Brady appeal transcript is now public

[Koma]

"COMMISSIONER GOODELL: Mr. Kessler, who did this come from?
MR. KESSLER: The petition?
COMMISSIONER GOODELL: Yes.
MR. KESSLER: The quarterbacks and the League all signed it.
COMMISSIONER GOODELL: I know. I signed it. But who did it come from?
THE WITNESS: Peyton.
COMMISSIONER GOODELL: Peyton?
THE WITNESS: Manning."

"Peyton?"

And this turkey runs the whole league.

 

[SVN]

Christopher Price ‏@cpriceNFL 4m4 minutes ago
It's all relative, but it's tough to find someone who comes out of today looking worse than Troy Vincent.

 

[smurfalarm]

Only part way through it....but 2 things Kessler says they weren't allowed to ask Vincent about delegation of punishment. ...why not? And also they objected several times to Kessler questions to wells saying it's privileged information. ......how can it be privileged if he's suppose to be neutral?

In the NFLPA's petition to Berman and in Goodell's appeal decision, it is referenced that Goodell made several decisions in a "pre-hearing" about topics like the scope of what was allowed for review during arbitration, who would be allowed as witnesses, etc. One of the decisions Goodell made in pre-hearing was that he had not delegated authority to Vincent to punish Brady and it was therefore entirely outside the scope of the arbitration hearing to even consider the issue, therefore the matter was settled and any questions wrt that topic would have been outside the scope of the hearing. Similarly, the NFL asserted attorney-client privilege when lines of questioning would have could have resulted in Wells providing information that would give Kessler cause to question Goodell's decision not to allow Pash as a witness. Goodell, Wells, and the NFL made a pretty obvious effort to ensure that Goodell and Pash could not be compelled to testify as witnesses, presumably either because their testimony would have been damaging to the NFL's case or because it would have jeopardized Goodell's ability to present himself as an impartial arbitrator in federal court later due to his and Pash's direct involvement in the details of the case.

 

[SVN]

If we got all these goodies (from the NFL LEague offices) from the appeal transcript, imagine what nuggets could be unearthed from their emails and texts. Seriously, these guys think on such a different level that their either delusional or feel they are completely untouchable.

Yeah , all the notes wells left out about his investigation with brady , entire brady testimony should be out there. Yee shouldve released it when he had a chance.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

John Harbaugh at the Combine: "We were never involved with it to begin with." pic.twitter.com/OjLT0RTb1Q



.... Yet there's proof in the transcript that the Ravens tipped off the Colts.

"We were never involved with it to begin with" ends up actually being "We caused the entire thing."

Sounds an awful lot like collusion to me. Are they allowed to collude to set up another team off the field?

 

[Big-T]

Christopher Price ‏@cpriceNFL 4m4 minutes ago
It's all relative, but it's tough to find someone who comes out of today looking worse than Troy Vincent.

Ted Wells looks like someone with the intelligence of a gnat and he's supposed to be a big shot lawyer? Embarrassing.

 

[JoeSixPat]

I think there are AMPLE ways to point out what a travesty of justice this has been - though I don't think all will interepret the transcripts the way we will

I really don't think you can argue with the fact that by choosing NOT to ask McNally and Jastremski ANYTHING under OATH shows that Roger Goodell is simply not interested in the truth

I have to think he did not want them stating, under oath, that they did NOTHING to the footballs in that game

Florio is running with that theory - let's hope it or something else has legs... but I think this is truly the straw that breaks Goodell's back and shows him for what he is

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/08/04/why-didnt-goodell-call-jastremski-and-mcnally/

The funny thing was, that wouldn't have even occurred to me if I hadn't seen a Hater Troll on PFT saying - "gee I'd love to see McNally and Jastremski testify under oath" - and I said "Yeah - me too... wait a second WHY THE HELL DIDN'T GOODELL WANT TO HEAR FROM THESE GUYS???

I mean Ted Wells even wanted to question them a 5th time and the Pats finally said "enough" when it was clear he was fishing out of desparation

So he passed on that chance - WHY? There's only one answer.

We have our proof - and so does everyone else... courtesy of Roger Goodell and a Hater troll!

 

[PatsFanSince74]

I pray everyday that someone releases proof that Goodell had the elevator video .... still praying and hopeful.

IMO, it's why he'll never turn on Kensil or Vincent. They know the truth and if he turns on them, they'll turn on him.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

It's over 400 pages (457), and WEEI is actually printing it out as I post. I'll edit this post to add a link when one becomes available.

Edit: Link below

https://nbcprofootballtalk.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/ex-204-appeal-hearing-transcript-t-brady.pdf

I've only read about half the thread. Any views on what drove the timing of the release? I'm wondering if it coincides with a meeting tomorrow with the Magistrate.?.

 

[smurfalarm]

I've only read about half the thread. Any views on what drove the timing of the release? I'm wondering if it coincides with a meeting tomorrow with the Magistrate.?.

It's not really a "release" in the sense of the NFLPA or the NFL deliberately releasing the information to the media. The NFLPA had to submit the transcript and a bunch of other relevant documents as evidence to make their case in court, and the judge refused to seal any evidence from the public record, so reporters retrieved that information as is their legal right to do. I doubt anyone specifically planned it out that way, except maybe the judge.

 

[juny]

PFT has picked up on this inconsistency. #FreeBrady

 

[SVN]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...stimony-about-communications-with-jastremski/

To summarize, the ruling concluded that Brady testified that he didn’t speak to Jastresmki about the tampering allegations, which caused Goodell to disregard Brady’s denial of “awareness and consent” to the deflation scheme: “[T]he unusual pattern of communication between Mr. Brady and Mr. Jastremski in the days following the AFC Championship Game cannot readily be explained as unrelated to conversations about the alleged tampering of the game balls,” Goodell wrote at page 8 of the ruling.

But Brady testified — on multiple occasions — that he and Jastremski talked about the situation. And why wouldn’t they have talked? At that time, the NFL had told the Patriots that one of their footballs was measured at 10.1 PSI, ESPN had reported that 11 of 12 footballs were two pounds under the 12.5 PSI minimum, and the NFL had informed the Patriots that none of the Colts footballs measured below the 12.5 PSI minimum. Apart from the fact that each of these three contentions weren’t factual, they gave Brady plenty of reason to be talking to Jastremski, not to line up a lie but to try to figure out how someone could have taken so much air out of the footballs.

We now know that no one took that much air out of the footballs. For now, the new wrinkle is that the NFL forgot, conveniently or otherwise, that Brady had admitted talking to Jastremski about the tampering allegation when concluding that Brady had failed to admit to such communications, and in turn concluding that his denial wasn’t believable.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

"the Law of Gravity is a theoretical concept that predicts that any two bodies in the universe attract each other with a force that is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. And it's a mathematical formula that you need whole lot of things to be satisfied and in place for it to work. So that, the Law of Gravity was out there. Now allow me to demonstrate the unpredictability and unreliablility of the theory by stepping off of this cliff right in front of me. Will I fall? Will I float? *shrugs* Who knows?" *Wells steps off ledge*

See how it sounds, a little irrational?

"The bodies don't even attract each other, they both warp the spacetime between them. Now... will I fall? Will I float? Son of a biiiiiiiiiiiiiii...."

 

[ausbacker]

This may come across as petty, but reading the appeal document and the overt smugness of the people attached to the NFL's Patriots smear campaign, it's rather infuriating that Kraft waited as long as he did to fire up the nuclear reactor.

8 ****ing months we've had to sit back and listen to the media and assorted assholes character assassinate the greatest of all time for nothing.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

It's not really a "release" in the sense of the NFLPA or the NFL deliberately releasing the information to the media. The NFLPA had to submit the transcript and a bunch of other relevant documents as evidence to make their case in court, and the judge refused to seal any evidence from the public record, so reporters retrieved that information as is their legal right to do. I doubt anyone specifically planned it out that way, except maybe the judge.

Thanks!

 

[wahwho]

Heh. Kinda have to love that the guy Kessler brought in as an expert introduces himself partially as an expert in criminal antitrust enforcement. Obviously Dean of the Yale School of Management is a big prestige stick, but Kessler could have gotten lots of people with a strong statistical resume - even better, people with more specific applications to physics. Instead he gets the guy who used to work at the DoJ on antitrust issues. No gamesmanship there, certainly.

"That's a nice antitrust exemption ya got there. Be a real shame if something happened to it."

 

[rochrist]

Felger leads tonights show with ...'if he's innocent, why has Brady been such a lying dishonest weasel?'

 

[obgod3]

The fact (and it is indeed a fact) that Goodell lied about Brady's explanation for his phone calls to Jastremski should definitely factor into the case. Goodell used that in his decision to uphold the appeal, but it was a lie. That is an unfair/incorrect use of his power.

Not sure this applies to the case, this is about process and if they violated the rules of the CBA, the CBA doesn't address lying but it could damage Goodells credibility if the judge even considers this.

Another big factor is that Wells testified as saying he did not want Brady's phone and that whether or not Brady handed over his phone/documents would not factor into his decision. That further suggests punishment was handed down unfairly.

I tend to agree here but, Wells is not an NFL employee so I'm not sure what authority he has to say anything here and if I was Brady I would have asked if he has the authority to speak for the NFLon this matter

Finally, the fact that Reisner was doing the questioning at the appeal hearing yet was also part of the investigation undermines the independence of the investigation altogether.

I want to agree with, it could lend to the credibility of being an impartial arbitrator, but Are we stretching it. I'm not convince this is even an argument because the CBA complaint is about the arbitration being fair isn't it?

There's a lot that reveals this whole thing to be a complete sham, but I think those three points should be factors in the actual case. (I'm not a lawyer, but I have a good feeling about this Judge Berman).

But this has nothing to do with the complaint as a legal matter, I'm open to be proven wrong here because I would love for it to be relevant to the case.

Alternatively, the NFL will realize that they now look like complete bumbling fools, and will "do the right thing", own up to it, and exonerate Brady/reduce the suspension. But let's not kid ourselves.

I'm not sure legally speaking this matters at all. I also think the NFL is in way to deep to change anything at this point.

Hey thanks for responding it is appreciated.

 

[FCB02062]

Felger still saying Brady did "it"...f%ck him

 

[Jim Colclough fan]

Read the transcript (excluding some of the science testimony). Find nothing that warrants the punishment issued by Goodell.

Wells reads as the least credible, although Troy Vincent is a close 2nd. The NFL conducted a very flawed investigation and hired a dubious independent investigator to cover their tracks.

This release makes the NFL front office look inept!