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I think you're largely on target until your final paragraph.This is an excellent summary. PF74, I have had no doubts that Brady is going to be available for the start of the season (sorry Jimmie), one way or the other. But regardless of this inevitable truth, I won't personally be happy unless or until Brady takes the league to court on defamation charges. That is the ONLY way to even partially undo the damage done to Brady and the Pats. THAT is a fact.
My biggest fear is that the will do something smart. If I were Goodell I would use the new pregame game ball procedures to come out and say, "I am postponing implementation of the penalties for Brady until 2016. The information gathered from these new procedures will allow us to better understand exactly what happened in the AFCCG. Based on these findings will implement these punishments or not. In the meantime the league will fine Mr. Brady $50,000 for his non-cooperation with Mr. Welles' investigation."
If he does that he will (if I dare say it)he will deflate most of the national media's feeding frenzy WITHOUT taking the onus off the Patriots and Brady as cheaters, and we as Pats fans will have to live with this for another year. In other words with this strategy he does 2 things. He gives the nation what it wants (Brady on the field), and never has to admit any guilt, liability, or conspiracy.
I am praying that Goodell will continue his blind stupidity and not "settle" for anything less than the 4 games. It won't stop Brady from playing all 16 games this season, for he will surely win his court case. However the ONLY chance Brady has to regain most of his lost legacy will be to actually have prove his INNOCENCE in a Federal court. And the only way THAT can happen is if he sues the league and media outlets for malicious defamation of character. To my mind Brady has the kind of case can win even in an area where the bar is set as high as it is.
First of all, I don't think Brady's legacy is "lost." I think that historians of the game will see this for what it is when the dust has settled. In the present, the haters are going to believe what they want to believe, without any regard for the truth and there is nothing any of us can do about that.
A compromise of some nature that lifts the suspension and enables Brady to continue to maintain his lack of involvement in any fantasized scheme is probably the best outcome that we can expect.
I've read enough on the lack of viability of a "defamation" suit by Brady to have come to the conclusion that it's just not in the cards, but I don't expect to change your mind on that, so I won't try and we'll just have to agree to disagree on that point.