[OMMENTARY] In Brady decision, the NFL still wins

Before a single down has been played, we have already witnessed the biggest upset of the National Football League's season.

Judge Richard Berman handed down a ruling in favor of Tom Brady, vacating the NFL's imposed 4-game suspension. Given the narrow scope of what this court was supposed to be ruling on, the NFL couldn't lose, right? Most pundits agreed. Until they didn't. 

Unlike most court rulings, however, this one will not bring much clarity to the situation. The average American will assume this means Brady is innocent. It does not: Judge Berman carefully sidestepped the central issue about whether the New England Patriots' quarterback was guilty. The real question is about process and procedure. 

Fairness or jealousy?

An appeal will be filed. Another judge will step in to evaluate if Judge Berman overstepped his bounds. 

Read More NFL says it will appeal judge's ruling that nullified Brady suspension

Why does the NFL care so passionately about this infraction? Why spend millions of dollars and thousands of man-hours devoted to football inflation? Because this case is not about determining a valid punishment for a specific offense, but rather a total condemnation of the Patriot Way.

I have spoken to several former NFL players, who both played for the Patriots and against them, and they tell stories that would blow your mind. The Patriots employ tactics that—in their words not mine—"totally cross the line."

Read More 'Deflategate': Sales of Tom Brady merchandise double

New England fans call it "jealousy." Fans of other teams call it "fairness."

Yes, the NFL lost (for now), but did it really?

This "scandal" has managed to keep the NFL as the main topic of TV shows, sports pages, blogs, sports talk radio, fantasy drafts and barroom chatter. Despite other sports having great playoff runs, and the U.S. women's soccer team winning a World Cup, the NFL has managed to own the off-season.

Again.

The ratings for the NFL opener between the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers should set records. Nonetheless, the debate will persist regardless of the outcome. And the NFL's business will remain dominant.

In almost every aspect of its business, the NFL is an exacting institution. Control is its mantra. It controls who its broadcast partners are. Who its sponsors are. How long the deals are. How much they cost.

But there are two courts it does not control—the judicial court and the court of public opinion.

Even so, no matter how this saga ends, one thing is certain—the players will play, the fans will watch, and the NFL owners will count their money.

Commentary by David Katz, founder, CEO and principal editorial voice of ThePostGame, a sports culture and lifestyle media property based in Los Angeles and New York. He's the former head of CBS Interactive as well as Yahoo! Entertainment & Sports. Follow him on Twitter@katzmando

Via: CNBC

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[FOOTBALL] War of words continues among Deflategate attorneys

The heated rhetoric between attorneys involved in the ongoing Deflategate saga continues to flood the federal docket, less than a week before both sides will meet before the judge who has been asking them to settle.

Jeffrey Kessler, the attorney representing Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, attacked NFL lawyers today, who yesterday dismissed 19 cases his team gave to U.S. District Court Judge Richard Berman to review last week.

“(T)he NFL’s submission ignores how the denial of fundamental fairness in the arbitration at issue here so closely resembles the denials of fair process in the decisions we presented to the Court,” Kessler wrote in a two-page letter filed today in New York federal court.

Kessler and other union attorneys are working to overturn Brady’s four-game suspension, which was handed down by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. They have argued that Goodell should not have been the arbitrator to decide whether Brady was guilty of being generally aware that footballs may have been partially deflated during the 2015 AFC Championship.

On Aug. 19, attorneys for both sides argued their case to Berman. The judge spent considerable time poking holes in the NFL’s case, while allowing Kessler to argue with very little interruption. After finishing his argument, Kessler had one of his associates give Berman a list of cases that he said bolstered Brady’s case.

The NFL said the cases didn’t apply to Brady’s arbitration.

“These cases confirm that courts vacate arbitration awards only in extraordinary circumstances, none of which are present here,” NFL attorney Daniel Nash wrote yesterday.

That is the essence of the argument the NFL has made from the beginning: Judges very rarely overturn arbitration awards, and Berman should follow that rule in Brady’s case.

Brady’s attorneys, meanwhile, have argued that there are four reasons to overturn what they call an unprecedented suspension: that Brady had no notice; that no standards were set for testing the PSI of the footballs; that Goodell was biased; and that the arbitration was unfair.

Last week, Berman said if settlement talks in the case continue to be fruitless, he wants Brady and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell in his court on Aug. 31. Berman indicated that his "current plan" is to try and have this case resolved before the start of the NFL season. Brady’s suspension would begin on Sept. 4 as of now.

On July 30, Berman implored both sides to “tone down their rhetoric” and “pursue a mutually acceptable resolution of this case.” With less than two weeks until kickoff, rhetoric is still heated, and no settlement agreement has been reached.

Via: Boston Herald

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Judge seeks Deflategate huddle

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.”

Via: Boston Herald

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NY judge to NFL, Brady lawyers: Tone it down, figure it out

Photo by: 

John Wilcox

Tom Brady acknowledges the crowd as he runs onto the field for the beginning of Patriots training camp at Gillette, Thursday, July 30, 2015. Staff photo by John Wilcox.

A New York federal judge has told lawyers for Tom Brady and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to “tone down the rhetoric” and "pursue a mutually acceptable resolution” in the ongoing Deflategate controversy that has already been in two courthouses in two time zones.

U.S. District Court Judge Richard Berman laid down the admonishment just hours after a Minnesota judge ordered the NFL Players Association’s case to be moved to New York — the jurisdiction where the NFL first filed its case to have Goodell’s decision to suspend Brady for four games upheld.

“While this litigation is ongoing, it is appropriate (and helpful) for all counsel and all parties in this case to tone down their rhetoric,” Berman wrote. He added later, “If they have not already done so, the parties and counsel are directed forthwith actively to begin to pursue a mutually acceptable resolution of this case.”

The NFLPA filed its suit in Minnesota yesterday in hopes to reverse Goodell decision in a court that has been player friendly. A day earlier, the NFL had beaten the union to the punch, filing in New York shortly after the decision came down, hoping to take advantage of the "first-to-file" rule.

This morning, Richard Kyle, a federal court judge in Minnesota, wrote that "the court sees little reason for this action to have been commenced in Minnesota at all. Brady plays for a team in Massachusetts; the Union is headquartered in Washington D.C.; the NFL is headquartered in New York; the arbitration proceedings took place in New York; and the award was issued in New York.

"In the undersigned's view, therefore, it makes eminent sense the NFL would have commenced its action seeking confirmation of the award in the Southern District of New York. Why the instant action was filed here, however, is far less clear."

The union was hoping the case would land in front of U.S. District Court Judge David Doty, who recently vacated the indefinite suspension of Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson.

Today's ruling does not assure success for the NFL, but it is definitely an initial victory in a process that could consume at least the rest of the summer. Berman — the New York judge — made it very clear that he “is fully prepared to devote the time and attention necessary to help the parties resolve this case via litigation and/or by mutual consent.”

Via: Boston Herald

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[SPORTS] Goodell, NFL Upholds Tom Brady’s 4-Game Suspension

BOSTON (CBS) — NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has ruled on Tom Brady’s appeal, deciding to uphold his four-game suspension for his role in the DeflateGate scandal.

The league cited Brady’s unwillingness to cooperate with Ted Wells’ investigation, and the fact the quarterback ordered his cell phone destroyed during the investigation as the reason why they upheld the four-game ban.

It was reported earlier this month that the NFLPA will fight in federal court any suspension given to Brady, so now we await to hear if Brady wants to go that route.

Brady, backed by the NFLPA and outside counsel Jeffrey Kessler, had filed the appeal of the four-game suspension issued by Goodell back in early May.

The 10-hour hearing was held Tuesday, June 23 at the NFL offices in New York City, with Goodell serving as the arbitrator.

Ted Wells, who was responsible for the 243-page investigative report which served as the basis for the punishment, was also present, as were Don Yee, Brady’s agent; Tom DePaso, NFLPA general counsel; Jeff Pash, NFL executive VP; Adolpho Birch, NFL senior VP of law and labor policy. According to Adam Schefter, Brady testified under oath during the hearing.

Brady reportedly put forth an “A-plus performance” during the hearing, with Brady coming off “as genuine, earnest and persuasive, addressing every issue raised in the league-sanctioned Wells report.” The NFL, however, quickly contested this notion.

The Wells report deemed it “more probable than not” that two Patriots employees conspired to lower the inflation level of footballs in the AFC Championship Game. The report then determined it “more probable than not” that Brady “was at least generally aware” of their actions.

The Patriots were penalized with the forfeiture of a first-round and fourth-round draft pick, as well as a $1 million fine. That was a punishment which team owner Robert Kraft initially disputed but eventually accepted.

“Although I might disagree with what is decided, I do have respect for the commissioner and believe that he’s doing what he perceives to be in the best interests of the full 32,” Kraft said in San Francisco in mid-May. “So in that spirit, I don’t want to continue the rhetoric that’s gone on for the last four months. I’m going to accept, reluctantly, what he has given to us and not continue this dialogue and rhetoric, and we won’t appeal.”

Yee was perhaps the most outspoken critic of the Wells report, and subsequently the four-game suspension issued to his client.

“The discipline is ridiculous and has no legitimate basis,” Yee said in May. “In my opinion, this outcome was predetermined; there was no fairness in the Wells investigation whatsoever.”

When Brady’s suspension was announced, the NFL worded it to imply that NFL executive VP Troy Vincent issued the punishment, with Goodell only “authorizing” the ruling. Goodell later forwarded this story when speaking at the owners’ meetings in San Francisco. Yet in Goodell’s letter to the NFLPA on June 2, Goodell claimed full responsibility for the issuance of the punishment.

“There can be no dispute that this is an appeal of Commissioner discipline,” Goodell wrote. “I did not delegate my disciplinary authority to Mr. Vincent; I concurred in his recommendation and authorized him to communicate to Mr. Brady the discipline imposed under my authority as Commissioner.”

Goodell told the media on May 20 that he looked forward to hearing “directly from Tom.”

“If there is new information or there’s information in helping us get  this right, I want to hear directly from Tom on that,” Goodell said.

The Patriots open their season on Thursday, Sept. 10 at Gillette Stadium against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Training camp opens this week, with the first team practice scheduled for Thursday, July 30.

Via: CBS Boston

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[VIDEO] NFL upholds Tom Brady's four-game suspension

Via: Fox News