Tom Brady’s Appeal Ends After Nearly 11 Hours, Now the Waiting Game Begins
 Tom Brady seen entering the NFL HQs on Tuesday, had his appeal heard in an attempt to lessen or overturn his 4-game suspension. (USA TODAY Images) |
The appeal process with the league over, Tom Brady will now have to wait for Commissioner Roger Goodell’s decision on his suspension to see if he takes it to the courts.
After more than ten hours of testimony the two sides worked through the entire process and now Brady’s appeal is concluded. No further meetings are scheduled nor expected with the league.
Initially there was a bit of controversy over how long Brady’s defense team would be allowed to present their case. Adam Schefter of ESPN reported and had the emails to backup his claim that the league was going to limit Brady and his lawyers only four hours to present their defense. But the two sides worked thru the dinner hours until it was wrapped up around 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday night.
Brady was initially suspended on May 11 for four games and fined a total of $1.88 million dollars for being “generally aware” of a violation of the integrity of the game. The AFC Championship Game was the backdrop for Deflate-gate where after a 103 day investigation by Ted Wells, to the tune of $5 million dollars, Wells deemed that the Patriots were “more probable than not” guilty of deflating the footballs used in the first half of the game.
Brady testified under oath, which is only a factor if the case reaches federal court. If a federal court deems Brady lied under oath, he could face additional charges. The plan for the defense team was to be as open and forthright as possible but it is not known if Brady agreed to hand over his phone records and emails asked for during the Wells investigation. Patriots owner Robert Kraft was traveling back from Israel on Tuesday and was unable to attend the hearings but did give a written statement in support of Brady.
Brady’s lawyer Jeffery Kessler was seen by reporters leaving the NFL Headquarters and only stated that, “we presented a very compelling case, that’s all I’ll say”.
USA Today’s Lorenzo Reyes wrote that according to a source, “A person with knowledge of Brady's testimony said he stuck with the story he has told since the investigation began: that if there were any scheme to deflate footballs below permissible levels for January's AFC title rout of the Indianapolis Colts, he didn't know about it or order it.”
Schefter reporting from ESPN, wrote on Twitter that Brady fared well in his testimony and tweeted this Tuesday night.
Ted Wells was also on hand on Tuesday and told reporters outside of 345 Park Avenue that he did testify but offered no other comments.
Commissioner Goodell arrived and left via the parking garage and wasn’t available for any quotes. Goodell left at approximately 8:49 p.m.
The sidewalk outside of the NFL headquarters was packed with dozens of media members and hundreds of fans, some of whom held up signs to “Free Brady”. When the Patriots QB entered the building thru a side door around 9 a.m. he was surrounded by fans asking for autographs but didn’t stop to speak.
Now the ball is in the Commissioner’s court. It would be a surprise if he rules on this fiasco anytime soon. The Greg Hardy suspension case was heard more than six weeks ago and still nothing has been announced yet. Brady and the Patriots could very well be into training camp before knowing what Goodell’s ruling will be.
Hurry up and wait….
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