Matt Chatham ANNHILATES Article 46

Crystal Clear: Those who believe that Article 46 is some kind of Trump Card are Stone Cold Dead Wrong.

That flushing sound you hear? Roger Goodell's Case...and his Reputation.

This is the meat and potatoes of Chatham's Article:

"And that's the gist of the Brady case. Simple and lethal.

They take four recent major court losses for the NFL where the league tried to hide behind Article 46 to no avail (Bountygate, Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson, and the Missouri Supreme Court ruling from the spring). They then connect them to this case on issues that are undisputed facts.

Judge Berman will have the opportunity to ask Roger Goodell to flip to the page in the CBA outlining the duty to hand over a phone. Or the page describing four-game suspensions for being generally aware of something that simple science says didn't happen. He doesn't have to invent a ruling. He just has to pick one.

You don't have to be an attorney to draw straight lines. You'll continue to hear the clueless chest-beating about Article 46 right up until Wednesday's court proceeding - an argument that only makes sense if you're unaware (or ignore) the swath of recent precedent the bumbling NFL refused to learn from."

Good morning Grid!

betterthanthealternative said:

Good morning Grid!

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Why Good Morning, Sir!!

Article 46 sounds like some law from Russia..

Thanks, great piece!

Is article 46 the directive from the Emperor to the clones to kill all the Jedi ?

farn said:

Is article 46 the directive from the Emperor to the clones to kill all the Jedi ?

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Actually, yes!!

For those who're wondering: It's the bit ostensibly granting the Commissioner Carte Blanche to levy any Punishment he deems fit to any Player ~ pretty much by Dictatorial Decree.

Supreme Executive Power, if you will.

i hope chatham's correct.
ill feel like an idiot if the suspension stands. ive read so many different opinions about this ridiculous case.

Ha! We've already had two threads on this, but welcome to the pile, Ray Lewis.

I agree. Matt Chatham is awesome. If I ever get an NFL franchise, he's the guy I ring up and ask to be GM.

But he's not a lawyer and, though the points he makes are very good ones, I think that there are things that could go in the other direction. In the past cases, the Evil Emperor took what were pretty clearly cases that were covered elsewhere and tried to make them Article 46 cases. That, of course, is what Kessler has tried to argue is being done here (just another equipment violation). But I'm not so confident.

Still, even if it's accepted by the judge as an Article 46 case there's the question of how much liberty the Omissioner has under Article 46. As far as I can see, that's wholly undefined, but this judge looks as though he's not going to say that, so long as Baddell isn't getting paid by the Jets to find Brady guilty, he can do whatever he likes.

And that's what really matters. If a (truly) neutral party says in open court what we all know -- that Brady has faced a travesty of a disciplinary process -- even if he then says "but, sorry, there's nothing under the law that I can do", Brady will be vindicated and we'll be another step closer to kicking this sorry apology for a human being down the stairs and out of the door.

Mike the Brit said:

Ha! We've already had two threads on this, but welcome to the pile, Ray Lewis.

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Unless there's a Thread about this article that inexplicably doesn't mention Chatham in the title, you're wrong.

Berman said he settles with a cleaver, no? Will be very surprised if he flat out overturns it.

Awesome article.

Goodell has killed the younglings

Off The Grid said:

Unless there's a Thread about this article that inexplicably doesn't mention Chatham in the title, you're wrong.

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It's possible that there was only one thread (or that the mods merged another one into it) but it is here:

http://www.patsfans.com/new-england...a-is-no-magic-wand-for-roger-goodell.1122194/

(Compare post 4 of that one with post 5 of this one. )

Mike the Brit said:

Ha! We've already had two threads on this, but welcome to the pile, Ray Lewis.

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Off The Grid said:

Unless there's a Thread about this article that inexplicably doesn't mention Chatham in the title, you're wrong.

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Mike the Brit said:

It's possible that there was only one thread (or that the mods merged another one into it) but it is here:

http://www.patsfans.com/new-england...a-is-no-magic-wand-for-roger-goodell.1122194/

(Compare post 4 of that one with post 5 of this one. )

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OK, but like I said: Chatham's name ~ inexplicably ~ wasn't in the Title.

I always do my Due Diligence, and I trolled back a few pages to make sure my OP wasn't a Duplicate.

The failing was the other OP's, not mine. So there.

neuronet said:

Berman said he settles with a cleaver, no? Will be very surprised if he flat out overturns it.

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My understanding is that if the two sides don't settle, Judge Berman has no choice but either to Uphold or Vacate.

If he Vacates, the content and tone of his ruling will dictate what the NFL might do next.

If he Upholds, Brady is left with limited options; he can Appeal, but it is unlikely that an Appellate Court would overturn a Federal Judge who has Upheld an Arbiter's ruling in an arbitration case. In that case, Brady would probably file for an emergency injunction to allow him to play while the decision is being appealed. As Judge Berman pointed out this week, that could drag on for a long time.

When that road is exhausted, Brady would be left with the option of filing a Defamation suit in Massachusetts and I admit that I'm just not smart enough to have a view on his likelihood of success in such a case. Also, if the ruling is vacated, Brady could also file a Defamation suit.

But, I'll bow to a litigator who knows more about all of this than do I!

Off The Grid said:

OK, but like I said: Chatham's name ~ inexplicably ~ wasn't in the Title.

I always do my Due Diligence, and I trolled back a few pages to make sure my OP wasn't a Duplicate.

The failing was the other OP's, not mine. So there.

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Fair enough ... only kidding.

And, anyway, I made a substantive comment on your post. To repeat, Chatham puts the nitwits who dominate the sports pages to shame -- and he has three damn Super Bowl rings!

Gronkowski123 said:

i hope chatham's correct.
ill feel like an idiot if the suspension stands. ive read so many different opinions about this ridiculous case.

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Here's another. I'm worried because all of this is taking place in the Moynihan building! Is that bad Karma?

Hoodie said:

Here's another. I'm worried because all of this is taking place in the Moynihan building! Is that bad Karma?

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If this were hockey or soccer, I'd be worried, but there are no goalies in football.