remember that time Jonathan vilma was suspended a whole year?

Then sued the NFL and won? Just read it in his wiki for a refreshment.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Vilma

Goodell is done.

That's the only precedent that matters.

And they had to go wake a sleeping giant in brady.

This is basically what I feel like Kraft is doing behind the scenes right now.

I would love for the team to sign Vilma just to make a statement.

Actually, the lawsuit was thrown out of court, but his suspension was completely overturned.

I'd like to see someone interview Vilma and hear what he had to say about Herr Goodell and the current suspension levied against Brady. I bet he wouldn't be a big backer of Goodell!!

Well that's what I meant, my bad.

Rob0729 said:

Actually, the lawsuit was thrown out of court, but his suspension was completely overturned.

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Do you know why it was overturned??? I know that the former commission overturned the suspension, but was there any reasoning for the overturn?

Jonathan Vilma posted this to his Twitter feed 3 days ago

https://twitter.com/JonVilma51/status/596851725211869184

Jonathan VilmaVerified account‏@JonVilma51
Jonathan Vilma retweeted Bull Torch

Yeah, Lawyer up because the nflpa won't help you.

Jonathan Vilma added,

Bull Torch @bulltorch
@JonVilma51 @DavidElJefe28 any advice for brady on fighting roger over allegations he believes are false?

From the Wikipedia article:

Opinions about the suspensions were divided, as alleged targets like Favre and Kurt Warner claimed that incentive programs were part of the game, which was corroborated by [11] former players interviewed by Sports Illustrated. On July 26, Vilma and seven witnesses from the Saints (along with a sword affidavit from Drew Brees) testified to a federal judge in New Orleans that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell misrepresented the facts in the league's investigation. Vilma's suspension was overturned on September 7, and he was reinstated for the 2012 season.[12] The Associated Press reported Roger Goodell's disappointment in the determination of the arbitration board's ruling.

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RxJock1120 said:

Do you know why it was overturned??? I know that the former commission overturned the suspension, but was there any reasoning for the overturn?

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Because defamation suits of famous people almost never make it to trial. If you are a public person, it is very hard to defame you. You basically have to show strong evidence of malicious intent.

I think Brady, through Yee is laying the groundwork for it, by claiming that Wells went into the investigation believing Brady was guilty and basically skewed the evidence to prove that. If Brady can show that Wells created a story to make him look guilty by manipulating the evidence when the evidence shows otherwise, then Brady has a case.

Not sure where to put this so here it is :

Christopher Price retweeted
Mike Sando, ESPN.com ‏@SandoESPN 12m12 minutes ago
Would love to know whether an independent arbitrator thinks #NFL commissioner can force players to turn over cell phones, or else.

Rob0729 said:

Because defamation suits of famous people almost never make it to trial. If you are a public person, it is very hard to defame you. You basically have to show strong evidence of malicious intent.

I think Brady, through Yee is laying the groundwork for it, by claiming that Wells went into the investigation believing Brady was guilty and basically skewed the evidence to prove that. If Brady can show that Wells created a story to make him look guilty by manipulating the evidence when the evidence shows otherwise, then Brady has a case.

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BelichickFan said:

Not sure where to put this so here it is :

Christopher Price retweeted
Mike Sando, ESPN.com ‏@SandoESPN 12m12 minutes ago
Would love to know whether an independent arbitrator thinks #NFL commissioner can force players to turn over cell phones, or else.

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You guys are essentially making the case that Brady has a much better chance of winning a suit for unfair labor practices than for defamation. Unfortunately, I think that gives him less upside in terms of damages, and probably also less of a win in the court of public opinion.

Fencer said:

You guys are essentially making the case that Brady has a much better chance of winning a suit for unfair labor practices than for defamation. Unfortunately, I think that gives him less upside in terms of damages, and probably also less of a win in the court of public opinion.

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He doesn't need damages, all he needs to do is find a chink in goodells armor, and the owners will have to dump him like a bad day.

Brady making Roger lose out on a 40 million dollar a year cushy job of nfl commishioner? SWeet SWEET ice cold vengence.

Fencer said:

You guys are essentially making the case that Brady has a much better chance of winning a suit for unfair labor practices than for defamation. Unfortunately, I think that gives him less upside in terms of damages, and probably also less of a win in the court of public opinion.

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I don't see how Tom Brady would possibly win a defamation case. As Rob has pointed out, they are extremely difficult to win and are often thrown out within the first 6 months. In the case of Vilma, his case was dismissed at the 8 month mark.

Going after the failure to have a third party arbitrator, however, has to increase his chances dramatically--along with the obvious fact that there just doesn't seem to be anything incriminating enough to suspend him. Of course, that in and of itself will be a long, tough road.

Rob0729 said:

Actually, the lawsuit was thrown out of court, but his suspension was completely overturned.

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His suspension was overturned in September, because the federal level agreed that there should be a third party arbitrator. In October, Goodell ignored that and upheld his original suspension--or in essence, practically suspended him for the second time.

In December, the case went in front of a neutral arbitrator, only because Goodell finally agreed to hand it off to Tagliabue, which he refused to do the first time around. At that time, Tagliabue agreed with Vilma. In January, as you noted, the defamation lawsuit was thrown out, which was originally filed back in May.

Going after the failure to have a third party arbitrator, however, has to increase his chances dramatically--along with the obvious fact that there just doesn't seem to be anything incriminating enough to suspend him. Of course, that in and of itself will be a long, tough road.

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Hopefully Mr. Yee is working hard and fast....

Fencer said:

You guys are essentially making the case that Brady has a much better chance of winning a suit for unfair labor practices than for defamation. Unfortunately, I think that gives him less upside in terms of damages, and probably also less of a win in the court of public opinion.

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He lost the court of public opinion a long time ago. He's been one of the more polarizing figures in the game for awhile now largely because this team is polarizing. its rare that I find myself in agreement with Donald Trump but he was spot on when he said people hate Brady because he's succuessful. So with that in mind whatever he wants to do...

If I was Brady I would go after NFLUK in the UK we have a huge amount of liable tourism and a company is treated as a person.

Brady would have a pretty strong case for loss and damage to character.

It'll be a while but I am pretty confident Brady will win his appeal unless the League has the contractual power to punish those who do not turn over their personal communications upon request. And, if so, will an arbitrator agree that 4 games is fair for not doing so?
Again, IMHO, Brady will win. But the picks are, sadly, going to be a major hill to climb to get back. I expect those are gone.

I just want as much damage done to the NFL as possible. There is no salvaging Brady's reputation and the team won't be thought of as "clean" until Brady and Belichick retire + 15 years. But vengeance can be had so that's good enough at this point.