League Doesn’t Respond to NFLPA Olive Branch Offer In Brady Appeal
In a not-so-surprising move the NFL has responded in silence at the NFLPA’s offer of a settlement in the Tom Brady appeal.
ESPN’s Dan Graziano reported from a source that the Players Association last week made an offer to the NFL regarding Tom Brady’s suspension in the Deflate-gate fiasco. The offer was an attempt to exonerate Brady from any wrongdoing in the supposed deflation of the Patriots footballs during the AFC Championship Game in January.
Brady would admit to no wrongdoing but would accept a fine for non-compliance, for not turning over his phone to Ted Wells during the league’s investigation. According to the Graziano’s sources, any settlement offer by Brady to them is an admission of guilt.
Not so, this latest turn in the events of the Deflate-gate/Delay-gate league generated mess was a last ditch by the NFLPA is an attempt to keep this entire case out of the federal courts. And it is a case that won’t look good for the the league.
Instead, the league leaked out sources of its own to Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio that a “loud but vocal minority” of team owners asked Commissioner Roger Goodell to uphold the original four-game suspension. Florio stated that NFL attorney Greg Levy has advised Goodell that any suspension will be difficult to stand up in court.
Brady’s appeal which was heard in the Park Avenue NFL offices over a month ago by Goodell but no decision has been announced. Goodell told the media a few weeks ago that a decision was coming soon but then flip-flopped this week stating that no time-table was set.
"There is no timeline. We want to make sure we have a fair and open process," Goodell said.
The NFL knows that any suspension of Brady will ultimately result in a court case and is poring over the testimony of the appeal in an attempt to not come to a decision but to stand up in court.
Some possible arguments in the court case that Brady’s team could argue are that the entire case was preventable and was arbitrary. Given the NFL’s email trail prior to the AFCCG and then their comments immediately after lend credence to that.
The entire football deflation issue was never proved by the Wells Report and in later reports was debunked by other more reputable scientific labs than the Exponent hired guns hired by Wells and the league.
And did the league follow its own protocols in the handing down of punishment? In the NFL’s rule book it is treated as an equipment violation, punished by a fine of $25,000. The NFL fined San Diego for a similar infraction but only issued a warning to the Vikings and Panthers during a warming towel incident this season.
So both sides are preparing for a court case; with no settlement looming and the NFL seemingly very likely to uphold a suspension, the delay of a decision will not stop where this one is heading…to federal court.
Brady faces the scenarios of winning his case and being exonerated from any nefarious wrong-doing in this or losing in court and possibly having to face his suspension nearer the end of the season when the Patriots have traditionally been vying for playoff top seeding.
In another weird twist of the entire story, the NFLPA announced that Brady was the leader of all NFL players in jersey sales during the first fiscal quarter of 2015. Is that just regularly disclosed news or an attempt to show the league that support for their suspension isn’t very high? Either way, the league won’t be influenced by that.
The Patriots begin training camp on July 30 with their first practice scheduled for 9:15 a.m. Brady will be there on the field and it remains to be seen if he’ll know Goodell’s decision by then…
Don’t be shocked if the NFL releases its decision on a Friday afternoon (this week?), at 4:59 p.m. just prior to the weekend. Tick tock…
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