Deflategate judge to rule on Tuesday or Wednesday as settlement talks fail
NEW YORK — When a final attempt at reaching a settlement failed, the judge overseeing the Deflategate case said he will issue a ruling on Tuesday or Wednesday.
With New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell both in court, Judge Richard M. Berman brought both sides into the robing room for a 41-minute meeting aimed at reaching a settlement. It failed.
"I have no qualms with either party in their efforts," Judge Berman said. “The parties tried quite hard. Sometimes, settlements just don’t happen.”
Berman specifically thanked Giants owner John Mara and NFLPA vice president of the player executive board Jay Feely for showing up Monday and their efforts in trying to make a settlement happen.
Both Brady and Goodell were required to attend Monday's hearing, which was open to about 75 spectators. Also in attendance for the NFL were lead counsel Daniel Nash, senior vice president of labor law and policy Adolpho Birch, NFL legal expert Gregg Levy and NFL general counsel Jeff Pash.
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Present for the union were lead counsel Jeffrey Kessler, NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith, and Brady’s agent Don Yee, among others.
Both lawyers thanked Judge Berman and the court for hearing the appeal.
“This is the one time when Mr. Nash and I agree,” Kessler said. “I agree in thanking the court and trust that the court will proceed with justice.”
Brady's four-game suspension stems from an investigation by NFL-appointed attorney Ted Wells that found Brady was “at least generally aware” of the alleged intentional deflation of footballs prior to the AFC Championship Game.
Brady appealed the decision June 23 in a hearing that lasted more than 10 hours. Goodell sat in as the hearing officer in Brady’s case, invoking Article 46 of the collective bargaining agreement, which allows the commissioner to preside over appeals “at his discretion."
The league upheld Brady’s suspension July 28 in a 20-page decision that stated Brady “participated in a scheme to tamper” with the game balls in the AFC title game, based on the evidence collected by Wells.
The league is asking the court to confirm its discipline, citing language in the CBA.
The NFLPA and Brady, meanwhile, are arguing that the court should vacate the suspension on the grounds that Brady didn’t have notice of the policies and penalties he was subjected to, and that the discipline in his case was the product of a “fundamentally unfair arbitration proceeding,” in which Goodell was an “evidently partial” arbitrator.
New England plays the Pittsburgh Steelers in the NFL’s regular season kickoff game Sept. 10.
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