Althouse: Tom Brady wins in federal court.

September 3, 2015

Tom Brady wins in federal court.

"Judge Richard M. Berman of Federal District Court in Manhattan did not rule on whether Brady tampered with the footballs in a bid for competitive advantage. Instead, he focused on the narrower question of whether the collective bargaining agreement between the N.F.L. and the players union gave Goodell the authority to carry out the suspension, and whether Brady was treated fairly during his attempt to have his suspension overturned."

44 comments:

Jaq said...: Obviously 4 games, the same punishment for using steroids, was about placating the haters whose teams suck.; 9/3/15, 12:48 PM
Nonapod said...: So I assume this means that there will be no repercussions, no further action taken?; 9/3/15, 12:52 PM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: Not surprising that he won, he was so much better looking in the courtroom the second time.; 9/3/15, 12:54 PM
Gahrie said...: Well, this gives Hillary hope.....; 9/3/15, 12:55 PM
Hagar said...: Tom Brady leaves court, smirking.; 9/3/15, 12:56 PM
Bay Area Guy said...: Where's that ditzy sketch artist when you really need her:); 9/3/15, 1:03 PM
khesanh0802 said...: This is great! I haven't read the decision yet, but am looking forward to it. The NFL is lucky that Judge Berman did not get to rule on the merits of the case the NFL made against Brady. One of Berman's most telling questions during the hearings was whether there was any "direct evidence" linking Brady to ball tampering. Even the NFL counsel had to admit that there was not.

If you read the appeal hearing transcript ( which Judge Berman forced the NFL to make public ) it becomes very clear that the Wells Report - on which Brady's punishment was based - is flawed in so many ways that it will never withstand independent scrutiny. The NFL is foolish to appeal this decision they should just let it die. Members of the press have now had an opportunity to learn what a railroading Brady has had. Many of them are also embarrassed by how they were used by the NFL to tilt the coverage against Brady. They are not going to be very forgiving of the NFL for a while at least.

Remember this decision was made in a court that has an 86% record of supporting appeals by management and the court was chosen by the NFL.; 9/3/15, 1:11 PM
Jaq said...: So I assume this means that there will be no repercussions, no further action taken?

It's a game! It's over! Jeezums. Season starts in a week. Line up your eleven guys and beat them!

How many WS rings have the Yankees bought? They say they "grow their own talent" but other teams can't afford to keep their superstars. I mean what a fucking luxury! And yet you would be hard pressed to find a Yankees fan whose conscience raises even a twinge.

What about Les Habitants? Montreal used to get first pick from the French Canadian players. What kind of advantage was that? Huge! Imagine if that had continued and they had gotten Martin St Louis or Vinnie Lecavailier or Mario Lemieux or Denis Potvin, they would still be winning Stanley Cups! Yet nary a Montreal fan worries about their 24 Stanley Cups.

You guys think that the NFL is pure, or that any major or minor sporting league is pure are most amazing to me.; 9/3/15, 1:12 PM
Brando said...: This is just as well. If the Pats lost without Brady they'd say they had to fight with an arm tied behind their back. Now someone needs to play them fair and square.

Though after spygate and deflategate, I only wonder what other tricks Behlicheck has up his sleeve...

I'm guessing the Ravens will disappoint this year, but as long as they do better than the Redskins I'll be happy.; 9/3/15, 1:17 PM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: Nonapod said...

So I assume this means that there will be no repercussions, no further action taken?

Two employees were fired. The team lost two draft picks, and was fined. Compare that to the previous case of a team actually caught on camera tampering with footballs: No fines, no lost draft picks, nobody suspended. No punishment whatsoever. Just a warning to teams not to do it.; 9/3/15, 1:26 PM
donald said...: The NFL is appealing.; 9/3/15, 1:34 PM
Brando said...: "The NFL is appealing."

I disagree--the NFL is quite unappealing! It's hard to love a sport while despising the premeir professional organization for that sport.; 9/3/15, 1:39 PM
traditionalguy said...: I disagree. The NFL is unappealing. I prefer NCAA college football. And by the way, TCU starts destroying the Big Ten teams tonight.; 9/3/15, 1:39 PM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: Brando said...

It's hard to love a sport while despising the premeir professional organization for that sport.

Why would anyone despise the New England Patriots?; 9/3/15, 1:40 PM
Jaq said...: So maybe it should end like "The Departed" where Roger Goodell shows up like Mark Wahlberg shows up and finally metes out justice with a silenced Berretta on account of the way that Matt Damon's character escaped all other forms of justice.; 9/3/15, 1:41 PM
Bob Boyd said...: This is actually a win for the NFL.
A) The sooner the whole thing just goes away and everybody just moves on, the better.
B) Its better for the NFL if there is always doubt about whether any actual cheating took place than if it is clearly proven that one of their best teams has been cheating.

I don't know why they want to appeal it.; 9/3/15, 1:52 PM
Brando said...: "Why would anyone despise the New England Patriots?"

I was referring to the NFL--from their stupid "no taunting" rules to their use of dangerous fake turf to their tepid policies on steroids, the pro sport could use some serious fixing.

Of course, my rants and a nickel will get you a nickel...; 9/3/15, 1:55 PM
JSD said...: Anybody who supported Roger Goodell and the NFL owners in this mess is a complete lackey. These are the very same owners who are busy building the fantasy sports gambling industry. Apparently fantasy sport wagering is a “skill” and not a game of chance, thus a loophole that allows big money wagering. Guess who are the biggest owners of fantasy sport gambling? The league owners. Not content with TV money, they want a cut of the gambling revenue too. What could possibly go wrong? But Roger Goodell has to protect the integrity of the game from Tom Brady. The NFL is a joke.; 9/3/15, 2:06 PM
Brando said...: "Anybody who supported Roger Goodell and the NFL owners in this mess is a complete lackey. These are the very same owners who are busy building the fantasy sports gambling industry. Apparently fantasy sport wagering is a “skill” and not a game of chance, thus a loophole that allows big money wagering. Guess who are the biggest owners of fantasy sport gambling? The league owners. Not content with TV money, they want a cut of the gambling revenue too. What could possibly go wrong? But Roger Goodell has to protect the integrity of the game from Tom Brady. The NFL is a joke."

The NFL owners are moneygrubbing monopolist sharks, and why shouldn't they be? The NFL is geared towards them making every penny of profit possible, and fans and the government (both in allowing their monopoly and letting them enforce blackout rules, and building them subsidized stadiums, etc.) give in to them on everything. I can't blame the scorpion for stinging, but the frogs need to stop giving the scorpion rides on their backs.

Ok, analogy not so good but you know what I mean.; 9/3/15, 2:16 PM
Birches said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 9/3/15, 2:38 PM
Birches said...: If the CBA is so unfair why did the NFLPA ok it with no changes to the Goodell as judge, jury and executioner? That's my only annoyance with this whole situation. The players had their chance to fix things and they didn't even try.; 9/3/15, 2:39 PM
Etienne said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 9/3/15, 3:18 PM
Etienne said...: I still don't understand, how someone who is paid millions of dollars to throw footballs, doesn't recognize that they are defective??

Was he required by contract to throw defective footballs? Is this a good contract to have?; 9/3/15, 3:21 PM
khesanh0802 said...: @ Birches It won't happen again. I am sure the players will be ready to strike over this issue whenever the next contract comes due. In all negotiations you have to give to get. Whatever the NFLPA got I am sure they had no idea that they would dealing with such an incompetent as Goodell is turning out to be.

I have now read the judge's opinion. He has been telegraphing to the NFL, since the process began, that they were in trouble. I am not a lawyer, but my impression reading the opinion is: that Berman's reasoning is well supported by the cases he cites - both Federal law and NFL precedent; that his research was extremely thorough; and the NFL is not likely to obtain a reversal.

Jeffrey Kessler has proven himself a terrific lawyer and a big pain in the ass to the NFL.; 9/3/15, 3:46 PM
David said...: Why is the fairness of the process the "narrower" question? If the process is unfair, you can't even start to evaluate the validity of the conclusion.

The NFL was grossly incompetent in the way it conducted the investigation and adjudicated the conclusions. The league richly deserves this result.; 9/3/15, 4:05 PM
traditionalguy said...: The other 31 owners are the ones that were beaten when their hired help lost when they sent him after Robert Kraft by going after Tom Brady to bloody the nose of the one whom they actually hate whose name is Bellichek. Bellichek just stares them down, sees through their games and beats them in the Super Bowl, again and again.; 9/3/15, 4:06 PM
Bay Area Guy said...: @Bob Boyd

This is actually a win for the NFL.
A) The sooner the whole thing just goes away and everybody just moves on, the better.
B) Its better for the NFL if there is always doubt about whether any actual cheating took place than if it is clearly proven that one of their best teams has been cheating.

I think this is right. Also, don't forget the reverse racial angle to this. Most of the NFL Players who get busted for thuggery are black. (Ray Rice, Ray McDonald, Alden Smith, etc., etc). Even Aaron Hernandez pretended he was a black gangster. If Goodell went soft on the white superstar QB, who happens to be the face of the entire league, Goodell might be tagged as a racist. He saw what happened to Donald Sterling.

So,to innoculate himself from a potential charge of a racist double-standard, Goodell went hard against Brady on an utterly trivial matter about inflated footballs, the equivalent of jay-walking. And now he lost, and hopefully it's over, and life will go on for us couch-sitting, beer-drinking football fans.; 9/3/15, 4:09 PM
Left Bank of the Charles said...: Oh, the irony. The Judge ruled Goodell's punishment of Brady was over-inflated. Ha ha ha.; 9/3/15, 4:17 PM
PB said...: Next, Brady will start taking game officials to court for blown calls.; 9/3/15, 5:03 PM
grackle said...: Back on 8/13/15 I posted this comment …

“I think Brady will eventually win the battle in court through a civil suit – IF the NFL doesn’t cave before that. Football is his livelihood and I’ve observed over the years that judges are kind of severe when it comes to powerful entities depriving individuals of their ability to earn a living, especially when there’s no proof that Brady broke any rules. The NFL cannot just do anything it wants to any NFL player.”

http://tinyurl.com/nuegwwu

A few days ago Brady offered a compromise to the court and Goodell’s lawyers – a one game suspension with NO admission of guilt from Brady. Goodell should have done his level best to convince the NFL owners to accept it. Maybe he did but the NFL owners rejected it. The NFL owners were out to ‘get’ the Patriots and if that meant a NFL kangaroo court unfairly destroyed Brady’s reputation in the process then they were all in for that.

What did they get for their trouble? An extremely diminished amount of control over their own league. And huge legal fee bills from legal firms now and in the future because a lot more disciplinary suspensions will garner legal challenges after this decision.; 9/3/15, 5:57 PM
Beldar said...: Tom Brady and his lawyers embody everything that's wrong with pro football.; 9/3/15, 6:39 PM
RJ said...: Tom Brady and his lawyers embody everything that's wrong with pro football.

Asshole owner, asshole cheating coach, asshole qb (probable cheater).; 9/3/15, 7:29 PM
Joe Schmoe said...: HELLS YEAH!

The league abused their power, and it was painfully obvious as soon as the litigation brought the process outside of NFL HQ. Cockroaches don't deal well with sunlight.; 9/3/15, 7:48 PM
Joe Schmoe said...: Tom Brady and his lawyers embody everything that's wrong with pro football.

You'd be better off saying "I didn't really follow this case all that closely, and I'll refrain from commenting." Because your statement really shows your ignorance.; 9/3/15, 7:54 PM
khesanh0802 said...: @ Joe Shmoe You beat me to it. @ Beldar Your comments are usually reasonable and interesting. In this case you are way off base. Here is an article which pretty well summarizes the problems with the NFL's pursuit of Tom Brady. If you want to be as well informed as some of us who have been following this you could read the judge's opinion. Then as penance for besmirching Tom Brady you should read The Wells Report in Context to discover that there was no "crime" committed by anyone except the NFL.; 9/3/15, 8:29 PM
Big Mike said...: I still say that the refs should have checked all of the Patriots game balls, and when all were found to be lower than specs after previously being tested and found to be within specs, they should have declared the game a forfeit.

Of course the refs might not have gotten out of Foxborough alive, which was a consideration.

My point being that the penalty should be decided on the spot, not months afterward.; 9/3/15, 8:33 PM
The Godfather said...: One of the things I learned in law school, and then in almost half a century of law practice, is that procedure matters. If the suspect is convicted but the procedures weren't proper, then you can have no confidence that the suspect was really guilty. We are seeing this all over the country in "rape" cases against college students, a subject that is a lot more important than whether a particular football team wins a particular game.; 9/3/15, 9:07 PM
khesanh0802 said...: @ Big Mike The refs did check all the Pat's balls at half time and found them to be within the limits that one would expect ( as we now know) from the action of the Ideal Gas Law, i.e. being taken from a warm room to a colder field. The Pat's balls all measured softer than 12.5 lbs, but within the expectation of the application of the Ideal Gas Law. Only 4 0f 12 Colt's balls were tested and 3 of the 4 were found to be below 12.5 lbs , but within the limits of the Ideal Gas Law.

Prior to this incident no one knew or cared what happened to the balls that went from the ref's room to the field. The Ideal Gas Law was an unknown. I keep wondering what the ball pressure was in the Green Bay/Dallas Ice Bowl. It must have been in the low single digits.

The NFL has put in place new procedures which will allow for what you wish for but I suspect it will be a nightmare to enforce in the games that are played outside in December and January up north.; 9/3/15, 9:22 PM
averagejoe said...: LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT!!!!

Told you fools this is what would happen! No evidence, no deflation of footballs, no conspiracy to do anything, no destruction of "evidence". Nothing except the lies and maliciousness of the ex-Jet filled league office exposed for all the world to see, if you would only take off the blinders and read the reports, the transcripts and the facts.

Suck it chumps! New England is going to destroy your weak and wimpy teams this year and all you can do is cry!; 9/3/15, 9:40 PM
Joe said...: The players, including Brady, agreed, in exchange for more money, that the NFL commissioner would be a dictator. He was. No matter what reasoning the judge made, there was a contract.; 9/3/15, 11:20 PM
averagejoe said...: Joe said...
The players, including Brady, agreed, in exchange for more money, that the NFL commissioner would be a dictator. He was. No matter what reasoning the judge made, there was a contract.

9/3/15, 11:20 PM

I see. What part of the contract said that Goodell could do anything he pleases, anyway he pleases, forgo due process, misrepresent facts, lie about testimony given under oath, prevent disclosure of pertinent material, and withhold exculpatory documents?; 9/4/15, 1:14 AM
averagejoe said...: Beldar said...
Tom Brady and his lawyers embody everything that's wrong with pro football.

9/3/15, 6:39 PM

LOL! A retarded statement. Please extrapolate so I can eviscerate.; 9/4/15, 1:22 AM
Pat said...: Cheaters do prosper; 9/4/15, 11:41 AM
Joe said...: averagejoe; the NFL CBA gives Goodell absolute power in meting out punishment. Only drug punishments can be appealed UNDER THE CBA. There is no fairness clause. It's dumb as hell, but that's what the moron players signed. And did so in exchange for money. The sold their souls and now must reap the damnation.

(Due process has no bearing at all in this. Don't confuse restrictions on government with restrictions on private contracts.); 9/5/15, 2:09 AM