Reports: Brady wants entire suspension removed, and is seeking to be fully exonerated

[raduray]

Palm Beach : the Wells Report DOES have "scientific experts". I know and YOU know how to use those numbers. Besides, you guys even use the old empirical system. Kelvin are so much easier to get to from Celcius...

I get what you are saying - but you live in the Country that had a court state that Orenthal J Simpson was found not guilty. Hardly the scientific-based result.

If it goes to court, it will be Goodell's choice if it's heard by a judge or a jury and I can't imagine Goodell choosing a jury.

 

[raduray]

Goodell wont do anything in the appeal. He has no way of justifying to the public that he made a mess with a 5 mill $ investigation. If they wanted to do the right thing even after the report, he shouldve called and talked to brady before the report was released to see if he had anything to say. Now in the eyes of the media and public appeal he cant show himself weak to reject well's report as incorrect. At best he reduced brady by 1 game even though he knows it will go to court. Otherwise he wouldve appointed an independent arbitrator. The NFL and goodell want to delay this as much as possible so that it goes deep in the season, keeps the nfl in the news cycle and puts brady in a corner if he wants to keep waiting. I wont be surprised if they dont announce the appeal result many days after of next week.

Brady won't be in a corner if he's kept waiting as any suspension will be stayed until the legal proceedings are completed.

 

[Jackson 2]

If it goes to court, it will be Goodell's choice if it's heard by a judge or a jury and I can't imagine Goodell choosing a jury.

Why do you think that? I would think Goodell would prefer a jury as opposed to the judge.

 

[n6249c]

In essence, the NFL is an employer here, demanding an employee's private telephone, then punishing him for not providing it. There's no way that's OK unless the CBA clearly gives them that right. So it's surely a matter for labor law litigation.

And a very good reason for Brady to refuse, as a matter of principle.

 

[n6249c]

Brady won't be in a corner if he's kept waiting as any suspension will be stayed until the legal proceedings are completed.

Suspension would not necessarily be stayed. It would require an injunction by the court, which should be easily obtained, but still is required.

 

[n6249c]

Courts deal with this all the time. If this gets to court and there is Discovery that requires him to hand his phone or text or any records over, the court can review the surrendered documents and exclude anything of a personal nature that is not relevant to the case.

True, there is a tremendous difference between a court mandated discovery process, with legal rules and checks and balances to protect both parties, and a private investigation with a consistent history of leaks and bias.

Discovery process is the 1200 pound gorilla in the corner just waiting to grab Goodell by the neck. As soon as Brady files court papers his lawyers will seek discovery subpoenas on all NFL and team emails involving communications about anything covered in the Wells report. That means all the Colts and Jets emails, probably phone records and IMs are within scope. Plus all internal NFL documents, and correspondence with Ted Wells. I believe Brady's lawyers can argue that Wells was providing investigative services and not acting as legal counsel, thus communications with him will not be protected by attorney-client privilege. This will be fun, dial up the popcorn and settle back.

 

[YOUGOTMOSSED]

If it goes to court, it will be Goodell's choice if it's heard by a judge or a jury and I can't imagine Goodell choosing a jury.

Is that a CBA thing?
A defamation case would most certainly be heard by a jury.

 

[woolster22]

True, there is a tremendous difference between a court mandated discovery process, with legal rules and checks and balances to protect both parties, and a private investigation with a consistent history of leaks and bias.

Discovery process is the 1200 pound gorilla in the corner just waiting to grab Goodell by the neck. As soon as Brady files court papers his lawyers will seek discovery subpoenas on all NFL and team emails involving communications about anything covered in the Wells report. That means all the Colts and Jets emails, probably phone records and IMs are within scope. Plus all internal NFL documents, and correspondence with Ted Wells. I believe Brady's lawyers can argue that Wells was providing investigative services and not acting as legal counsel, thus communications with him will not be protected by attorney-client privilege. This will be fun, dial up the popcorn and settle back.

From your lips to God's ears.

 

[supafly]

If it goes to court, it will be Goodell's choice if it's heard by a judge or a jury and I can't imagine Goodell choosing a jury.

How do you reach that conclusion, @raduray? You mean because Goodell would technically be the defendant in a civil case? I'm confused. I highly doubt Tom Brady sues for defamation of character.

If/when the NFLPA and Brady "take the case to court" it will be mostly to have the federal court rule on whether or not it should be heard by a third party arbitrator/arbitration system. So far, we've seen a 3 panel system, as well as a single neutral arbitrator appointed by Goodell (Tagliabue). Both the labor law and the power of Goodell would be under question. The overall process as outlined in the NFLPA's letter would be under fire as well.

 

[Deus Irae]

How do you reach that conclusion, @raduray? You mean because Goodell would technically be the defendant in a civil case? I'm confused. I highly doubt Tom Brady sues for defamation of character.

If/when the NFLPA and Brady "take the case to court" it will be mostly to have the federal court rule on whether or not it should be heard by a third party arbitrator/arbitration system. So far, we've seen a 3 panel system, as well as a single neutral arbitrator appointed by Goodell (Tagliabue). Both the labor law and the power of Goodell would be under question. The overall process as outlined in the NFLPA's letter would be under fire as well.

I think a lot of people are still confused and think things would immediately proceed to a de novo hearing on the facts of the case.

 

[flasox27]

How, exactly, would he have done that?

I agree with you. This battle was lost in 2007 when Kraft caved and threw BB under the bus. That incident and everything Kraft did since has shown that he would accept any punishment for the good of the league rather than standing up for his team.

 

[RayClay]

I agree with you. This battle was lost in 2007 when Kraft caved and threw BB under the bus. That incident and everything Kraft did since has shown that he would accept any punishment for the good of the league rather than standing up for his team.

He did not admit guilt, he realized that his power to do anything was lost when they gave goodell dictatorial powers.

In 2007, they had no past history and technically, they did something a league memo had said not to do.

He reasoned [and rightly, according to at least one of the recent articles condemning goodell and Wells] that isolating himself as one owner who did not have a union, or a legal process behind him, would be counter productive.

I have challenged multiple people to describe what he could do against a crazed commissioner with unlimited powers, and the best i've got is, he can cause a stink and cannot force a fair arbitration process.

So, losing, in the midst of a winning union grievance and possible lawsuit by Brady, is victory, with the other 31 owners gaining power to his detriment in keeping goodell, or choosing his successor.

I say it again, if goodell decided this was the punishment, besides losing loudly, what could Kraft have done about it?

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Of course he can. He does many things t

There's a difference between handing your phone over to a biased investigation whose mandate from the league is to bring you down by any means necessary and handing your phone over to an accountable court of law. Brady didn't do the former because he's not a moron, he knew all the leaks coming out of the league office and knew that his personal and financial information would be at risk if the league had full impunity to just tear into his phone looking for anything. If this goes to a real court of law with real accountability I bet Brady will respect the process and allow his phone to be examined by qualified and fair individuals who do this kind of thing regularly.

If those goes to a "real court of law," Brady will have anticipated this and will have only allowed it to get that far if he is prepared to comply, so he won't have any alternative but to "allow his phone to be examined" because the alternative is being held in contempt of court.

 

[Clonamery]

He did not admit guilt, he realized that his power to do anything was lost when they gave goodell dictatorial powers.

In 2007, they had no past history and technically, they did something a league memo had said not to do.

Yup, and now the NFL is Saturday morning cartoon time...........the owners are Hanna-Barbera with Tom (Goodell) chasing a whole host of Jerry (Players) mice around like the AssCat he is because Jerry made him look bad or got too big a piece of cheese. Or Goodell is Elmer Fudd and.....and you get where I'm headed.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Yup, and now the NFL is Saturday morning cartoon time...........the owners are Hanna-Barbera with Tom (Goodell) chasing a whole host of Jerry (Players) mice around like the AssCat he is because Jerry made him look bad or got too big a piece of cheese. Or Goodell is Elmer Fudd and.....and you get where I'm headed.

Pats are Superfriends

NFL Exec Office is Legion of Morons and Hacks.

 

[RayClay]

Yup, and now the NFL is Saturday morning cartoon time...........the owners are Hanna-Barbera with Tom (Goodell) chasing a whole host of Jerry (Players) mice around like the AssCat he is because Jerry made him look bad or got too big a piece of cheese. Or Goodell is Elmer Fudd and.....and you get where I'm headed.

It's an absurd situation where the owners gave unlimited authority to an imbecile. Rozelle and Tagliabue were adults, intelligent and had some wisdom.

 

[RayClay]

By the way, the excellent deflategate summary article on the front page has this

Patriots’ owner Robert Kraft has already conceded the punishment from the NFL. After all, the NFL rules do not permit teams to appeal punishments, and because of that system – which Kraft had a big hand in making, it must be said – Goodell could literally issue any punishment against the Patriots he desired. $1 million and two draft picks? Sure. How about first-round picks for the next five seasons? Crazy? Maybe, but Goodell has the power to issue that kind of discipline.

Kraft realized he essentially had no other option, so he capitulated, regretfully. But Brady has a recourse.

Kraft thought goodell would act like an adult, he shot his mouth off about an apology and he made a fool of himself, no one's arguing that.


- See more at: http://www.patsfans.com/blogs/vampa...-we-get-to-this-point/8/#sthash.CR1IwBUe.dpuf

 

[flasox27]

He did not admit guilt, he realized that his power to do anything was lost when they gave goodell dictatorial powers.

In 2007, they had no past history and technically, they did something a league memo had said not to do.

He reasoned [and rightly, according to at least one of the recent articles condemning goodell and Wells] that isolating himself as one owner who did not have a union, or a legal process behind him, would be counter productive.

I have challenged multiple people to describe what he could do against a crazed commissioner with unlimited powers, and the best i've got is, he can cause a stink and cannot force a fair arbitration process.

So, losing, in the midst of a winning union grievance and possible lawsuit by Brady, is victory, with the other 31 owners gaining power to his detriment in keeping goodell, or choosing his successor.

I say it again, if goodell decided this was the punishment, besides losing loudly, what could Kraft have done about it?

Kraft should have realized after the way Goodell handled 2007 without any regard for prior precedent in terms of punishment that he had a biased idiot as commissioner. Instead, he supported him at every turn and increased the power of the idiot with the delusion that it was good for the league. i have yet to see any other owner take one up the rear for the good of the League. In fact, the owner of the Ravens had convinced the POS to give only a two game suspension to Rice until it blew up. Funny how an owner with no discernable influence can bargain with Goodell while the great and powerful Kraft can't even talk to him without getting on his knees.

 

[Galeb]

What Tom will spend on legal fees is what Gisele spends on Rodeo Drive in an afternoon-not including lunch at Panera Bread .

I doubt Giselle has spent a nickle on clothing or accessories for well over a decade. In fact, she probably gets paid to wear anything you see her in out in public.

 

[RayClay]

Kraft should have realized after the way Goodell handled 2007 without any regard for prior precedent in terms of punishment that he had a biased idiot as commissioner. Instead, he supported him at every turn and increased the power of the idiot with the delusion that it was good for the league. i have yet to see any other owner take one up the rear for the good of the League. In fact, the owner of the Ravens had convinced the POS to give only a two game suspension to Rice until it blew up. Funny how an owner with no discernable influence can bargain with Goodell while the great and powerful Kraft can't even talk to him without getting on his knees.

Yup, he thought he had influence because he saved the aholes bacon in the nflpa negotiations. He made a fool of himself.