Attorneys for the NFL and Tom Brady want a federal judge to pick a winner in the ongoing Deflategate saga before the season begins in September — but that judge is urging both sides to come to a settlement.
Jeffrey Kessler, Brady’s union-appointed attorney, and lawyers for the NFL together asked U.S. District Court Judge Richard Berman yesterday to issue a “final resolution” in the case before Sept. 4. The New England Patriots’ superstar quarterback wants the New York judge to set aside the four-game suspension handed down by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
“(T)he parties met and conferred and have agreed that a final resolution of this matter prior to the commencement of the 2015 NFL regular season would be in everyone’s best interest,” Kessler wrote in a letter to Berman.
Berman, meanwhile, asked the two sides to work together and come to a settlement, according to an order he filed later. He scheduled a “status/settlement conference” for Aug. 12 and another for Aug. 19. If no settlement is reached by the 19th, there could be oral arguments that day.
He wants Brady and Goodell on hand for both days. The Patriots will likely not have a full practice on Aug. 12, with the Packers coming to town for the preseason opener the next day. On Aug. 19, the Patriots are scheduled to be in West Virginia for joint workouts with the Saints.
“I request that you all engage in comprehensive, good-faith settlement discussions prior to the conference on August 12,” he wrote.
In the earlier letter, Kessler said he won’t be looking for an injunction that would allow Brady to play while the litigation panned out. Instead, he wants the entire case resolved so no legal proceedings linger throughout the season.
Brady’s lawyers also filed an answer and counterclaim in the lawsuit yesterday and attempted to poke holes in Goodell’s Tuesday decision. Kessler wrote that the arbitration proceedings had a “circus-like atmosphere.”
He argued that Goodell was a biased arbitrator and effectively served as judge, jury and executioner in Brady’s case. Brady’s attorneys noted that they tried to get Goodell to recuse himself in favor of an independent arbitrator, but he declined.
“It is hard to imagine any person in Goodell’s position even attempting to serve as arbitrator under these circumstances, but that is exactly what he did,” Kessler wrote. “He denied the NFLPA’s Recusal Motion and simultaneously (and summarily) rejected the delegation argument — trying to pave his own path to stay on as arbitrator of Brady’s appeal.
“This conduct shows not merely evident partiality but actual bias, rendering Goodell unfit to serve as arbitrator under any standard.”
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