Arkansas Bengal Posted September 3, 2015 Report Share Posted September 3, 2015 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 11:39 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. Goodell upheld that four-game suspension upon review. 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. According to NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport, don't expect the league to seek an injunction to keep Brady off the field under any appeal. The league has yet to issue a formal statement on the ruling. The NFL Players Association, which aided in Brady's defense, released the following statement on Thursday morning: "The rights of Tom Brady and of all NFL players under the collective bargaining agreement were affirmed today by a Federal Judge in a court of the NFL's choosing. We thank Judge Berman for his time, careful consideration of the issue and fair and just result. "This decision should prove, once and for all, that our Collective Bargaining Agreement does not grant this Commissioner the authority to be unfair, arbitrary and misleading. While the CBA grants the person who occupies the position of Commissioner the ability to judiciously and fairly exercise the designated power of that position, the union did not agree to attempts to unfairly, illegally exercise that power, contrary to what the NFL has repeatedly and wrongfully claimed. "We are happy for the victory of the rule of law for our players and our fans. This court's decision to overturn the NFL Commissioner again should signal to every NFL owner that collective bargaining is better than legal losses. Collective bargaining is a much better process that will lead to far better results." One of Berman's key points was that Brady did not receive the proper advance notice to be disciplined by the NFL and information of the kind of penalties he could receive. Per Berman: "The Court finds that no player alleged or found to have had a general awareness of the inappropriate ball deflation activities of others or who allegedly schemed with others to let air out of footballs in a championship game and also had not cooperated in an ensuing investigation, reasonably could be on notice that their discipline would (or should) be the same as applied to a player who violated the NFL Policy on Anabolic Steroids and Related Substances." In his 40-page decision, Berman mentioned the league's improper denial of Brady's right to cross-examine NFL general council Jeff Pash, who was a co-lead investigator along with Wells. Because Pash was able to "review a draft of the Wells Report" and provide written comments and edits, it would have been in Brady's best interest to question him. The NFL opted not to on the grounds that Pash provided no substantive role in the Wells Report findings and that any edits or comments he made had no impact on the final result. Per Berman: "It is logical that he would have valuable insight into the course and outcome of the Investigation and into the drafting and content of the Wells Report. It is also problematic to the Court that there was no specification by Goodell as to the ways Pash's testimony would have been 'cumulative.'" The ruling could be looked at as an indictment on the lack of uniform punishment across the league. The NFL's use of the steroid policy to provide a comparable notice of discipline or even length of suspension did not go over well. Also, Berman seemed to side with Brady's point when it comes to prior infractions for equipment tampering. A ball-warming issue by the Carolina Panthers was said not to be comparable by the NFL because there was no effort to conceal the act. However, Brady's team argued that the outcome in the Panthers case -- a warning sent to the club without any punishment or investigation -- was the precedent set under the Competitive Integrity Policy. 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. Brady's suspension would have been the longest and most high-profile for an NFL starting quarterback since Ben Roethlisberger's four-game suspension back in 2010. The ruling is a clear victory for Brady, who had considered accepting a one-game suspension according to 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. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000520618/article/judge-nullifies-tom-bradys-fourgame-suspension Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted September 3, 2015 Report Share Posted September 3, 2015 1. Why is a US District court judge involved in this? This was not a federal law issue.2. Go ahead and cheat, nobody cares. If you are a star. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie_B Posted September 3, 2015 Report Share Posted September 3, 2015 1. Why is a US District court judge involved in this? This was not a federal law issue.2. Go ahead and cheat, nobody cares. If you are a star.1. Because they brought a suit against the NFL otherwise it would have been left up to the NFL. 2. Goodell's case from the beginning was flimsy, was never going to stand up to this lawsuit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie_B Posted September 3, 2015 Report Share Posted September 3, 2015 As a Bengals fan I am happy with this decision... it means the Stealers have to play Brady next week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkansas Bengal Posted September 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2015 I'm just glad he'll be playing against pissburgh next Thursday night. I hope they beat the shit out of the fucking stealers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted September 3, 2015 Report Share Posted September 3, 2015 The NFL needs to set up an independent, but league affiliated panel for suspension appeals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Dub Posted September 3, 2015 Report Share Posted September 3, 2015 2. Go ahead and cheat, nobody cares. If you are a star.This Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkansas Bengal Posted September 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2015 So do you think Goodell has the balls to show up at Foxboro next Thursday night for the opener? Do you think he'll need bodyguards? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scharm Posted September 3, 2015 Report Share Posted September 3, 2015 Brady didn't cheat. Dumbest scandal ever. Fueled by butt hurt Ravens and Indy Colts Management. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hooky Posted September 3, 2015 Report Share Posted September 3, 2015 It depends on your definition of cheating.I hope they beat the stealers and finish 1-15. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|SF2| Posted September 3, 2015 Report Share Posted September 3, 2015 Brady didn't cheat. Dumbest scandal ever. Fueled by butt hurt Ravens and Indy Colts Management. Oh I think he had the balls deflated to something he liked. The problem is from what I can tell, tampering with equipment should only be a fine and possible a flag if caught i.e. stickum on your hands. 4 game suspension, loss of draft picks and huge fine never made sense based on current rules. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scharm Posted September 3, 2015 Report Share Posted September 3, 2015 Oh I think he had the balls deflated to something he liked. The problem is from what I can tell, tampering with equipment should only be a fine and possible a flag if caught i.e. stickum on your hands. 4 game suspension, loss of draft picks and huge fine never made sense based on current rules. If there is a significant competitive advantage to be gained by altering footballs and the attempt of achieving that competitive advantage is considered cheating the NFL should never allow the teams to have contact with the footballs used in the game prior to kickoff. Instead they've decided to go the opposite route and allow teams to break them in and the QBs to actually choose the balls that are used in the game by their team only. Correct if there was tampering noticed during the game. It should have been addressed like stickum etc. A months long investigation in a blow out is the dumbest thing ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackBengal Posted September 3, 2015 Report Share Posted September 3, 2015 Brady didn't cheat. Dumbest scandal ever. Fueled by butt hurt Ravens and Indy Colts Management. Brady almost certainly did cheat. But I am happy that his suspension was overturned for Steeler-hating reasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hooky Posted September 3, 2015 Report Share Posted September 3, 2015 Brady almost certainly did cheat. But I am happy that his suspension was overturned for Steeler-hating reasons. You beat the filter. It would be awesome if the NFL appeals after the stealers game and wins. Brady is suspended again for 4 games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khwiii Posted September 3, 2015 Report Share Posted September 3, 2015 Brady almost certainly did cheat. But I am happy that his suspension was overturned for Steeler-hating reasons. Then why not go after Aaron Rodgers for over-inflating the balls (if you consider it cheating)? He admitted to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|High School Harry| Posted September 3, 2015 Report Share Posted September 3, 2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|Numbers| Posted September 3, 2015 Report Share Posted September 3, 2015 Then why not go after Aaron Rodgers for over-inflating the balls (if you consider it cheating)? He admitted to it. Yes, go after him too. Sent from Hillary Clinton's email server Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PutWittyNameHere Posted September 3, 2015 Report Share Posted September 3, 2015 If there is a significant competitive advantage to be gained by altering footballs and the attempt of achieving that competitive advantage is considered cheating the NFL should never allow the teams to have contact with the footballs used in the game prior to kickoff. Instead they've decided to go the opposite route and allow teams to break them in and the QBs to actually choose the balls that are used in the game by their team only. Correct if there was tampering noticed during the game. It should have been addressed like stickum etc. A months long investigation in a blow out is the dumbest thing ever.The problem here is that NFL footballs are really, really hard to throw straight out of the box. They have a very slick coating on them that has to be rubbed into the ball before use. My high school team used to use the same Wilson balls that the NFL uses, and our QBs used to spend hours getting them worn in correctly before games. Once they were worn in, they were fantastic. But you had to get them there. I have no problem with QBs having the chance to prep the balls they want to use. They just need to be more thorough in checking them after the fact. Give the balls to the team a few hours before the game, let them prep them however they want to, then have a team of people testing the air pressure immediately before the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scharm Posted September 3, 2015 Report Share Posted September 3, 2015 The problem here is that NFL footballs are really, really hard to throw straight out of the box. They have a very slick coating on them that has to be rubbed into the ball before use. My high school team used to use the same Wilson balls that the NFL uses, and our QBs used to spend hours getting them worn in correctly before games. Once they were worn in, they were fantastic. But you had to get them there. I have no problem with QBs having the chance to prep the balls they want to use. They just need to be more thorough in checking them after the fact. Give the balls to the team a few hours before the game, let them prep them however they want to, then have a team of people testing the air pressure immediately before the game. I don't have a problem with it either. IMO, the NFL is shoveling shit stating the integrity of the game is at stake when they allow teams so much access to the footballs prior to the game and don't have thorough checking prior to the game.If getting the ball to a comfortable level to a QB is considered cheating meaning 1 player can gain advantage greater than the other then Balls should come straight out of the box. In reality, it doesn't have any effect on the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeb Posted September 3, 2015 Report Share Posted September 3, 2015 It's about time Goodell got his, ...long overdue. Get rid of that dictator and get someone good in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|westside bengal| Posted September 3, 2015 Report Share Posted September 3, 2015 i hate roger goatbag. sooner or later the owners will get tired of his make it up as he goes along crap and realize they don't need him to make their money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Dub Posted September 3, 2015 Report Share Posted September 3, 2015 No argument that the NFL talking about integrity is pure comedy so had Brady thrown 3 ints in a loss we would have never heard about this. However it doesn't matter whether it provided a competitive advantage (which naturally begs the question of why, if not, would they bother?) because it was prohibited. It doesn't matter if it helped them and it doesn't matter what the final score was, or how shitty the other team was, or any other lame prevarication you can come up with, because no matter how stupid the rule may be it is still a rule and they broke it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gatorclaws Posted September 3, 2015 Report Share Posted September 3, 2015 and they broke it.you should share the evidence you have with the NFL, cause they had none. Zero proof balls were deflated below limit. So much into who knew about it without actually showing a rule was broken intentionally or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Dub Posted September 3, 2015 Report Share Posted September 3, 2015 you should share the evidence you have with the NFL, cause they had none. Zero proof balls were deflated below limit. So much into who knew about it without actually showing a rule was broken intentionally or not.So you believe those texts with the equipment dude were about.. what? Marsha's diet? (I think they actually made that claim.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Le Tigre Posted September 3, 2015 Report Share Posted September 3, 2015 I can never remember who does these Opening Night GlitzFests...is it STILLER FOOOTBAWWW? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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