN.com, Thomas touched on many elements of the deflated football saga and ruling, and on the authority of Goodell. He called Goodell's decision "completely ridiculous" because the league allows quarterbacks to go to great lengths to make game footballs the way they want them.

"If you want [quarterbacks] to play with a brand new football that comes out of the box, then make that the rule," Thomas said. "If you're going to allow them to break it in because you want more passing yards, then let them do whatever they want.

"Who cares if they throw a football that has no air pressure? What does it matter? Why don't we let the quarterbacks do whatever they want to the football? I don't understand why there's any rules."

Thomas called the minimum pressures for footballs "arbitrary."

"We know [quarterbacks] already doctor [footballs] 99 percent, why do we care about the 1 percent in the air pressure?" Thomas said. "Why does that matter? Nobody's even explained why that even matters."

Thomas said Brady is not a cheater.

"I think he's trying to do everything he can to gain a competitive advantage to help him do his job better, which is to throw the football," Thomas said. "Why should we be punishing a guy that wants to do his job better?"

Thomas acknowledged that the collective bargaining agreement gives Goodell disciplinary power in many matters.

"But it was probably an oversight by the players because they didn't expect him to act so unreasonably because his predecessor did not act unreasonably," Thomas said. "But I think we're talking about a different NFL now. Like I said, before it was more about the game. Now it's such an entertainment business. It's almost like the Kim Kardashian factor that any news is good news when you're in the NFL."

Thomas added that Goodell tries to act "like he's the Supreme Court justices ... coming out with this fair outcome." But he said Goodell more often than not wields a "super hard hammer," citing the initial penalties for the New Orleans Saints for the alleged bounty scandal.

"If he even thinks somebody is sort of guilty of some level of crime, they just try to destroy him," Thomas said.

In the past, Thomas said, the commissioner would address issues with the teams involved.

"They wouldn't set up a sting operation and try to get [a player] suspended for four games," he said.

"Until there's information that says otherwise, to me it looked like a sting operation," Thomas said, referring to how the balls were measured and handled during the AFC Championship Game between the Patriots and Colts.

Thomas applauded Brady for fighting the suspension in federal court.

"I'm glad that he's fighting [it]," Thomas said. "Because it's good for the game. It's an entertainment business. It's turning into the WWE really. It's like the Vince McMahon stuff. Basically Goodell is like Vince McMahon."

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/134948...nfl-witch-hunts

JT with some pretty strong words as of late ... he clearly feels that he's earned to say whatever he wants (which he has) and he probably looks at our team and says "to hell with it ... we suck ... at least let me have fun"

Wow! Joe T rips the commish and the NFL.

I love it!

I'm going to miss Joe in the Pro Bowl.

I miss the pro bowl, but don't.

He called him freaking Vince McMahon!

Props to Joe. He described it from an angle I've not heard from anyone.

Even if it's not true. Much how Goodell kinda believes the Wells report right?

Not that you are one but it's interesting watching the Brady haters jumping off the JT love boat

I hope he plays against Pitt

Aaron WilsonVerified account
@AaronWilson_NFL
Tom Brady appeal successful, suspension overturned, the Associated Press reports

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Sep 3, 10:17 AM EDT

JUDGE LETS BRADY PLAY, RULING AGAINST NFL IN 'DEFLATEGATE'

link
BY LARRY NEUMEISTER AND TOM HAYS
ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK (AP) -- A federal judge deflated "Deflategate" Thursday, erasing New England quarterback Tom Brady's four-game suspension for a controversy that the NFL claimed threatened football's integrity.

U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell went too far in affirming punishment of the Super Bowl winning quarterback. Brady has insisted he played no role in a conspiracy to deflate footballs below the allowable limit at last season's AFC championship game.

The written decision frees Brady to prepare for the Sept. 10 season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The ruling was a surprise to some legal experts who believed Berman was merely pressuring the league to settle when he criticized its handling of the investigation and discipline over the last eight months.

The league brought the scandal to Berman's Manhattan courtroom immediately once Goodell upheld Brady's four-game suspension, blasting the quarterback for arranging the destruction of his cellphone and its nearly 10,000 messages just before he was interviewed for the NFL probe. The union countersued, said Brady did nothing wrong and asked the judge to nullify the suspension.

While the league investigation found it was "more probable than not" that two Patriots ball handling employees deliberately released air from Patriots game balls at January's 45-7 New England victory over the Indianapolis Colts, it cited no direct evidence that Brady knew about or authorized it.

Goodell, though, went beyond the initial investigation report, finding in late July as a result of testimony from Brady and others that the quarterback conspired with the ball handlers and tried to obstruct the league's probe, including by destroying his cellphone.

The commissioner said he concluded Brady "knew about, approved of, consented to, and provided inducements and rewards" to ensure balls were deflated.

Berman attacked the league while questioning one of its lawyers at two hearings, citing a lack of proof against Brady and asking how Goodell settled on a four-game suspension instead of other discipline.

He warned the league that he had the authority to overturn its punishment of Brady if he found the NFL acted unfairly by refusing to deliver NFL Executive Vice President Jeff Pash as a witness even though he worked on the NFL investigation.

Berman's ruling does not necessarily end the dispute. The league can appeal.

Berman had repeatedly urged both sides to settle and tone down their rhetoric. At a hearing Monday attended by Brady and Goodell, the judge announced that both sides had "tried quite hard" to reach a deal in morning talks. But the case was left for him to decide.

As they negotiated, the sides attacked each other in court papers.

In one August court filing, the union said the four-game suspension displayed "a clearly biased agenda - not an effort at fairness and consistency," and it criticized Goodell's ruling upholding the suspension as a "smear campaign," a "propaganda piece written for public consumption."

In its papers, the NFL said there was "ample support" in evidence for the commissioner to conclude Brady was involved in efforts by the Patriots equipment personnel to deflate footballs.

---

AP NFL websites: http://pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP-NFL

Ian RapoportVerified account
@RapSheet
Tom Brady’s suspension has officially been nullified, according to Judge Berman’s filing. He will play Thursday vs #Steelers.

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As long as he gets to play against the Steelers I really don't care

http://espn.go.com/boston/nfl/story/_/id...nfl-deflategate

NEW YORK -- A federal judge deflated Deflategate on Thursday, erasing New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady's four-game suspension for a controversy that the NFL claimed threatened football's integrity.

U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman said NFL commissioner Roger Goodell went too far in affirming punishment of the Super Bowl-winning quarterback. Brady has insisted he played no role in a conspiracy to deflate footballs below the allowable limit at last season's AFC Championship Game.

The written decision frees Brady to prepare for the Sept. 10 season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The ruling was a surprise to some legal experts who believed Berman was merely pressuring the league to settle when he criticized its handling of the investigation and discipline over the last eight months.

The league brought the scandal to Berman's Manhattan courtroom immediately once Goodell upheld Brady's four-game suspension, blasting the quarterback for arranging the destruction of his cellphone and its nearly 10,000 messages just before he was interviewed for the NFL probe. The union countersued, said Brady did nothing wrong and asked the judge to nullify the suspension.

While the league investigation found it was "more probable than not" that two Patriots ball-handling employees deliberately released air from Patriots game balls at January's 45-7 New England victory over the Indianapolis Colts, it cited no direct evidence that Brady knew about or authorized it.

Goodell, though, went beyond the initial investigation report, finding in late July as a result of testimony from Brady and others that the quarterback conspired with the ball handlers and tried to obstruct the league's probe, including by destroying his cellphone.

The commissioner said he concluded Brady "knew about, approved of, consented to, and provided inducements and rewards" to ensure balls were deflated.

Berman attacked the league while questioning one of its lawyers at two hearings, citing a lack of proof against Brady and asking how Goodell settled on a four-game suspension instead of other discipline.

He warned the league that he had the authority to overturn its punishment of Brady if he found the NFL acted unfairly by refusing to deliver NFL Executive Vice President Jeff Pash as a witness even though he worked on the NFL investigation.

Berman's ruling does not necessarily end the dispute. The league can appeal.

Berman had repeatedly urged both sides to settle and tone down their rhetoric. At a hearing Monday attended by Brady and Goodell, the judge announced that both sides had "tried quite hard" to reach a deal in morning talks. But the case was left for him to decide.

As they negotiated, the sides attacked each other in court papers.

In one August court filing, the union said the four-game suspension displayed "a clearly biased agenda -- not an effort at fairness and consistency," and it criticized Goodell's ruling upholding the suspension as a "smear campaign," a "propaganda piece written for public consumption."

In its papers, the NFL said there was "ample support" in evidence for the commissioner to conclude Brady was involved in efforts by the Patriots equipment personnel to deflate footballs.

whoops my bad didn't see somebody posted it already.

I've had a feeling he'd play against Pittsburgh this entire time ... And I'd assume he's pretty angry and vengeful ... Steelers first game just got more difficult

Ian Rapoport Verified account
@RapSheet
Don’t expect @NFL to seek an injunction to keep Tom Brady off the field as they appeal this ruling. Basically, he’s playing this season.

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Judge nullifies Tom Brady's four-game suspension

By Conor Orr
Around The NFL Writer
Published: Sept. 3, 2015 at 10:19 a.m. Updated: Sept. 3, 2015 at 10:39 a.m.
Tom Brady will be under center for the Patriots' season opener next Thursday.

The ruling, handed down by U.S. District Judge Richard Berman on Thursday morning, nullified the four-game suspension levied against the Patriots quarterback back on May 11 when Ted Wells, an independent investigator hired by the NFL, asserted Brady's connection to deflated footballs used in the AFC Championship Game this past season.

The decision came after multiple attempts at settlement between Brady, his council, the NFL Players Association and the NFL. On Monday, Berman dismissed both sides after just a few minutes after realizing they were too far apart to reach a settlement.

There is no word yet on whether the NFL will file an appeal.

Eliminating Brady's suspension saves Patriots head coach Bill Belichick from dealing with the largest statistical drop off between starting quarterbacks in consecutive seasons since 1950. It also saves him from using another starter besides Brady for the first time since 2008, when Brady tore his ACL in the season-opener.

The ruling is a clear victory for Brady, who had considered accepting a one-game suspension according to NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport. But Brady did not want to accept any responsibility for the findings of the Wells Report, and in the end he didn't have to.

The defending Super Bowl champions can now put yet another difficult offseason behind them.

Link

Another botched mess by the toothless, despotic czar Goodell.

The flooding in Pennsylvania is caused by the tears filling the Allegheny River

lol

Cool. I hate the pats but we need Cheatin Tom against the steelers.

Hail to the Privileged !

More like: Down with douche bags with no evidence!

It's hard to come up with evidence when nobody is compelled to cooperate with you. People expect court of law-like decisions out of the NFL but they have virtually ZERO of the recourse that the court of law has to compel you to cooperate. No subpoena power, no perjury punishments, nothing...

Please tell us the truth, and if you don't, well there is really nothing we can do about it.

I think the leaked emails really killed the NFL. Why didnt u give us your phone? Why should I when everything you get goes to the press.

This was the big one.

That is the only just ruling. The NFL's investigation and process was so thoroughly incompetent and unfair that the whole thing looks like a joke. just off the top of my head:

- They didn't record the pregame PSI numbers.

- They have never before in the history of the league tested PSI of footballs at halftime, so they have no idea how gameplay (e.g. a thousand pounds of bodies on top of a pile) affects air pressure.

- The NFL VP of football operations, Troy Vincent, testified that he did not know of the ideal gas law or that air pressure could drop due to cold weather and had never discussed that with anybody in the league office.

- 2 different gauges, which varied by almost .5 PSI, neither of which were properly calibrated.

- The [not] independent Wells Report ignored the head referee's best recollection on which gauge he used, instead assuming it was the other one, to make the numbers fit how he wanted them to.

- The NFL claimed that Wells was an independent investigator, yet the NFL's lead attorney was able to review and edit the document before release, while info was withheld from Brady and the NFLPA.

- The commissioner and the arbitrator who reviews the commissioner's decision...... is the same person. Put this on the NFLPA, why they would ever agree to this screwed up system is beyond me. But regardless, the arbitrator is supposed to act neutrally and its clear that he did not.

- There is some precedent for failure to turn over a cell phone/failure to cooperate with an NFL investigation with Brett Favre, who was fined 25k with no suspension. Jumping to a 4 game suspension for Brady is unreasonable.

There is more. We will probably never know whether those footballs were tampered with, but the evidence seems to suggest not (i.e. it's more probable than not that footballs were not unfairly tampered with prior to the AFC Championship game.) That's my opinion anyway. If that's wrong, then shame on the NFL for its clueless and seemingly rigged process in getting to the facts.


edit: Forgot the big one: The leaking of false PSI data (presumably from someone in the league office) before the Super Bowl, that was never corrected by the league. The leaked data made it appear that the only possible explanation was tampering, which really put the Pats in a horrible defensive spot, not knowing the true numbers (when combined with using the head referee's best recollection on which gauge he used before the game) which actually seems to suggest no tampering at all.

Lmfao!

DC, do you really believe that every effort wasn't made to compel the ball handlers to come clean? Plain and simple, there is no proof that Brady had intentionally conspired to deflated them, even though the NFL had every opportunity to collect "evidence". More importantly, another investigation by a Goodell crony weighted toward his desired outcome was basically treated for what it was worth: nothing. It was a sham to begin with. I'm glad it's over. Brady kicked the Colts ass the second half with fully inflated balls anyway, so bottom line, it's just whining over sour grapes.

You want real justice in the league? How about suspensions for life for rapists and wife beaters? But no, four games seems about right. This whole Deflategate nonsense is a farce, ridiculous beyond reason and was perpetuated by a power mongering moron with absolutely no moral compass.