In a Wednesday hearing, U.S. District Court Judge Richard M. Berman ordered NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady to return to his courtroom on August 31.
Goodell and Brady, who participated in a joint practice with the New Orleans Saints in West Virginia, did not attend Wednesday’s hearing.
The two-hour-and-fifteen-minute hearing reportedly did not go well for the NFL. The judge wondered why the NFL refused to allow Brady’s lawyers to question NFL counsel Jeff Pash at the appeal hearing in the commissioner’s office in June and said he found “that the ‘general awareness’ doesn’t relate to the Jan. 18 game” in regard to the NFL’s stated rules clashing with a punishment for mere knowledge of malfeasance.
NFL attorney Daniel Nash says “some in NFL” wanted 4 games for deflation and 4 games for non-cooperation. #benevolent
— Tom E. Curran (@tomecurran) August 19, 2015
UPDATE: Hearing over after 2:15. No settlement. Judge Berman was very, very critical of NFL. Brady/NFLPA are making a good case — Ben Volin (@BenVolin) August 19, 2015
Stepped out of courthouse for update. Judge Berman banging NFL around for comparing ball deflation to steroid use, making Pash off limits.
— Tom E. Curran (@tomecurran) August 19, 2015
By forcing the parties back into court, and in calling a settlement “a logical and rational option,” Berman clearly seeks to induce a settlement. But despite Brady showing willingness to accept a lesser suspension over noncooperation but not deflating footballs, the NFL appears unwilling to budge.
The New England Patriots open the NFL season at home against the Pittsburgh Steelers on September 10. Whether Brady plays, or Judge Berman upholds his four-game Deflategate suspension, may remain uncertain until the week prior to the game.
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