I'm sorry it's too late for me to read all 3 pages of this thread (and I'm sure there will be some great posts that I will be missing, but raising my blood pressure 20 points isn't how I want to end my evening.
THIS is why I feel the judge will have NO option to vacate the suspension, and Brady will have no choice but to refuse any settlement.
The NFL's case rests on THEIR interpretation that Brady "more than likely" participated in a scheme with Patriot employees to deflate footballs and gain an unfair competitive advantage. That argument fails on so many levels that the only reason the Judge won't make a summary judgement will be because the drama of waiting is just to intoxicating to no wait til the 19th. (my birthday, btw
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1. They can't make a reasonable case that footballs were even deflated - Definitely not when main stream science is sued, and EVEN when their own flawed, bought and paid for science was used they couldn't prove that balls were deflated, BTW -they can't even make the case that any competitive advantage was even gained
2. They can't make a case that Brady wasn't anything but cooperative
3. They can't make a case that Jastremski or McNally did anything wrong in the 90 seconds they were alone with the balls.
4. But what CAN be proved is that the NFL embarked on a campaign of malicious deception, misinformation, and outright lies in an clear attempt to infect the public with this misinformation and poison the arena with a smear campaign
Now I know the blood pressure is rising, and I'm being melodramatic and touch hyperbolic with my 4 points. However that being said, I welcome any comment or criticism that can poke holes in the basic premise I am trying to make.
Even if the judge is judge is willing to construe this case very narrowly, and not take on the issue of, "whether anything happened" or "the science of deflation"; there is still documented evidence of the basic unfairness of the NFL's actions, their continued effort to "move the goalposts" as each of their claims are reputed, and finally there is the undeniable fact that NOTHING in the CBA, NFL rulebook, or procedural history comes even close to the draconian punishment that was handed down.