Brady Assembling Legal Team, Hires High Profile Lawyer Kessler
 Tom Brady has hired anti-trust attorney Jeffrey Kessler to handle his appeal. Kessler is a well-known nemesis to the NFL. (USA TODAY Images) |
In the aftermath of the draconian punishment levied at Tom Brady and the New England Patriots for the Deflate-gate scandal, Brady is preparing for his appeal and has hired the prominent anti-trust lawyer Jeffrey Kessler.
Kessler is well-known in NFL circles as a talented nemesis as the man who defended Ray Rice, Greg Hardy and perhaps his best known case, defending the Saints Jonathan Vilma. Vilma was supposed to have been suspended for the entire 2012 season in wake of the New Orleans “Bounty-gate” scandal. But Kessler got his and other Saints players’ sentences vacated.
Kessler was instrumental in helping bring free-agency to the NFL in the early 1990’s, the 2011 CBA and most recently argued in US Federal Court to have Adrian Peterson’s indefinite suspension lifted.
In the Vilma case, which could be a factor if the Brady case goes to court, the players and Kessler argued that the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell’s punishment was arbitrary, that he pre-judged the outcome of the case and he was biased. The argument - that Goodell overstepped his bounds .All of the same factors could be brought into play in Brady’s case.
Kessler will handle Brady’s appeal which will likely be heard by Goodell, Troy Vincent and Jeff Pash. Brady team will consist of Kessler, his agent Don Yee and counsel provided by the NFLPA.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter had some interesting thoughts on Sports Center speaking about Brady’s defense team. Schefter said that he got a text from a source stating, “Brady’s (legal) team is unreal, My prediction…he won’t miss a game.”
Ben Volin of the Boston Globe wrote what many have been whispering, in that the thought is the NFL handed down a four-game suspension, unusually harsh for a first time offender in the thought it would be reduced at the appeal on the condition that Brady not sue in the US courts.
If Goodell hearing the appeal sounds slightly ludicrous to some Patriots fans, it should be noted that the 2011 CBA essentially gave the Commissioner to be the authority in these matters.
Donald Trump, who has been an outspoken critic of the NFL in this case as well as a big Brady supporter, calls for the Patriots QB to “Sue the Hell” out of the NFL.
“If I were Tom Brady, I’d sue the hell out of the NFL, for defamation. $250 million dollars.
“Sue ‘em, Tom — they’ll settle so fast, your head will spin.”
So Kessler will face an uphill battle arguing that the punishment meted out was over-the-top considering the men that issued it will be the ones hearing his arguments. But if there is a man to take on the Commissioner and the NFL, Brady picked the right guy.
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