Where settlement negotiations ended up

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...rving-onegame-suspension?campaign=Twitter_atn

Rapoport's take:

• Brady might have taken one game, no admission of guilt over anything other than telephone cooperation.
• The NFL might have taken what was in the trial balloon over the weekend (2 games, some vague admission of guilt).

Neither of those offers seems to ever have been actually made.

Berman told both sides that the settlement negotiations were obviously not going to succeed, and that he would proceed to a ruling.

Well whether the NFL wins this decision it is more likely than not that Brady will still play week 1.

I really hope Berman will see all of this for what it really was. A giant PR disaster then went so far out of control that it needed federal court to resolve it.

I swear Fence, these mediots are just making it up as they are going along. He has absolutely NO sources for this kind of gibberish except for his own imagination or on orders from directly from Kensil. Notice he protects himself with the word "might".

I took a journalism course in college once. That was over 45 years ago, and I STILL retain more awareness of journalistic ethics than most of this mutts who earn a living at it. It's just sickening.

The NY Daily News guy said no serious NFL offer .... some semblance of a 3 game offer ... eff that sh!t.

I just had an annoying thought.

If Brady was seriously considering accepting a one-game suspension just to get it over with, how likely is he to file the defamation suit we all are hoping for?

Actually, I think there's some hope, just because it doesn't have to be filed until next off-season. So his current weariness with the whole matter will likely have ebbed.

And indeed he'll probably be on wait-and-see. Where does his reputation wind up after a few months? How are his endorsement and health-company business prospects? Etc.

2-6 (hypothetically Brady wins): But he was willing to take a game, Mike! That's an admission of guilt! [\whiny, squeaky voice]

I really doubt a defamation suit is coming. I never thought it was likely.

VectorPrime said:

I really doubt a defamation suit is coming. I never thought it was likely.

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Unfortunately I agree.

IMHO Team Brady should have offered a settlement of: The NFL and NFLPA will agree to a new third party investigation and science report, and a third party arbitrator who will make a guilty ruling based on the findings. (A)If the arbitrator assigns guilt to Brady, the 4 game suspension will be served without appeal. (B) If he/she does not assign guilt to Brady, all punishments handed down from the NFL are permanently erased.

Team Brady should have known that Goodell would not agree to it and would probably do anything to avoid an outcome like that. So the underlying offer isn't serious as it was never going to come to fruition. Yet it is the kind of short, easily grasped argument that would play across most of the unwashed masses sense of fair play spectrum (even as warped as that sometimes can be). It's a certain PR win (at least to some degree). Hell even if Goodell went berserk and agreed to it, while certainly containing some risk for Brady, I think Brady should jump at the chance based on what the one truly third party, judge Berman, has already said about the NFL's case (saying the case has many parts that smell like a pile of Goodell).

The report about Brady's willingness to accept a game was refuted by several people close to him over a week ago. Didn't happen.

c'mon with this crap...THERE HS NEVER BEEN ANY OFFER FROM BRADY!!!!!!!

This is all emanating from the scumbags at NFLoffices...jeezus krist they have a freakin' whacko Jet fan manning their official TWITTER Page!! EVERYTHING you see being "reported" is from these scumbags and even worse, from Disney Corp.

BTW, Judge Berman HAS to know this....how can the NFL continue with this charade?

Joker said:

c'mon with this crap...THERE HS NEVER BEEN ANY OFFER FROM BRADY!!!!!!!

This is all emanating from the scumbags at NFLoffices...jeezus krist they have a freakin' whacko Jet fan manning their official TWITTER Page!! EVERYTHING you see being "reported" is from these scumbags and even worse, from Disney Corp.

BTW, Judge Berman HAS to know this....how can the NFL continue with this charade?

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That doesn't matter, Bro. Who cares if there has never been an offer from Brady. Ian Rappaport says he did, so it MUST be true.

And because Rappaport says so, PFT has an article of the effects of Brady's willingness to cop a plea, and I just checked NFL.com and on of the feature articles is entitled "Brady willing to take a game". Needless to say I didn't bother to give it a click.

This is just so maddening. All they need is a thread of possible truth and they can write anything they want, couch it with a few qualifiers, and by the time it gets picked up by the next blood sucker, it has become a fact. I weep for journalism, it was ONCE an honorable profession.

Joker said:

c'mon with this crap...THERE HS NEVER BEEN ANY OFFER FROM BRADY!!!!!!!

This is all emanating from the scumbags at NFLoffices...jeezus krist they have a freakin' whacko Jet fan manning their official TWITTER Page!! EVERYTHING you see being "reported" is from these scumbags and even worse, from Disney Corp.

BTW, Judge Berman HAS to know this....how can the NFL continue with this charade?

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Berman is the target of the leaks though. As I said in the other thread on these leaks, they want to convince Berman that the middle ground is a 1-game suspension and Brady would be ok with that. Then after the ruling, they can proclaim victory. Let's hope Berman is as smart as he appears and is not swayed by the press or politicking (like the supremes)

Berman is in there for settlement talks so he knows what's being offered and if the nfl is leaking lies then it's to their detriment.

Angelpats said:

Berman is in there for settlement talks so he knows what's being offered and if the nfl is leaking lies then it's to their detriment.

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so you believe all the leaks are true, eh? 7 months, day after day, leaks from the NFL disguised as Brady's agent, Brady's lawyer, "heard Brady say" liars working for ESPN, 'Brady says he'll take a game"...every single one of these stories a LIE..but Berman can't see this?

Gumby said:

Berman is the target of the leaks though. As I said in the other thread on these leaks, they want to convince Berman that the middle ground is a 1-game suspension and Brady would be ok with that. Then after the ruling, they can proclaim victory. Let's hope Berman is as smart as he appears and is not swayed by the press or politicking (like the supremes)

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Good news. Berman cannot dictate a settlement, so not to worry he might impose what HE thinks is a good settlement. He has just 3 options. a. He vacates the suspension. b. He orders the parties to a "neutral arbitrator" and lifts the suspension until it's over. c. He affirms the arbitrators decision. He has no other alternatives

VectorPrime said:

I really doubt a defamation suit is coming. I never thought it was likely.

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My hope is the dorito dinks sue for defamation. Lower standard since they aren't public figures, they're not beholden to the CBA, they have proven monetary damages, and the international tabloid media doesn't care what is in their cell phones.

Gumby said:

As I said in the other thread on these leaks, they want to convince Berman that the middle ground is a 1-game suspension and Brady would be ok with that.

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It seems as though too many people are getting their panties in a bunch over the thought or possible discussion of a one game settlement, which would have included the most important fact of all----THAT HE WASN'T GUILTY OF CHEATING!!!!

I would think that Brady would've been more than happy to have told the world that Roger Goodell agrees that no cheating went on, and that the whole thing could finally be put to rest once and for all. It also would've reduced his penalty by 75%, put the proper perspective back into the national media as to how "serious" this really was, and saved him a couple of million dollars in the process.

Of course Brady's attorneys likely had some type of discussion about every single possible angle which would've reiterated the point that he didn't do anything wrong, by putting it to bed once and for all. If they didn't have these preliminary discussions and decided to simply close their eyes and roll the dice in front of a judge in the hopes that they are successful, they wouldn't be doing their jobs very well.

Is it definitely true? Who knows? But if it is--who the hell cares? It doesn't prove anything, aside from the fact that they were trying to exonerate their client from cheating (his most important need) with a potentially very successful resolution.

Exclusive from NFL.com- [Ace reporter, Roger Goodell]

Joker said:

so you believe all the leaks are true, eh? 7 months, day after day, leaks from the NFL disguised as Brady's agent, Brady's lawyer, "heard Brady say" liars working for ESPN, 'Brady says he'll take a game"...every single one of these stories a LIE..but Berman can't see this?

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I don't believe a word that comes from the nfl. That's why I think if Berman is listening to all of there rhetoric outside of court that is in direct contrast to the settlement talks he going to drop the hammer on them.