NFLPA files motion to vacate

[SVN]

Daniel Wallach ‏@WALLACHLEGAL 2h2 hours ago
My own personal critique of NFL's brief (stylistically): a dry read compared to the electrifying brief of Jeffrey Kessler (who reps Brady)

 

[Ross12]

U responded to my post! I deserve an assist on the stat sheet

Lol yes... Unfortunately PatsFans has no "assist button" so I'll give you a "Like" instead

 

[wahwho]

Question for those who know such things: if the NFL has now switched from 'generally aware' to 'scheming' - something that is never established in the Wells Report - does that mean there's now an opportunity to actually argue the merits of what really happened in federal court?

If the violation and rule Brady is being punished under isn't the same as it was in Vincent's letter (which I don't think follows the appeal rules anyway) and is not stated in the Wells report, that means that Goodell found the 'new information' he was asking for in the appeal and decided to enforce punishment based on that. If the basis for punishment is now coming from Goodell's appeal hearing rather than the appeal just confirming Vincent's previous punishment, does that mean the NFLPA can now argue the facts Goodell used in creating that new punishment as part of their fairness argument?

I'm pretty sure they would just short circuit this and point out that the discrepancy between Vincent's letter and what the NFL is saying is the basis of punishment now supports the idea that the process is fundamentally unfair, but I'm just wondering if the NFL opened itself up to a situation where a federal court could say Brady didn't do anything wrong rather than just that the process used to punish him wasn't legal.

 

[JoeSixPat]

Unfortunately Goodell has a strong argument NOT to vacate and it's tough to argue with

The bottom line here is that Brady isn't being suspended for deflating footballs

He's being suspended for not cooperating and assisting Roger Goodell in framing him

The CBA makes clear that Roger Goodell has the authority to frame players - and then when they resist, he can suspend them for 1/4th the season and dock a team a #1 draft pick

The CBA specifically says all this - the NFLPA should have known better than to sign that!

So this is really THEIR fault when you think about it. And if they'd just let Goodell frame players and get it over quickly we'd all be better off. Brady should just accept the 4 game penalty like a man.

 

[Oswlek]

They claim that Brady could be suspended for his actions due to the fact they were detrimental to the integrity of the game and thus goodell has the authority under the cba to issue the suspension.

At its barest essence, I read this argument as:



In all seriousness, he is essentially saying that his power is both unlimited and unquestionable. That no matter how deceptive his tactics or how flimsy his proof, fiat decisions are final purely because he said so.

This seems like a terrible argument, particularly when the dictator was caught in a nasty lie just this past week, but what do I know?

 

[ctpatsfan77]

And the bigger context is that the NFLPA gave this away in the last negotiations, and is now desperately trying to chip away at it, because they were blinded by their greed and didn't see this abuse of power coming.

According to Kessler, with the possible exception of financial issues, letting Goodell maintain that power was the NFL's #1 goal in the negotiations.

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

Is there any NFLPA complaint about Goodell blatantly mischaracterizing (lying about) Brady's testimony regarding the phone calls with JJ? The fuhrer RG made a big deal about it in the appeal verdict, and it was an obvious lie

 

[ctpatsfan77]

You have that slightly, but significantly, wrong. Brady was not told that he would be subject to discipline. So the inference was that he would not be subject to discipline, but it was not explicitly stated.

OTOH, the letter that players receive regarding investigations specifically states that they can be fined for not cooperating. It does not say they are subject to suspension.

 

[wahwho]

Also related to the NFL changing their story: if Wells wasn't independent, then doesn't his obligation to tell Brady that there would be consequences for not turning over his phone get stronger? It was never clear to me why exactly Wells would have had to tell Brady he would be punished for not cooperating if it was an independent investigation. In that case Wells is (theoretically) just finding out what happened and any punishment would come from the NFL. The NFL should have notified Brady in that case, but I could see the league arguing that it couldn't notify Brady until it got the report from Wells describing the lack of cooperation. If Wells was representing the NFL then he definitely should have had to say something at the time of the refusal though.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

And, McCann points out that, effectively, Berman can invoke promissory estoppel, albeit on the issue of independence:

Now, however, the NFL maintains that even if Wells was not independent, it shouldn’t make a difference. Not only does this reasoning pose an obvious public relations challenge for the league, but Judge Berman may find it untenable under the law. Judge Berman could deduce that the NFL should be stopped from reneging on procedural guarantees. In other words, even if Article 46 lacks language requiring that Wells have been independent, the league arguably should have been expected to fulfill additional assurances made by the commissioner himself.

 

[Deflatemyballs]

No .They just remind me frequently that their depth of cheapness and lies are bottomless everytime they say something.

People this arrogant find no shame on doubling down on stupidity. It's unbelievable but these aren't normal people with normal perspectives on the world

 

[Tony2046]

Maybe the obstruction was Brady refusing to admit his guilt.

That is what is at the heart of this whole thing. Brady did not fold. So impressive.

I am sure Roger and his buddies thought Brady would have settled or folded by now. Now they are fighting for their jobs.

F***K YOU Roger.

 

[Wax Frog]

 

[wahwho]

One more thing that it seems like the NFL opened themselves to with this filing: in making stronger claims about Brady that have no supporting evidence, even in their own report, does this now mean Brady's potential defamation case gets stronger?

 

[QuantumMechanic]

More from McCann:

If Goodell’s accusation against Brady about an apparent bribe is untrue, it would be well within Brady’s rights to file a defamation lawsuit against the NFL. Even though Brady, as a public figure, would need to prove “actual malice” (this means proof the NFL intentionally or knowingly lied), Brady could cite as possible evidence Goodell seemingly misconstruing Brady’s description of conversations with Jastresmki. Brady’s testimony indicated that he had a wide-ranging conversation with Jastremski, rather than, as Goodell portrayed in his order upholding Brady’s suspension, a far more limited (and suspicious) conversation about game ball predation.

 

[Tunescribe]

Good photoshop project for Goodell's face on the disembodied head:

 

[PATS16N0]

brady must win..the country already thinks brady's a cheat.
the new thing will be " oh, now even a federal judge thinks brady's guilty " even though this is simply about the process/cba. i'll just avoid the media all together if tom fails.

better luck in the circuit courts legal experts???

Please STFU already about the rest of the country. So sick of hearing it, A. because it's ********, and B. because the people you base that off are sub 100 IQ talking bobble heads with opinions too moronic to worry about

 

[SVN]

Its amazing how everyone was calling brady out because "coverup is worse than the crime" but all the NFL is doing is covering up.If not for judge berman's decision to make all docs public they would be still doing false leaks

 

[juny]

Couple lawyers with their best guess at the odds. Good to see things tilting in Brady's favor but still too close to say a particular outcome will happen with confidence.

Daniel Wallach ‏@WALLACHLEGAL 3h3 hours ago Miami Beach, FL

Only reason I give NFL a 40% chance is because of deferential standard of review for arbitration decisions. Otherwise, easy win for T. Brady

Dan Werly ‏@WerlySportsLaw 2h2 hours ago

Dan Werly retweeted Daniel Wallach

I agree but am thinking more of a 75-25 edge in Brady's favor. #HappyBirthday

Dan Werly added,

Daniel Wallach @WALLACHLEGAL
Overall impression: Brady/NFLPA legal arguments are more persuasive (at least to me) than NFL's legal arguments. I give Brady the 60-40 edge

 

[Tony2046]

Its amazing how everyone was calling brady out because "coverup is worse than the crime" but the NFL is doing is covering up.If not for judge berman's decision to make all docs public they would be still doing false leaks

\\

Don't you love it though?

Berman says "release the files" and all hell breaks lose.

Best thing that's happened in 6 months other than the Super Bowl.