Goodell Says Deflategate Ruling May Come Next Week

[sharkymcwrath]

How about Steelers. Bills, Jaguars and Cowboys??

Games 1 through 4.??

According to Sal Paolantonio it's the Ravens and Colts.

 

[BigKen]

Throughout the entire ordeal....only one person has said nothing....Tom Brady.

As Confucius once said, "The loudest voice, is the one that does not speak".

 

[BigKen]

Posted July 24, 2015 at 6:00 am
By: Steve Balestrieri

In a not-so-surprising move the NFL has responded in silence at the NFLPA’s offer of a settlement in the Tom Brady appeal.

ESPN’s Dan Graziano reported from a source that the Players Association last week made an offer to the NFL regarding Tom Brady’s suspension in the Deflate-gate fiasco. The offer was an attempt to exonerate Brady from any wrongdoing in the supposed deflation of the Patriots footballs during the AFC Championship Game in January.

Brady would admit to no wrongdoing but would accept a fine for non-compliance, for not turning over his phone to Ted Wells during the league’s investigation. According to the Graziano’s sources, any settlement offer by Brady to them is an admission of guilt.

Not so, this latest turn in the events of the Deflate-gate/Delay-gate league generated mess was a last ditch by the NFLPA is an attempt to keep this entire case out of the federal courts. And it is a case that won’t look good for the the league.

Instead, the league leaked out sources of its own to Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio that a “loud but vocal minority” of team owners asked Commissioner Roger Goodell to uphold the original four-game suspension. Florio stated that NFL attorney Greg Levy has advised Goodell that any suspension will be difficult to stand up in court.

Brady’s appeal which was heard in the Park Avenue NFL offices over a month ago by Goodell but no decision has been announced. Goodell told the media a few weeks ago that a decision was coming soon but then flip-flopped this week stating that no time-table was set.

“There is no timeline. We want to make sure we have a fair and open process,” Goodell said.

The NFL knows that any suspension of Brady will ultimately result in a court case and is poring over the testimony of the appeal in an attempt to not come to a decision but to stand up in court.

Some possible arguments in the court case that Brady’s team could argue are that the entire case was preventable and was arbitrary. Given the NFL’s email trail prior to the AFCCG and then their comments immediately after lend credence to that.

The entire football deflation issue was never proved by the Wells Report and in later reports was debunked by other more reputable scientific labs than the Exponent hired guns hired by Wells and the league.

And did the league follow its own protocols in the handing down of punishment? In the NFL’s rule book it is treated as an equipment violation, punished by a fine of $25,000. The NFL fined San Diego for a similar infraction but only issued a warning to the Vikings and Panthers during a warming towel incident this season.

So both sides are preparing for a court case; with no settlement looming and the NFL seemingly very likely to uphold a suspension, the delay of a decision will not stop where this one is heading…to federal court.

Brady faces the scenarios of winning his case and being exonerated from any nefarious wrong-doing in this or losing in court and possibly having to face his suspension nearer the end of the season when the Patriots have traditionally been vying for playoff top seeding.

In another weird twist of the entire story, the NFLPA announced that Brady was the leader of all NFL players in jersey sales during the first fiscal quarter of 2015. Is that just regularly disclosed news or an attempt to show the league that support for their suspension isn’t very high? Either way, the league won’t be influenced by that.

The Patriots begin training camp on July 30 with their first practice scheduled for 9:15 a.m. Brady will be there on the field and it remains to be seen if he’ll know Goodell’s decision by then…

- See more at: League Doesnt Respond to NFLPA Olive Branch Offer In Brady Appeal :Pats Pub

 

[CreepCreep2014]

The NFL is ready to do business now. I love how everyone says Brady must be guilty because he is trying to settle. Ever think he is trying to help out the NFL by NOT taking them to court. Nah, the NFL is so mighty that no one can have anything on them...LOL. Would not shock me at all to find out that Kraft asked him to try and settle before going to court. Just amazes me that people thing he needs to be suspended 1 game for this. Just want this to end, or move to court...

 

[TP76]

Both sides are entrenched. IMO Roger is better served to wait. He likely realizes and is being advised he will lose in court... so why not extract his pound of flesh against Brady and the organization by making them uncomfortable with a tight deadline before the season starts? Seems consistent with the league's behavior up to this point.

 

[TxHeat]

The NFL is ready to do business now. I love how everyone says Brady must be guilty because he is trying to settle. Ever think he is trying to help out the NFL by NOT taking them to court. Nah, the NFL is so mighty that no one can have anything on them...LOL. Would not shock me at all to find out that Kraft asked him to try and settle before going to court. Just amazes me that people thing he needs to be suspended 1 game for this. Just want this to end, or move to court...

I don't think he wants to go to court but I do think he realizes the only way he can have a chance to get what he wants is to go to court. I just don't see Goofdell backing off this at this point. Not to mention his minions and owners whispering in his ear about it as well.

 

[TxHeat]

If the rumors are true, we are headed to court.

 

[BigKen]

Since the rumor about these supposed negotiations have come out, I've read a number of articles about what is/might be taking place.

First, the NFL attorneys are pouring over a 400 page document. No one seems to know exactly what this document really is, but at least three different writers know it's 400 pages.

Second, Roger Goodell made a very serious error when speaking this past Sunday when he said "we" have no timetable on making a decidion on Tom Brady's appeal. Since then, the question is constantly being asked, who are the "we"? Roger Goodell would recuse himself from hearing the appeal, therefore it is incumbent on him to make the decision, not group of unknowns. This is a serious legal question also.

Third. NFL attorneys have warned Goodell that precedence has already been set for equipment violations in the NFL and the most stringent fine has been $25,000. The most recent case is the illegal warming of footballs in Minnesota and that resulted in a warning.

Fourth. The NFL's constant failure to enforce it's own rules. One of the biggest is a rule put in place in 2006 that requires all wide receivers to wear thigh pads in their game pants. More than 80% of the wide receivers openly ignore the rule and no penalties have ever been handed down by the league. Failure to examine and record ball pressures would also be included in any court case.

There are more, but these seem to be repeated most often or at least brought up by the people writing the articles.

In the Manchester Union Leader this morning, the AP says that both sides (NFLPA and NFL) are in very serious negotiations but Brady has warned both of them that he will not accept any game suspension of any kind. He will 'consider' a monetary fine but the wording must be specific that the fine is for not "fully" cooperating with the Ted Wells Investigation and nothing more.

To every writer it appears that the NFL will have to give in or go to court. They all believe going to court would be a disastrous mistake.

 

[ohiopatsfan]

The latest rumor (or rumor du jour, if you prefer), is that Goodell sticks with 4 games and takes his chances in court. This way, he keeps 31 NFL team owners happy. The NFL and NFLPA are supposedly talking now trying to reach a negotiated settlement (sounds like the recent Iranian nuke talks that ended with an agreement many find as being flawed). One thing that hasn't been mentioned here is the penalty on the Patriots team. What if Goodell agrees to reduce the team penalty (say by giving back the 1st round draft choice) in exchange for TB "taking one for the team"? Probably not going to happen but it is interesting to consider.

 

[TxHeat]

The latest rumor (or rumor du jour, if you prefer), is that Goodell sticks with 4 games and takes his chances in court. This way, he keeps 31 NFL team owners happy. The NFL and NFLPA are supposedly talking now trying to reach a negotiated settlement (sounds like the recent Iranian nuke talks that ended with an agreement many find as being flawed). One thing that hasn't been mentioned here is the penalty on the Patriots team. What if Goodell agrees to reduce the team penalty (say by giving back the 1st round draft choice) in exchange for TB "taking one for the team"? Probably not going to happen but it is interesting to consider.

not gonna happen, and I'd rather have Brady on the field for all 16 games instead of getting the pick back. They've lost a first round pick before and survived.

 

[BigKen]

According to Adam Schecter, there are many more owners who don't want to go to court than the few who want Brady suspended. Supposedly, it's those owners who are pushing for a settlement of some kind.

The truth is that the NFL will not come out of a court case looking good at all. There is no precedence for the suspension and that alone is huge problem. Then there's an even bigger problem if by some freak circumstance that Brady loses. Every future penalty handed down by the NFL would have be based on the Brady Penalty. If the league backed off any rule infraction by a millimeter, Brady would have court case that could bankrupt the NFL and on the other side, a serious(?) infraction could cost a player or coach half a season or more.

These other owners see a win as a huge potential loss for them......artificial crowd noise please......

 

[TxHeat]

the Haters are getting restless.

 

[TP76]

I'm surprised Goodell didn't drag it it out a couple of weeks.

The destroying of the cell phone reasoning by the league is a red herring. The phone carrier has records of the texts. Again, the league is assuming he did it to cover his tracks.

Onto court

 

[SDGuy73]

Stephen A. Smith reported this morning that in the next 24-48 hours the NFL will uphold the four game suspension. A source told Smith that Brady destroyed his phone.

 

[SDGuy73]

NFL upholds 4 game suspension.

 

[SDGuy73]

How the hell does NFL know there were about 10,000 text messages on Brady's phone.

 

[Yankee Traveler]

How the hell does NFL know there were about 10,000 text messages on Brady's phone.

However they know, Brady said "Screw it. Subpeona it. I'll see you in court."

 

[Yankee Traveler]

Maybe Tom did do it, will get an injunction to play, win SB 50 and retire while flipping Goodell off...??

Nah, he wants six rings.

 

[BigKen]

Now the NFL, NFLPA and Tom Brady are all on the sideline. This ball game is new one and the players are all hired killers.

The first panic move happened yesterday afternoon 15 minutes after the Commissioner announced his decision.
The NFL attorneys had already gone to the New York Federal Court and immediately after the announcement, filed for a federal court ruling to uphold the decision and keep it out of court. That didn't happen. That in and of itself speaks volumes. The NFL is worried that they will get blown completely out of the water and made a move to prevent anything from being heard in federal court.

My guess is that NFLPA and Brady's attorneys had already filed a motion that the league's suspension of Tom Brady was illegal. Which is was. The CBA specifically gives the Commissioner and only the Commissioner the power to hand down player suspensions or penalties. He can't just hand over that power to anyone. When Goodell let Vincent suspend Brady he was in violation of the CBA. The second part of it was that he did it so he could hear the appeal and uphold Vincent's suspension ruling. So the whole suspension is nothing more than a façade.

I pray that every hearing, pretrial motion and legal move is on TV. No ESPN snipets, No NFL Network three man panels trying to figure out how their mikes work and no third hand media big tits giving us her version of what happened.

 

[NWPATSFAN]

Now the NFL, NFLPA and Tom Brady are all on the sideline. This ball game is new one and the players are all hired killers.

The first panic move happened yesterday afternoon 15 minutes after the Commissioner announced his decision.
The NFL attorneys had already gone to the New York Federal Court and immediately after the announcement, filed for a federal court ruling to uphold the decision and keep it out of court. That didn't happen. That in and of itself speaks volumes. The NFL is worried that they will get blown completely out of the water and made a move to prevent anything from being heard in federal court.

My guess is that NFLPA and Brady's attorneys had already filed a motion that the league's suspension of Tom Brady was illegal. Which is was. The CBA specifically gives the Commissioner and only the Commissioner the power to hand down player suspensions or penalties. He can't just hand over that power to anyone. When Goodell let Vincent suspend Brady he was in violation of the CBA. The second part of it was that he did it so he could hear the appeal and uphold Vincent's suspension ruling. So the whole suspension is nothing more than a façade.

I pray that every hearing, pretrial motion and legal move is on TV. No ESPN snipets, No NFL Network three man panels trying to figure out how their mikes work and no third hand media big tits giving us her version of what happened.

Well I for one wouldn't mind watching this the media big tits giving us her version